MONMOUTH, Ore. --- The Western Oregon volleyball hits the road to take on Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington this week.

The Wolves, who lost to both teams earlier this season at home, are still in the hunt in a very close pack between third and ninth place in the GNAC standings.
 

'22 VB Standings	CONF	PCT	OVERALL	PCT	HOME	AWAY	NEUTRAL	STREAK
Alaska Anchorage	9-0	1.000	19-1	.950	8-0	7-0	4-1	Won 11
Western Washington	8-1	.889	13-4	.765	9-0	3-1	1-3	Won 5
Seattle Pacific	6-3	.667	8-9	.471	4-1	2-5	2-3	Won 5
Northwest Nazarene	5-4	.556	12-5	.706	7-3	2-2	3-0	Lost 1
Central Washington	5-4	.556	10-7	.588	2-2	4-3	4-2	Won 1
Simon Fraser	4-5	.444	7-11	.389	3-1	1-5	3-5	Won 1
Alaska Fairbanks	3-6	.333	13-8	.619	6-3	3-4	4-1	Lost 4
Western Oregon	3-6	.333	7-10	.412	1-3	2-3	4-4	Lost 1
Saint Martin's	2-7	.222	12-7	.632	6-4	2-3	4-0	Lost 3
Montana State Billings	0-9	.000	7-10	.412	5-4	1-5	1-1	Lost 3

WOLVES HEADING INTO THE WEEK | 2022 STATISTICS
WOU had a thrilling, come-from-behind, five-set victory over Simon Fraser on Thursday before being swept by No. 11 Western Washington on Saturday.

Madison Hornback (2.59), Sarah Crowell (2.53) and Bailee Hartsook (2.37) continue to pace the Wolves' attack in kills per set while Emily West (5.31) and Laney O'Neil (5.06) lead the team in assists per set. Hornback also leads the team in aces (22) while Ally Henry is second with 18. Defensively, Henry leads the team at 3.56 digs per set followed by Hornback (2.48). Delaney Smith (0.80) and Chloe Asciutto (0.72) are leading the way for WOU in blocks per set.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE HEADING INTO THE WEEK | 2022 STATISTICS
The Nighthawks are coming off a split at home against the Alaska schools, sweeping Fairbanks and falling to No. 9 Anchorage in four sets.

Olivia Wright (3.54) and Natalie Sullivan (3.52) lead NNU in kills per set by a wide margin (the next closest is 2.02 per set from Miya Koch) while Mckenzie Lee is averaging 10.67 assists per match. Caroline McMahon (22), Koch (22) and Helen Sullivan (20) lead the team in aces. Defensively, McMahon is averaging a team-best 4.38 digs per set while Olivia Wright is leading the team at 1.11 blocks per set. 

CENTRAL WASHINGTON HEADING INTO THE WEEK | 2022 STATISTICS
The Wildcats are coming off a 3-0 swep of Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday after falling to No. 9 Alaska Anchorage in three two nights before.

Ashley Kaufman has led the CWU attack at 3.09 kills per set followed by Tia Andaya (2.88). Sydney Remsberg is averaging a team-best 5.46 assists followed by Andaya (5.22) while Hannah Stires (24), Andaya (23) and Kaufman (22) each have more than 20 aces on the season. Stires also leads the team in digs per set (4.25) while Emma Daoud-Hebert leads the team at 1.43 blocks per set.
  MAKING STRIDES IN YEAR ONE UNDER NAHALE-A
The Western Oregon volleyball team with its seven wins has already surpassed last season's win total (4-21), their 2019 (5-22) and 2018 (6-21) win totals (5-22) while equaling the 2017 win total (7-20) in head coach Kaiao Nahale-a's first season at the helm. The Wolves are looking for their first double-figure win season since 2016 (10-17).

BIG WOLVES WIN TO OPEN GNAC PLAY - FIRST VICTORY IN FAIRBANKS SINCE 2016
WOU opened GNAC play on Sept. 8 with a five-set win over Alaska Fairbanks, breaking the Nanooks' seven-match win streak, snapping an eight-match losing streak to them and winning in Fairbanks for the first time since 2016. Sarah Crowell paced the Wolves with a season-high 16 kills while Madison Hornback added 15 and Bailee Hartsook had 10.

HORNBACK, CASAREZ MAKE SMU ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
The Western Oregon volleyball team had a pair of representatives on the SMU All-Tournament Team from the event that took place from Sept. 1-3 in Lacey, Washington, in Madison Hornback and Sophia Casarez. Hornback had a big weekend in totaling 52 kills, 47 digs and nine aces in the Wolves' four matches while Casarez had 96 assists for the Wolves.