Falcons, ‘Cats & Leafs In Newest NCAA Regional Rankings
Central Washington checked in at No. 8 in the latest NCAA West Region volleyball rankings.
Central Washington checked in at No. 8 in the latest NCAA West Region volleyball rankings.
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Thursday, November 9, 2023
by Evan O'Kelly

PORTLAND, Ore. – Seattle Pacific checked in at No. 4 in the latest NCAA West Region volleyball rankings released Wednesday – the first set of rankings that were listed in numerical order.

Overall the Great Northwest Athletic Conference had three representatives in the top-10, with Central Washington checking in at No. 8 and Simon Fraser listed at No. 10. The rankings will eventually determine the eight-team field for the 2023 NCAA West Region Championships, which will be hosted by the No. 1 seed.

NCAA West Region Volleyball Rankings - Nov. 8, 2023
Rank Team Conference In-Region Record Overall Record
1 Chaminade PacWest 25-3 26-3
2 Cal St. San Bernardino CCAA 21-3 21-3
3 Point Loma PacWest 19-3 19-4
4 Seattle Pacific GNAC 17-4 19-4
5 Cal St. Los Angeles CCAA 14-7 15-9
6 San Francisco State CCAA 14-9 15-9
7 Cal Poly Pomona CCAA 16-6 18-6
8 Central Washington GNAC 12-6 16-6
9 Sonoma State CCAA 16-7 16-7
10 Simon Fraser GNAC 13-8 14-8

NCAA Rankings/Tournament Information

The final regular-season regional rankings will be released on Nov. 15, with the final NCAA tournament selections (eight teams) being revealed on a live selection show on Monday, Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m. EST/4:30 p.m. PST. The GNAC regular-season champion will receive an automatic berth into the NCAA West Region Championships, which will run Nov. 30-Dec. 3 at the site of the No. 1 overall seed.

This Week's Conference Slate - Nov. 9-11
  Thursday, Nov. 9 Saturday, Nov. 11
Host Opponent Time Opponent Time
#20 CWU UAF 7 p.m. (PST) UAA 7 p.m. (PST)
MSUB Bye -- #18 SPU 1 p.m. (MST)
NNU UAA 7 p.m. (MST) UAF 1 p.m. (MST)
SMU SFU 7 p.m. (PST) WWU 1 p.m. (PST)
WOU WWU 7 p.m. (PST) SFU 7 p.m. (PST)

 

 

Player to Watch

Karli Tri – Western Washington

 

The Vikings continued their push up the GNAC standings with a sweep last week, including knocking off first-place Seattle Pacific. Sophomore middle Karli Tri had a lot to do with WWU’s success, combining an efficient attack with a strong blocking presence at the net. In the Vikings’ sweep of Montana State Billings, Tri had her second-highest kill total of the season with 11, while committing just one error in her 18 attempts for a monster hitting percentage of .556. Tri followed that with four blocks, two service aces and six kills in the upset of the Falcons, as the Vikings completed the season sweep of SPU. Tri has had at least three blocks in each of her last four matches, and has committed no more than one attack error in each of her last five matches.

 

 

The AVCA/TARAFLEX NCAA Division II rankings are released every Monday throughout the 2023 season.

Despite their second setback of the conference season, the Falcons held their spot at No. 18 in the latest top-25 coaches poll. Central Washington meanwhile climbed one spot to No. 20 after emerging victorious in their lone match last week against Northwest Nazarene.

Poll Team 1 Team 2 Team 3 Team 4 Team 5
Preseason 14. UAA 15. WWU RV CWU RV SPU --
Sept. 4 21. UAA 22. WWU 23. CWU RV SPU --
Sept. 11 13. CWU RV UAA RV WWU RV SPU RV SFU
Sept. 18 15. CWU RV SPU RV WWU RV UAA RV SFU
Sept. 25 18. CWU 24. SPU RV WWU RV UAA RV SFU
Oct. 2 17. CWU 21. SPU RV SFU -- --
Oct. 9 16. CWU 22. SPU -- -- --
Oct. 16 18. CWU 22. SPU RV SFU -- --
Oct. 23 19. SPU 20. CWU RV SFU  -- --
Oct. 30 18. SPU 21. CWU -- -- --
Nov. 6 18. SPU 20. CWU -- -- --
 
GNAC Volleyball In The NCAA Statistical National Rankings

Through matches on Nov. 7.

Team Rankings (Top-30)
Aces Per Set: 24. SMU, 2.13
Blocks Per Set: 2. SPU, 2.81; 4. CWU, 2.70
Win-Loss Percentage: 26. SPU, .826
Assists: 23. UAA, 1,249
Kills: 28. UAA, 1,335
Total Attacks: 23. UAA, 3,843
Total Blocks: 5. SPU, 242.0; 9. UAA, 233.5; 10. UAF, 227.5

 

