LACEY, Wash. – The second half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season begins for the Western Oregon University volleyball team this Saturday when they start the second half of the conference slate on Saturday night at Saint Martin's beginning at 5:15 p.m.
WOU (2-14, 0-9 GNAC) finished last week with a strong hitting game at Northwest Nazarene as the Wolves hit a season-best .226. The game at Saint Martin's concludes a three-game road swing that will have seen WOU go from Washington to Idaho and then back to Washington.
WOU and Saint Martin's played an epic five-set thriller back on Sep. 25 in Monmouth with the Saints taking the victory. Isabel Hurliman led the offense with 15 kills, Aubrey Stanton had 24 assists, Makenzie York sent back six blocks and Sophie Matlock added 20 digs.
The Wolves are coming off a trip to Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene closing the trip nearly pushing the match to four sets against the Nighthawks before NNU rallied to win the third set, 25-23.
WOU has 652 kills, 598 assists, 92 service aces, 867 digs and 115 blocks on the season. Opponents have 795 kills, 726 assists, 90 service aces, 966 digs and 113 blocks.
Hurliman leads the way with 219 points, tallying 185 kills, 20 service aces163 digs and 28 blocks. Bailee Hartsook has 139.5 points with 129 kills, 74 digs and 17 blocks. Lauren Smith gives the Wolves three with over 100 points sitting at 104 with 89 kills, 39 digs and 23 blocks. Stanton leads the team in assists with 327, while Laney O'Neil adds 177. Stanton has a team-high 21 service aces. On defense, Matlock has 232 digs and York has sent back 46 blocks. Bella MacLellan adds 36 blocks.
WOU ranks fifth in the GNAC in service aces per set (1.51), and sixth in team service aces (92). Individually, Stanton is fifth in the GNAC in aces per set (0.40), ninth in assists per set (6.17), and ninth in total assists (327). York is ninth in the conference and 87th nationally in blocks per set (0.98). Matlock is eighth in the GNAC in digs per set (3.80), and ninth in total digs (232). Hurliman is sixth in the GNAC in kills per set (3.03), sixth in points per set (3.59), and ninth in total kills (185).
WOU has gone 17-3 in Lacey since 2000 and have won the last four meetings on the road with the Saints claiming the win back in 2015.
Saint Martin's is 8-11 overall and 1-8 in GNAC play. They faced Linfield in McMinnville this past Tuesday taking the 3-1 win. In the prior meetings last week in conference play, the Saints lost at Northwest Nazarene (3-1) and Central Washington (3-0).
SMU has 851 kills, 769 assists, 106 service aces, 1,255 digs and 122.5 blocks on the season. Opponents have 831 kills, 745 assists, 121 service aces, 1,197 digs and 139.5 blocks.
Tia Allen leads the team with 249 points, recording 212 kills, 22 service aces, 202 digs and 27 blocks. Emily Gooding adds 204.5 points with 187 kills, 74 digs and 28 blocks. Gracie Brenner adds 129.5 points with 96 kills, 10 service aces, 44 digs and 36 blocks. Kylie Coon gives the team four with over 100 points sitting a 118 with 110 kills. Analise Hitchcock has 466 assists. On defense, Kylie Alos has a team-best 274 digs, with Giselle Bennetti adding 223. Maddy Gooding has sent back a team-best 44 blocks.
Following the one-match road trip this week, WOU will return home to host Seattle Pacific and Montana State Billings next week in Monmouth.
Live video and stats will be available for the match. Live video can be found here and live stats can be found here.
