Volleyball Weekly Notebook
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THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC VOLLEYBALL
PACIFIC AT GEORGE FOX
Match No. 14/Away Match No. 5
Wed., Sept. 28, 7 p.m., Wheeler Sports Center, Newberg, Ore.
Live Stats:
webservices.georgefox.edu/athletics/livestats/volleyball/xlive.htm
Live Video:
client.stretchinternet.com/client/georgefox.portal#
LINFIELD AT PACIFIC
Match No. 15/Home Match No. 3
Sat., Oct. 1, 7 p.m, Stoller Center, Forest Grove
Live Stats:
www.goboxers.com/livestats
BOXERS LOOK TO STAY WITHIN TOP HALF OF NWC STANDINGS
After a weekend that saw the team upset the No. 16 ranked squad in the nation, the Pacific volleyball team looks to continue their winning ways and stay in the top half of the Northwest Conference standings. The Boxers play a mid-week match tonight at George Fox before returning to the Stoller Center to host rival Linfield on Saturday.
BOXER BYTES
• Pacific finished with a .309 hitting percentage as a team to post a four-set upset victory over then No. 16 ranked Puget Sound. The loss was the first for the Loggers this season.
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Alexa Block notched her fifth double-double of the season in the match, leading Pacific with 21 kills to go along with 14 digs.
Kelsy Takashima added 16 kills and a .519 hitting percentage.
• The Boxers couldn't put together a repeat performance on the road on Saturday, falling to Lewis & Clark in four sets. Takashima and Block each finished with 12 kills to lead the Boxers, with Block adding 23 digs for her sixth double-double of the year.
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Jade Thompson finished with 37 digs against Lewis & Clark, setting a new record for digs in a four-set match. In addition, the Boxers set a team record with a total 109 digs in a four-set match.
• Pacific enters the week as the top hitting team in the Northwest Conference with a .200 hitting percentage. The Boxers also rank 44th nationally in assists per set and 47th in digs per set.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
GEORGE FOX
The Bruins enter the week tied for seventh in the NWC at 1-3 and are 6-7 overall. George Fox dropped both of their matches last week, falling in a five-set marathon at Lewis & Clark on Friday before falling in three sets to nationally-ranked Pacific Lutheran on Saturday. The Bruins fell to the Pioneers on Friday despite leading the match in kills, hitting percentage and assists, but had to rally back from a three-set deficit to force the deciding frame. Erin Campbell led Georege Fox with 22 kills. On Saturday, the Lutes forced the Bruins into 32 attack errors against just 28 kills while winning each set by at least nine points. Stephanie Kerr finished with six kills to lead the George Fox. Kerr leads the Bruins with 139 kills, 2.90 kills per set and a .202 hitting percentage. Steve Grant is in his 30th season as George Fox head coach.
ALL TIME SERIES: George Fox leads 51-14
AGAINST CHAN: George Fox leads 4-2
LAST MEETING: George Fox won in four sets (25-22, 25-23, 16-25, 25-17) in Newberg, Ore., on Nov. 5, 2010.
LINFIELD
The Wildcats enter the week tied with George Fox for seventh in the NWC at 1-3 and are 5-7 overall. Linfield split a pair of home weekend matches against the eastern Washington schools, losing to Whitworth in three sets on Friday and beating Whitman in five sets on Saturday. Against the PIrates, Linfield posted a competitive .191 hitting percentage, led by 11 kills from Kailana Ritte-Camara, but could not overcome Whitworth's aggressive attack. Against Whitman, Linfield battled back from a 2-1 deficit to force the deciding frame and hit .240 in the fifth for the victory. Ritte-Camara led the Wildcats with 23 kills. She leads the team with 120 kills and an average of 2.55 kills per set. As a team, Linfield is hitting .098, which ranks ninth in the NWC. Shane Kimura, the dean of NWC volleyball coaches, is in his 34th year as Linfield head coach.
ALL TIME SERIES: Linfield leads 56-8
AGAINST CHAN: Linfield leads 6-0
LAST MEETING: Linfield won in four sets (25-22, 20-25, 25-23, 26-24) in Forest Grove on Oct. 13, 2010.
PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
A RECORD NIGHT FOR THOMPSON: Honorable Mention All-NWC libero
Jade Thompson (Jr., Marysville, Wash.) showed on Saturday why she was worthy of that conference distinction. Thompson set a Pacific single-match record for digs in a four-set match on Saturday at Lewis & Clark, recording 37 against Pioneers. That surpassed the previous record of 33 set set by Nettie Witheridge against Cal State East Bay on Sept. 3, 2005. Thompson led a record effort for the Boxers as a team as the total of 109 digs surpassed the four-set total of 105 set against Willamette on Nov. 3, 2001. Thompson has been steady and solid for the Boxers once again in 2011. She enters the week ranked fifth in the NWC with an average of 4.86 digs per set.
CUTTING DOWN THE LOGGERS: Friday night's victory over No. 16 Puget Sound was a big win for Pacific volleyball in more ways than one. First, the Boxers manage to snap the Loggers' 11-match win streak that opened the 2011 season. Second, the victory was Pacific's first over Puget Sound under current head coach Lena Chan and the first for the Boxers since the end of 2007 season, a year in which the Boxers finished 14-9 overall. It also marks only the fourth time that Pacific has beat Puget Sound over the last 10 seasons. Third, the win marked the third time that a Chan-coached team has beaten an AVCA Division III Top-25 opponent. The Boxers last toppled a ranked foe in 2009 when they knocked off then No. 5 ranked La Verne in five sets.
HEAVY HITTER: Alexa Block (Jr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) provided much of the offensive firepower for the Boxers in their two weekend matches. Block asmassed a total of 33 kills and an average of 4.12 kills per set to go along with 37 digs, two service aces and a block. Block had her fifth and sixth double-doubles of the season in the matchs, scoring 21 kills and 14 digs against Puget Sound and 12 kills and 23 digs against Lewis & Clark. Block enters the week ranked third in the NWC and leads the Boxers with 3.29 kills per set.
ROCK SOLID: Kelsy Takashima (Sr., Kaunakakai, Hawaii) continues to be a cornerstone for the Boxers as they continue their great start to the season. Takashim finished the weekend with a total of 28 kills, a .404 hitting percentage, three service aces, nine digs and five blocks. She finished with 16 kills, a impressive .519 hitting percentage and four blocks to contribute to the Boxers' four-set upset of Puget Sound on Friday. On Saturday, Takashima tied for the team lead with 12 kills against Lewis & Clark to go along with six digs and a block. Takashima enters the week ranked among the NWC's top-10 in four different statistical categories. She ranks second in the NWC with a .295 hitting percentage, second in aces with 0.59 per set, seventh in blocks with 0.92 per set and ninth in kills with 2.65 per set.
TOPS IN HITTING: Pacific enters the week as the best hitting team in the league. The Boxers enter the week tied for first in the league with Pacific Lutheran with a .200 hitting percentage. Whitworth sits in third with a .196 percentage. The total is a marked improvement from 2010, when the Boxers finished the season with a .139 hitting percentage.
IN THE NCAA STATS: Pacific shows up in the top-50 in two NCAA Division III statistics this week. The Boxers enter the week ranked 44th with 11.47 assists per set and also rank 47th with 18.24 digs per set.
THE START THEY WERE LOOKING FOR: After struggling out of the gates each of the last two seasons, the Boxers have started their 2011 season more in the way they have expected. The Boxers' 8-5 record is the team's best start since 2007. That year the Boxers won five of their first seven matches on their way to a 14-9 overall mark. The Boxers have performed well despite playing most of the start of the season on the road. Pacific played 10 of their first 11 matches on the road. Their match against Puget Sound on Sept. 23 marked the team's first home match since Sept. 6.
ADD STRONG START: The statistical numbers also show a noticable improvement in the Boxers' game on the floor. In 13 matches, the Boxers have a total of 623 kills, averaging 12.2 kills per set. The total ranks fourth in the NWC. Pacific finished the 2010 season with a total of 972 kills total in 24 matches, averaging 10.92 per set. Pacific enters this week leading the league in both hitting percentage (.200) and digs (18.24 per set), are ranked third in assists (11.47 per set) and digs (2.02 per set) and eighth in blocks (1.58 per set). Last year, Pacific finished no better than fifth in any conference team statistical category.
PACIFIC PICKED NINTH IN NWC PRESEASON POLL: Northwest Conference coaches have picked Pacific to finish ninth this season in the annual preseason poll conducted in August. The Boxers received 13 of a possible 72 points in the poll. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams. The Boxers finished ninth in the NWC in 2010 with a 5-19 record. Whitworth is picked to defend their conference title, receiving 69 points and seven of the nine first place votes. Puget Sound is picked second with 58 points, receiving the other two first place votes.