Individual Rankings (Top-50)
Service Aces Per Set: 4. Karla Soto, SMU, 0.64
Assists Per Set: 27. Karla Soto, SMU, 10.36
Blocks Per Set: 1. Hannah Hair, SPU, 1.73; 3. Emma Daoud-Hebert, CWU, 1.41; 19. Emily Vossenkuhl, WWU, 1.21; 33. Tia Andaya, CWU, 1.14; 50. Morgan Halady, CWU, 1.08
Digs Per Set: 17. Christine Funk, MSUB, 5.23; 31. Hannah Stires, CWU, 4.97
Hitting Pct.: 17. Jennifer Soha, SMU, .392
Service Aces: 15. Nicole Blue, UAA, 54; 15. Karla Soto, 54
Attacks: 19. Nicole Blue, UAA, 1,091
Blocks: 2. Hannah Hair, SPU, 145; 20. Emma Daoud-Hebert, CWU, 107; 30. Isabel Evans, UAA, 105
Digs: 26. Christine Funk, MSUB, 481
Kills: 30. Nicole Blue, UAA, 370
Triple Doubles: 6. Tia Andaya, CWU, 2
2023 GNAC Volleyball Players of the Week
Date Offensive Player of the Week Defensive Player of the Week
Aug. 28 Nicole Blue, Alaska Anchorage Elizabeth Jackson, Alaska
Sept. 5 Madison Hornback, Western Oregon Christine Funk, Montana State Billings
Sept. 11 Sarah Brachvogel, Seattle Pacific Hannah Stires, Central Washington
Sept. 18 Bethany Tuchardt, Alaska Anchorage Tia Andaya, Central Washington
Sept. 25 Brooke Dexter, Simon Fraser Caroline McMahon, Northwest Nazarene
Oct. 2 Scottie Ellsworth, Central Washington Hannah Hair, Seattle Pacific
Oct. 9 Karla Soto, Saint Martin's Sirena Peredo, Saint Martin's
Oct. 16 Brooke Dexter, Simon Fraser Emma Daoud-Hebert, Central Washington
Oct. 23 Karli Nielson, Alaska Hannah Hair, Seattle Pacific
Oct. 30 Madison Hornback, Western Oregon Hannah Hair, Seattle Pacific
Nov. 6 Emily Garten, Saint Martin's Reilly Plumhoff, Alaska Anchorage

Nov. 6 GNAC Volleyball Players of the Week

Offensive Player of the Week – Emily Garten, Saint Martin’s

First-career GNAC Player of the Week.

Garten led the Saints on the offensive end, averaging 3.86 kills per set while racking up 27 total in her team’s two matches. In the Saints’ road sweep of Alaska last Thursday, Garten led all players with 13 kills while posting a .393 hitting percentage. She followed that with a 14-kill effort against Alaska Anchorage, while adding four service aces against the Seawolves.

Also Nominated: Isabel Evans, UAA; Lily Stewart, UAF; Ellie Marble, CWU; Sarah Brachvogel, SPU; Jocelyn Sherman, SFU; Madison Hornback, WOU; Karli Tri, WWU.

Defensive Player of the Week – Reilly Plumhoff, Alaska Anchorage

First-career GNAC Player of the Week.

Plumhoff propelled the Seawolves to a pair of victories at home, leading all GNAC players in both digs per set (5.00) and service aces (0.88) in last week’s matches. The hometown junior kicked off her big week with 21 digs in the Seawolves’ 3-1 win over Western Oregon on Thursday, while adding six assists which was her second-highest single-game total of the year. Plumhoff followed with 19 digs in her team’s 3-1 win over Saint Martin’s on Saturday, while adding a season-high five service aces.

Also Nominated: Kristina Head, UAF; Tia Andaya, CWU; Sirena Peredo, SMU; Hannah Hair, SPU; Macyn Unger, SFU; Bella MacLellan, WOU; Emily Vossenkuhl, WWU.

2023 All-Tournament Selections
 
Hawaii/Alaska Challenge 
Aug. 24-26 at Fairbanks, Alaska (Alaska, Host)
Alaska: Grace Steurer, OH; Karli Nielson, OH
Alaska Anchorage: Nicole Blue, OH; Makana Eleneki, S
 
Otter Classic
Aug. 31-Sept. 2 at Seaside, Calif. (Cal State Monterey Bay, Host)
Northwest Nazarene: Maren Dent, OH - MVP; Caroline McMahon, L; Gabi Moore, S
 
Stanislaus State Labor Day Tournament
Aug. 31-Sept. 2 at Turlock, Calif. (Cal State Stanislaus, Host)
Western Oregon: Madison Hornback, OH-MVP; Bailee Hartsook, OH
 
2023 Seawolf Invitational
Aug. 31-Sept. 2 at Anchorage, Alaska (Alaska Anchorage, Host)
Alaska Anchorage: Leilani Elder, MB; Reilly Plumhoff, DS
Alaska: Ella Bines, RS
 
Yellowjacket Invitational
Sept. 1-2 at Billings, Mont. (Montana State Billings, Host)
Montana State Billings: Christine Funk, L; Julia Gordon, OH; Paiten Langston, MB)
 
2023 Yotes Classic Showcase
Aug. 31-Sept. 2 at San Bernardino, Calif. (Cal State San Bernardino, Host)
Central Washington: Tia Andaya, S
Western Washington: Delaney Speer, OH
 
2023 UCCS Mountain Lion Classic
Sept. 8-9 at Colorado Springs, Colo. (UC Colorado Springs, Host)
Saint Martin’s: Sirena Peredo, DS
Western Oregon: Madison Hornback, OH
 
Cougar Classic
Sept. 8-9 at San Marcos, Calif. (Cal State San Marcos, Host)
Seattle Pacific: Sarah Brachvogel, OH-MVP; Hannah Hair, MB; Emily Tulino, S; Allison Wilks, OH; Erin Smith, MB; Maddie Pruden, OPP
 
Denali State Bank Ice Block Classic
Sept. 7-9 at Fairbanks, Alaska (University of Alaska, Host)
Alaska Anchorage: Nicole Blue, OH
Alaska: Karli Nielson, OH; Lily Stewart, PIN
 
Up North Tournament
Sept. 8-9 at Duluth, Minn. (University of Minnesota Duluth, Host)
Central Washington: Tia Andaya, S/OH; Scottie Ellsworth, OH; Hannah Stires, DS/L
 
Reddie-Tiger Invitational
Sept. 15-16 at Arkadelphia, Ark. (Ouachita Baptist & Henderson State, Hosts)
Alaska Anchorage: Leilani Elder, MB; Bethany Tuchardt, OH
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