WESTERN OREGON VOLLEYBALL

Thursday, Oct. 26  /  7 p.m.
Western Washington (17-3, 11-1 GNAC)
Monmouth, Ore.
Live Stream | Live Stats

Saturday, Oct. 28  /  2 p.m.
Simon Fraser  (9-11, 6-6 GNAC)
Monmouth, Ore.
Live Stream | Live Stats

MONMOUTH, Ore.—The Western Oregon University volleyball team will play a pair of matches at home this week by welcoming Western Washington University on Thursday, Oct. 26 and Simon Fraser University on Saturday, Oct. 28.

BLACK OUT: Thursday's match against the No. 8-ranked Vikings of Western Washington will be a Black Out in the stands with fans encouraged to wear their black WOU gear.

DIG PINK: Fans are encouraged to wear pink to Satuday's match in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month. Over a quarter of a million new breast cancer cases occur in men and women across the United States each year. To learn about how early screening, detection and research can help save lives, please visit the Susan G. Koman web site at komen.org or the American Cancer Society at cancer.org 

ABOUT WESTERN WASHINGTON (17-3, 11-1 GNAC): The Vikings will carry a 10-match winning streak when they arrive in Monmouth this week... Eight of WWU's 10 wins during that streak have come via 3-0 sweeps… WWU posted a 3-0 win against the Wolves in Bellingham on Sept. 30… The Vikings are ranked No. 2 in the GNAC with a .253 hitting percentage and sit at No. 4 in the conference by holding its opponents to a .158 rate… Abby Phelps leads the team and is ranked No. 3 in the GNAC with 3.90 kills per set… The offense runs through setter Brette Boesel, who is second in the league with 11.54 assists per set.

ABOUT SIMON FRASER (9-11, 6-6 GNAC): Splitting its last three weekly series, Simon Fraser has alternated wins and losses over the past six matches… The Clan fell 3-0 to No. 8-ranked Western Washington and defeated MSU Billings by a 3-1 margin last Saturday… SFU defeated the Wolves 3-1 in Burnaby on Sept. 28… Simon Fraser is No. 7 in the GNAC with a .186 hitting percentage and No. 6 in opponents hit rate (.190)… Led by GNAC-leading Jayme Bratsburg (5.39 dps), the Clan are third in the conference with 18.59 digs per set… Tessa May leads the attack with 2.70 kills per set and a .355 hitting percentage, a rate good for second in the conference.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Wolves will stay home for the first half the week with a Tuesday match against Concordia on Halloween… WOU will then travel to face Montana State Billings on Thursday, Nov. 2.

LAST WEEK: The Wolves fell to two of the top three teams in the GNAC while playing on the road… Central Washington earned a 3-0 against the Wolves win in Ellensburg on Thursday… No. 12-ranked Northwest Nazarene topped WOU in three sets on Saturday in Nampa.
 
2x1K: With 13 kills against Alaska Fairbanks on Oct. 12, senior Alisha Bettinson topped the 1,000-kill mark for her career to become just the second Wolf to top the career mark during WOU's DII era (since 2000)… With 1,026 kills Bettinson is ranked No. 2 all-time in career kills during WOU's NCAA DII era behind Danielle Reese's 1,065… Defensively, Bettinson became the fifth Wolf to reach 1,000 digs in a career on Oct. 7 against MSU Billings and now has 1,053 in her career… She is the first Wolf during the DII era to top 1,000 career kills and digs… Bettinson's 2.85 kills per set rate for her career is ranked No. 6 all-time at WOU… Bettinson passed Reese's total of 3,391 career attacks on Oct. 3 against Concordia and now has a school record 3,522 total swings.

THAT'S ACES: In addition to her kill totals, Alisha Bettinson is also ranked No. 8 in school NCAA DII history with 67 aces… Sophomore Libbie Hoene holds the school's No. 6 ace rate with 0.30 aces per set… Six other former Wolves have averaged at least 0.30 aces per set while school record holder Mandy Veley (2004-05) leads by a comfortable margin over the pack with 0.55 aces per set.   

BLANKINSHIP EFFICIENCY: In four seasons in Monmouth, senior Sydney Blankinship holds a career hit rate of .280 for the Wolves to rank No. 3 all-time at the school… Krissi Kemper (2010-13) holds the school mark at .317 while Jordin Ramos (2011-14) is ranked second with a .296 rate.

BLACKINSHIP ON THE BLOCK: Blankenship entered WOU's all-time top-10 in career blocks on Oct. 14 against Alaska Anchorage… With 162 career blocks, Blankinship is ranked No. 9 in school history and is six rejections shy of eighth place (Janelle Barton, 2000-02).
 
ASSIST CHARTS: Junior Maddie Mehciz has tallied 1,685 assists in her three seasons with the Wolves and is ranked No. 4 in the all-time career leaders… Next in front of Mehciz is former Wolf Shawn Paulino (2004-05) with 1,922 assists… Leila Holt, another junior is ranked No. 9 all-time at WOU with 1,024 career assists.

RELIABLE AT THE SERVE: With a .976 serve percentage, junior Mackenzie Bowen is tied for the school record with Amy Tyler (2003)… In 207 career serves, Bowen has been charged with just five errors while credited with 12 aces.

DII WEST SHOWCASE: The Wolves went 2-2 while hosting the DII West Region Showcase from Sept. 7-9…  WOU alternated wins and losses over the three-day event, opening with a sweep against Cal State San Marcos and following with a 3-2 loss to Chaminade… WOU finished the tourney with a pair of five-set matches, first defeating Fresno Pacific and finally falling to Cal Sate East Bay on Saturday night.

BOWEN NAMED GNAC POW: Junior Mackenzie Bowen was named the GNAC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 5 after her play at the Concordia Labor Tournament… Bowen averaged 5.73 digs per set in the three matches in Portland and was named to the All-Tournament team for her efforts… Bowen posted a match-high 35 digs in a four-set win over Lubbock Christian.

RETURNERS: The Wolves return four of six starters from a year ago, including honorable mention All-GNAC selection Alisha Bettinson… Bettinson led WOU with 337 kills and a 3.40 kills per set average a year ago… Mariella Vandenkooy and Sydney Blankinship, ranked third and fifth on the team in kills respectively, provide additional experience on the offensive side for the Wolves… Vandenkooy averaged 2.23 kills per set while Blankinship led the team with a .271 hitting percentage… The team has the luxury of a pair of junior setters to turn to in Leila Holt and Maddie Mehciz… Mackenzie Bowen, another junior, returns as the most experienced defensive specialist.

GNAC PRESASON POLL: With 50 points, the WOU volleyball team was picked to place seventh according to the GNAC Coaches' Preseason Poll… Concordia edged the Wolves with 67 points for the No. 6 position while Saint Martin's followed the Wolves in eighth place… Alaska Anchorage was favored to repeat as GNAC championships by a single point over Western Washington, 110 to 109… Northwest Nazarene was also favored to be in the title hunt with 106 points and a third-place showing.

2016 RECAP: The Wolves finished with a 10-17 overall record in head coach Tommy Gott's first season… WOU went 7-13 in GNAC competitions to tie for seventh place in the conference standings… Following the season, senior defensive specialist Christie Colasurdo and junior outside hitter Alisha Bettinson were selected as honorable mention All-GNAC performers.