Volleyball Weekly Notebook

Volleyball Weekly Notebook

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THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC VOLLEYBALL
PACIFIC AT GEORGE FOX
Match No. 16/Away Match No. 7
Wed., Oct. 18, 7 p.m., Wheeler Sports Center, Newberg, Ore.
Live Stats | Live Video

#16 PACIFIC LUTHERAN AT PACIFIC
Match No. 17/Home Match No. 6
Fri., Oct. 18, 7 p.m., Stoller Center, Forest Grove
Live Stats | Live Video

BOXERS OPEN SECOND HALF WITH CHALLENGING MATCHES
After gaining a weekend split to finish the first half of the Northwest Conference schedule at .500, the Pacific volleyball team will open the second half of the league schedule with a set of challenging matches.  The Boxers will play at George Fox on Wednesday before returning to the Stoller Center on Friday to take on defending NWC champion and nationally-ranked Pacific Lutheran.

BOXER BYTES
• Pacific rolled to another strong hitting night against Lewis & Clark on Friday, finishing with a .256 hitting percentage in the four-set victory over the Pioneers.  Una Areta led three Pacific players in double figures with 24 kills and 10 digs for her third double-double of the season.  Mariah McHolland added 13 kills and Jamie Steach had 10 kills.

• No. 19 Puget Sound did not provide Pacific much chance to get their offense going on Saturday as the Boxers had a -.016 hitting percentage in three-set sweep by the Loggers.  Una Areta was the only player in the match in double figure kills with 10.

• Una Areta was an honorable mention for NWC Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Week after amassing 34 kills in the two matches.  Her double-double against Lewis & Clark was her third of the season.

• Libero Becky Sheller moved up from fifth to third in the NWC statistics for digs, averaging 5.45 per set.  Scheller led the Boxers defensively in both weekend matches, finishing with a Pacific season high 30 digs against Lewis & Clark and 21 digs at Puget Sound.

• Middle blocker Mariah McHolland added for more blocks to her season total and enters the week ranked 10th in the NWC with 0.62 blocks per set.  She had a strong hitting match against Lewis & Clark on Friday, finishing with 13 kills, a .385 hitting percentage and two blocks.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
GEORGE FOX
The Bruins enter the week as one of three teams tied for fifth place in the NWC at 3-5 and are 8-8 overall.  George Fox saw a three-match win streak end last weekend as they dropped both matches on the road.  On Friday, the Bruins took a four-set loss to Pacific Lutheran in Tacoma.  The match proved close through the first three sets, but the Lutes held the Bruins to just seven kills in the decisive fourth set.  Karlee Jo Sampson came off the bench to lead George Fox with 11 kills.  Saturday proved to be a simular story as the Bruins took a four-set loss at Willamette.  George Fox took a 27-25 victory in the first set, but the Bearcats rushed back to take the final three sets, including a 25-13 rout in the final frame.  Tiffany Burk led the Bruins offensively with 12 kills.  Erin Campbell leads the Bruins offensive with 175 kills and 3.12 kills per set, while Burk is ranked third in the NWC with her .270 hitting percentage to go along with 0.78 blocks per set.  As a team, George Fox is averaging 12.03 kills, 11.24 assists, 16.53 digs per set and 1.65 blocks per set while compiling a .169 hitting percentage.  Steve Grant is in his 32nd year as George Fox head coach.

ALL TIME SERIES: George Fox leads 53-18
LAST MEETING: Pacific won in four sets (25-22, 21-25, 25-15, 25-18) in Forest Grove on Sept. 18, 2013

PACIFIC LUTHERAN
The Lutes enter the week as the NWC's only unbeaten team, leading the league with an 8-0 record and a 12-4 overall mark.  PLU enters the week No. 16 in AVCA Division III Top-25 Poll.  They continued a 10-match win streak with a pair of victories at home over the week.  The Lutes were four-set winners over George Fox on Friday, coming back from a first loss to win the final three, including a 25-13 rout in the fourth.  Bethany Huston led PLU with 15 kills while Amy Wooten added 12.  The Lutes made easy work of Lewis & Clark on Saturday, sweeping the Pioneers while not allowing L&C more than 18 points in any one set.  PLU surged to hit .278 in the match while coming up wih nine blocks  Wooten led the way for PLU with seven kills.  Haley Urdahl leads the PLU offense with 137 kills and an average of 2.32 kills per set.  Huston leads the NWC with a .298 hitting percentage while Wooten sits fifth at .251.  Amber Aguiar leads the lead with 6.10 digs per set.  As a team, the Lutes average 12.12 kills, 11.29 assists, 18.76 digs and 1.87 blocks per set while hitting .172.  Kevin Aoki is in his 18th year as PLU head coach.

