Volleyball Weekly Notebook
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THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC VOLLEYBALL
WHITWORTH AT PACIFIC
Match No. 23/Home Match No. 10
Fri., Nov. 2, 7 p.m., Stoller Center, Forest Grove
Live Stats:
www.goboxers.com/livestats
WHITMAN AT PACIFIC
Match No. 24/Home Match No. 11
Sat., Nov. 3, 6 p.m., Stoller Center, Forest Grove
Live Stats:
www.goboxers.com/livestats
Live Video:
www.goboxers.com/webcasts
BOXERS AIM TO WRAP UP THIRD PLACE IN SEASON FINALE
The Pacific volleyball team looks to put a bow on their incredible run through the Northwest Conference season this weekend. After losing their first seven matches, the Boxers have gone 10-5 and will aim to wrap up a third place finish in the Northwest Conference this weekend. Pacific will host Whitworth on Friday and Whitman on Saturday.
BOXER BYTES
• Pacific received a 20-kill, 20-dig effort from
Marie Rewick to win their ninth NWC match of the season and down Linfield in four sets on Wednesday. The win gave the Boxers their first season sweep over the Wildcats since 1996.
• Despite their continued improvement, the Boxers struggled against a Pacific Lutheran squad on their way to a potential NWC championship. Pacific fell in three sets to the No. 15 Lutes, led by a seven-kill, three-block performance by
Mariah McHolland.
•
Marie Rewick appears headed for All-Northwest Conference honors as she finishes off a terrific freshman season. Rewick finished last week with 25 kills, 3.57 kills per set and 22 digs, topped by her 20-kill, 20-dig effort at Linfield. Rewick enters the week ranked sixth in the NWC with 3.13 kills per set and has nine double-doubles to her credit this season.
•
Mariah McHolland set the single season record (25/30 pt. era) for blocks with her six blocks against Linfield on Wednesday night. McHolland enters the week with 90 blocks on the season. She ranks fifth in the NWC with her 1.05 blocks per set and seventh with a .240 hitting percentage.
• The Boxers continue to receive positive contributions from freshman setter
Megan Zablan and freshman libero
Becky Sheller. Zablan finished 40 assists and three blocks last week and enters the week ranked seventh in the NWC with 7.79 assists per set. Sheller, meanwhile, had 48 digs in the two matches and ranks fifth in the NWC with five digs per set.
• Of Pacific's 10 wins this season, seven have come in five set matches. The Boxers have played eight five-set matches to date. Of their five NWC losses, all have come in the minimum three sets.
• Pacific's nine NWC victories are the most for the Boxers since 2007 and marks just the third time since 1995 that the team has earned nine victories. The record for conference wins in a season is 10, set during the 1981 season when Pacific played in the Women's Conference of Independent Colleges (WCIC).
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
WHITWORTH
The Pirates enter the week tied for sixth in the NWC at 5-9 and are 9-12 overall after winning their final two home matches last weekend. On Friday, the Pirates used convincing first and third sets to take away a four-set victory from Lewis & Clark. Whitworth had three players in double digit kills, led by a 16-kill, 9-dig effort by Jalana White. The Pirates finished out with the sweep on Saturday, beating George Fox in three sets. Whitworth survived a close first set where they committed 12 attack errors to score 25-15 wins in the final two sets. White once again led the Pirates with 11 kills. White leads the Whitworth offense with 263 kills and ranks fifth in the NWC with 3.25 kills per set. Maddye Dinsmore is averaging 8.85 assists per set and Nicole Leonard is averaging 4.30 digs per set. As a team, Whitworth is averaging 10.84 kills per set, 10.12 assists per set and 17.99 digs per set. Steve Rupe is in his 14th season as Whitworth head coach.
ALL TIME SERIES: Whitworth leads 33-17
LAST MEETING: Pacific won in five sets (25-15, 27-25, 23-25, 18-25, 15-11) in Spokane, Wash., on Oct. 5, 2012
WHITMAN
The Missionaries enter the week in fourth place in the NWC at 8-6 and are 10-11 overall after going on a five-match win streak. Four of the five wins have come in three sets, including last weekend's two home victories. Whitman opened the weekend with a three-set victory over George Fox on Friday. The Missionaries were in control from start to finish, hitting .250 behind a 14-kill, 14-dig performance by Jillian Davis. On Saturday, Whitman hit .233 and held Lewis & Clark to a .026 percentage to take the three-set victory. Olivia Nelson paced the Missionaries with 11 kills while Davis finished with 10. Davis leads the Missionaries with 232 kills and ranks second in the NWC with 3.62 kills per set. Rachel Cline is averaging 7.80 assists per set and Hannah Linsenmayer is averaging 4.41 digs per set. As a team, Whitman is averaging 10.55 kills, 9.65 assists, 16.09 digs and a NWC best 2.31 blocks per set. Matt Helm is in his first season as Whitman head coach.
