Volleyball Travels to California for DII West Region Showcase

TURLOCK, Calif. – Four games await the Western Oregon University volleyball team this Thursday through Saturday as they will play host Stanislaus State, Sonoma State, Holy Names and Notre Dame De Namur.

"It will be a good chance to play against some good competition as well for this week, with us being such a young team we can continue to build chemistry each time we get on the court," Head Coach Stacy Metro said. "They have a bitter taste in their mouth from last week, so looking forward to playing again. With it being a pretty quick turnaround, great chance for us to get right back on the court and get after it."

The schedule has the Wolves facing Stanislaus State first on Thursday at 12:30 p.m., Sonoma State later in the day on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Then on Friday Holy Names at 5 p.m. before closing the tournament on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. against Notre Dame De Namur.

WOU opened with a trio of tough games to start the season last weekend in Portland against MSU Denver, Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Monterey Bay. The Wolves just missed out forcing a fifth set against the Roadrunners and after facing a tough #20 ranked Broncos squad, WOU battled four sets with
the Otters before falling in four.

"Last week was a good learning experience for them, so for us every time we go out on the court, it's another chance to learn something new," Metro said. "We're working on developing chemistry and we still have a lot of learning to do, but each day we get out there, we work on that. I thought our players did some good things last week individually and as a team."

The offense tallied 48 kills in the first match of the season and added a 38-kill performance in the finale. For the season, WOU has 111 kills, 105 assists, 15 service aces, 101 digs and 28 blocks. Opponents have 143 kills, 127 assists, 130 digs and 29 blocks. Fifteen Wolves saw playing time to start the season with Aubrey Stanton, Sarah Crowell, Mikayla Seiler, Allie Spear, Allyson Crisp and Sianna DeCarli playing in all 11 sets. Four have at least 13 kills led by DeCarli's 33, Crowell and Crisp add 20 and Lauren Smith is at 13. Stanton has been responsible for 82 assists, Crowell has four service aces, with Stanton and Seiler adding three apiece. Spear has 33 digs, Smith adds 14, Crowell with 13 and Stanton at 10. Crisp has sent back 10 blocks and DeCarli adds seven.

In the GNAC, Stanton ranks eighth in assists per set (7.45) and ninth in total assists (82).

Stanislaus State opened the season in Utah at the Dixie State Tournament and went 1-2 defeating GNAC foe Simon Fraser in the season opener, 3-2, before falling in four sets to host Dixie State and then in a five-set battle to Colorado Christian.

The Warriors have 168 kills, 153 assists, 18 service aces, 237 digs and 33 blocks. Yisel Perez leads the offense with 41 kills, Breanna Cannon has 131 assists, Rachel Klopfer has spun in five service aces, Krista Hernandez has 56 digs and Jordon Wilson has sent back 20 blocks.

WOU is 2-1 against Stanislaus State since 2007 with the Wolves winning the first two meetings first in 2007 (3-2) and 2016 (3-1), before the Warriors took the most recent meeting in 2018 (3-0).

Sonoma State is 4-1 on the season with wins against West Virginia State, Hawaii Pacific, Hawaii Hilo and Dominican (CA) all in straight sets. The only loss was in four sets to Chaminade. The SeaWolves have 220 kills, 178 assists, 32 service aces, 212 digs and 32.5 blocks. Caiti Wiesner leads the offense with 45 kills, while Kiana Richardson adds 39. Jenn Trenhan has 64 assists, Jenna Miller has 10 service aces, Ashleigh Phelps is at 63 digs and Adriana Baysinger and Richardson lead in blocks with Baysinger at 14 and Richardson with 13.

Since 2002, Sonoma State is 3-1 in the series with WOU as the SeaWolves won the first two meetings 3-0, before the Wolves won in 2007 in four sets. The last meeting occurred in 2009 with Sonoma State taking the 3-1 victory.

Holy Names enters the tournament having played just one match which was a 3-1 win over UC Merced at home. The Hawks have 53 kills, 46 assists, 14 service aces, 50 digs and eight blocks. Individually, Sierra Allen has 21 kills and Maddy Standley adds 10, Brittany Caraccilo has 40 assists and four service aces along with Jasmine Yun, while on defense Felicya Zuniga has 17 digs and both Una Deng and Maddy Standley have sent back three blocks apiece.

WOU has won both meetings in the series since 2013 taking the first meeting in Monmouth in a sweep in 2013 and then most recently in 2018 in Oakland, Calif., with the 3-1 victory.

The last game of the tournament will be against Notre Dame De Namur as the Argonauts have gone 1-2 to start the season defeating La Sierra in five sets before falling in straight sets to Cal State Dominguez Hills and a five-setter to Humboldt State. As a team, Notre Dame De Namur has 73 kills, 67 assists, 12 service aces, 130 digs and nine blocks. Samantha Shaffer has 30 kills, Faith Bennett has 37 assists, Rowan Jack with three service aces and 34 digs, while Chantal Zahrndt has sent back five blocks.

WOU holds a 2-0 edge in the series with the teams matching up in 2009 in Bellingham, Wash., and the Wolves claimed a 3-1 win. Most recently the teams played in 2015 in Monmouth with WOU taking the 3-2 victory.

Coverage for all four games will feature video found here and live stats found here.

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Players Mentioned

#18 Sianna DeCarli: OH; 6' 0"; Junior

#2 Aubrey Stanton: S; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#15 Allyson Crisp: MB/OPP; 6' 2"; Senior

#4 Sarah Crowell: DS; 5' 9"; Freshman

#10 Mikayla Seiler: DS; 5' 5"; Sophomore

#8 Lauren Smith: OH; 6' 1"; Freshman

#1 Allie Spear: OH/DS; 5' 5"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#18 Sianna DeCarli
: 6' 0"; Junior
: OH

#2 Aubrey Stanton
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: S

#15 Allyson Crisp
: 6' 2"; Senior
: MB/OPP

#4 Sarah Crowell
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: DS

#10 Mikayla Seiler
: 5' 5"; Sophomore
: DS

#8 Lauren Smith
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: OH

#1 Allie Spear
: 5' 5"; Junior
: OH/DS