ALL TIME SERIES: Pacific Lutheran leads 47-11  
LAST MEETING: Pacific Lutheran won in three sets (25-16, 25-15, 25-18) in Tacoma, Wash., on Sept. 20, 2013

PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
CONTINUING TO PACE THE OFFENSE: Outside hitter Una Areta (Fr., Kent, Wash.) continues to lead the Pacific offense in her first year.  Areta was honorable mention for NWC Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Week after finishing with 34 kills in the two weekend matches.  In Friday's four-set victory over Lewis & Clark, Areta led all players with 24 kills and also had 10 digs for her second double-double of the season.  She then led all players again with 10 kills in the Boxers' three-set loss at No. 19 Puget Sound.  Since moving into the starting lineup five matches ago, Areta had proven a force for the Boxers offensively.  She enters the week ranked seventh in the NWC with an average of 3.07 kills per set and leads the Boxers with 169 total kills.  

DEFENSIVELY SOUND: Returning this weekend to her familiar spot in the opposite-colored jersey, Becky Sheller (So., Gresham, Ore.) has continued to provide solid defense from the libero position.  Sheller moved up from fifth to third in the NWC statistics for digs, averaging 5.45 per set.  On Friday, Sheller came up with a Pacific season-high 30 digs in the four-set victory over Lewis & Clark.  She then led all players with 21 digs in the three-set loss at Puget Sound on Saturday.  Sheller has played in all 15 matches this season and started one at outside hitter a couple of weeks ago.

SOLID AT THE NET: Middle blocker Mariah McHolland (Sr., Renton, Wash.) has continued to provide solid play for the Boxers on the net.  McHolland had a strong match on Friday in the victory over Lewis & Clark, finsihing with 13 kills, four digs and two blocks.  She finished with four blocks over the weekend, which allowed her maintain their 10th place standing in the NWC stats for blocks, averaging 0.62 blocks per set.  McHolland also ranks third for the Boxers in kills with 119, an average of 2.16 per set.

LET'S GO FOUR...OR FIVE: Once again in 2013, Pacific is showing a preference towards longer matches.  In six of their 15 matches this season, Pacific has gone past the minimum three sets.  On four of those occasions, the Boxers have played to a full five sets.  Pacific has now gone five sets in 15 of their 35 matches played under Head Coach Kip Yoshimura with an 9-4 record in those marathons.

I GO TO EXTREMES: Pacific once again finds its 2013 schedule laden with nationally-ranked competition.  The Boxers' schedule feature five matches against teams in the AVCA Division III Top-25 Poll.  Pacific has already played matches against No. 7 Colorado College, No. 15 Augsburg, No. 16 Pacific Lutheran and No. 17 Puget Sound.

KEEPING THE FAITH: If fans are rattled by the Boxers' 2-9 start, they need only remember how Pacific finished up their first season under Head Coach Kip Yoshimura.  Pacific lost their first seven matches in 2012, including a pair to nationally ranked squads from Occidental and Cal Lutheran.  The Boxers rebounded to tear through the conference schedule, placing third in the NWC with a 10-6 record.  The 10 conference wins tied the school single season record and the thrid place finish was Pacific's best since 1994.

PACIFIC PICKED THIRD IN NWC PRESEASON POLL: Northwest Conference coaches have picked Pacific to repeat their third place in the NWC this season in the preseason poll released in August.  The Boxers received 44 of a possible 81 points in the poll, pulling in five points ahead of George Fox, chosen fourthm and eight points ahead of Willamette.  Puget Sound, who advanced to the NCAA Division III quarterfinals in 2012, was picked with 70 points and seven first place votes ahead of defending champion Pacific Lutheran, who received 60 points and two first place votes.  Whitworth (20 pts.), Linfield (20 pts.) and Lewis & Clark (14 pts.), round out the poll.
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