ALL TIME SERIES: Pacific leads 34-22
LAST MEETING: Pacific won in five sets (10-25, 25-20, 25-21, 12-25, 15-13) in Walla Walla, Wash., on Oct. 6, 2012
PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
ALL-CONFERENCE FRESHMAN: With the way she has performed for the Boxers in her first season in red and black, coaches will be hard pressed not to add
Marie Rewick (Fr., Honolulu, Hawaii) to the All-Northwest Conference Team. Rewick enters the final week of the season ranked sixth in the NWC with 3.13 kills per set and leads the Boxers with 269 kills. Rewick provided 25 kills and 22 digs over last week's matches. She posted her ninth double-double of the season at Linfield on Wednesday with 20 kills and 20 digs. Rewick, who matriculated to Pacific from Honolulu's Punahou School where she helped lead her team to the Hawaii state championship as a senior.
ALL-CONFERENCE MIDDLE BLOCKER: After two seasons of playing behind the dynamic
Kelsy Takashima,
Mariah McHolland (Jr., Renton, Wash.) has excelled in her own spotlight and should also be up for consideration for All-Northwest Conference honors. McHolland enters the week having set two season blocking records and having tied three single match marks. With 90 blocks, McHolland has surpassed the previous mark for the 25/30-pt. era of 85 blocks set by Joanna Delanty in 2007. Her 75 block assists has well surpassed the mark of 54 set by Lychelle Roberts-Kirby in 2010. In addition, her 11 blocks against Whitman on Oct. 6 tied the individual single match record set by Delanty in 2006 and tied by Takashima in 2009. Her nine block assists in the match tied the mark set by Takashima against Willamette in 2008. McHolland enters the week leading the Boxers and ranking fifth in the NWC with her 1.05 blocks per set. She also leads the Boxers and ranks seventh in the NWC with a .240 hitting percentage. She had 15 kills and nine blocks in last week's two matches, led by an eight-kill, six-block effort at Linfield on Wednesday.
FINISHING OUT STRONG: As she looks ahead to the final two matches of her Pacific career,
Alexa Block (Sr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) aims to finish out on top of her game. Block has put together a solid campaign after seeing her junior season shorted by a shoulder injury. She enters the week ranked eighth in the NWC with 2.85 kills per set and ranks second for the Boxers with 242 total kills and a .147 hitting percentage. In last week's two matches, Block finished with 19 kills and three digs. She finished with 15 kills in the Boxers' four-set win over Linfield on Wednesday. Block finished as an Honorable Mention All-Northwest Conference selection last year depsite her injury.
A FOND FAREWELL: This weekend's matches will also be the last for
Jade Thompson (Sr., Marysville, Wash.). A Second Team All-Northwest Conference selection at libero last year, Thompson got a late start to the season because of an off-season injury. She has since played in 15 matches and made seven starts as a defensive specialist. She enters the weekend ranked fourth for the Boxers with 125 digs and also has seven service aces to her credit.
FLIRTING WITH A RECORD WIN: Pacific enters the weekend with a chance to enter record terriroty in terms of conference victories. Pacific's nine Northwest Conference wins this season is the program's most since 2007 and just the third time since 1995 that the Boxers have reached the plateau. Pacific needs just one more win to tie the all-time mark of 10 conference wins set during the 1981 season. The Boxers went 10-0 that season to win the Women's Conference of Independent Colleges title.
A RARE EASTERN WASHINGTON SWEEP: It is not easy for any Pacific team to win both legs of the eastern Washington road trip, regardless of the sport. The Boxers' sweep of Whitman and Whitworth on Oct. 5 and 6 marks the first time that they have accomplished the feat since 2006. It is only the third time that Pacific has accomplished the feat since 1994, when the conference moved to the double round-robin style of scheduling.
HIGH FIVE: If Pacific is going to win, it is more than likely going to come in five sets. Of the Boxers' 10 victories this season, seven have come in five sets. Pacific to date had just two victories that did not go five sets. The Boxers beat Lewis & Clark in three sets on Sept. 21, and the Boxers were four-set winners over George Fox on Oct. 12 and Linfield on Wednesday. Conversely, all four of Pacific's losses during the Northwest Conference season have been in three sets.
PACIFIC PICKED SEVENTH IN NWC PRESEASON POLL: Northwest Conference coaches have picked Pacific seventh in the NWC this season in the preseason poll released in August. The Boxers received 24 of a possible 80 points on the poll to finish three points ahead of Willamette and six points behind George Fox. Pacific Lutheran is selected to ovetake 2011 NWC champion Whitworth for the conference crown, receiving five first place votes and a total of 65 points. The Pirates earned two first place votes and 54 points while Puget Sound is picked third with 50 points and one first place vote. Lewis & Clark was picked fourth with 44 points while Linfield is fifth with 35 points.
