SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth University begins defense of its Northwest Conference volleyball crown this week with arguably the toughest trip in conference play.  The Pirates head to Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound on Friday and Saturday. 

Check the Whitworth volleyball schedule (link above-right) for up-to-date live access to results.

The Pirates:  Whitworth finished 3-1 at the Transylvania University Invitational in Lexington, Kentucky against another challenging field.  Like the previous week's tournament, Maddie Lee led the offense and Ella Jimenez led the defense. 

The Pirates defeated Illinois College 25-15, 25-15, 25-13 in their tournament opener.  Whitworth hit a season-best .300 team hitting percentage and was very balanced offensively.  Jaye Hodge had eight kills, Lee had seven, Cassidy Franlkin had six.  Jimenez had five kills and four blocks (one solo, three assists).  Joelle Forbes (17 assists) and Megan Lange (12 assists) continue to lead the offense. 

Whitworth defeated the University of Chicago 25-10, 25-20, 22-25, 25-23 in Friday's second match, the Bucs' second win of the season against the Maroons.  Lee led the way with 13 kills, while Jimenez had ten kills and 10 blocks (one solo, 9 assists).  Jimenez hit .556 in the match.  Hodge added eight kills and Franklin had seven.  Eva Millan finished with 18 digs and served three aces.

Whitworth rallied from two sets behind to defeat Texas Lutheran 20-25, 15-25, 25-19, 31-29, 15-13 in Saturday morning's match.  The Pirates survived two match points in the fourth set before pulling out the grueling frame.  Lee posted 23 kills to lead all players and added 15 digs and four blocks (1 solo, 3 assists).  Jimenez added 11 kills with a .733 hitting percentage before she left with an injury.  Amblessed Okemgbo and Abigail Hudson took over in the middle.  Both had four block assists and Okemgbo ended with eight kills.

A drained Pirate squad fell 25-16, 26-16, 19-25, 25-14 to Transylvania in the tournament finale.  Lee had 13 kills, while Jimenez finished with eight kills and four blocks (one solo, three assists.  Franklin added seven kills and four service aces.

Jimenez Honored by NWC:  Ella Jimenez is Whitworth's first Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week in volleyball.  She earned the Defensive award after averaging more than 1.5 blocks per set in the four matches in Lexington.  She currently leads the conference by a wide margin in total blocks (46) and blocks per set (1.48).

History Achieved:  The 2021 Pirates became the first Whitworth team to finish its Northwest Conference schedule undefeated and the first NWC team to traverse the league slate without a loss since PLU in 2009.  Whitworth won its 11th Northwest Conference volleyball title last fall.  It is the 10th championship since 2001 and fifth under head coach Kati Bodecker.

In addition, Whitworth posted its best regular season record since the Pirates went 23-2 during the regular season in 2002.

NWC Poll:  Whitworth was picked first on eight out of nine ballots in the 2022 NWC preseason coaches poll.  The Pirates had 64 points to outdistance PLU, who had the remaining first place vote and 56 points.  Puget Sound was third in the poll (47 points), while Pacific (Ore.) was fourth (41 points).  Coaches cannot vote for their own school.

The Coach:  Kati Bodecker, now 164-63 in her tenth season guiding the Pirates, is a four-time Northwest Conference Coach of the Year after leading Whitworth to five NWC championships in her first nine seasons.  She is 117-23 in conference matches during that time.  Bodecker has also directed the Pirates to five appearances in the NCAA Division III tournament (2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021).  In 2013 she coached the Bucs to a 15-13 record, becoming the first Whitworth volleyball coach to post a winning record in her first season since Margaret Campbell in 1990.  She previously had been the head coach at Priest River High School, leading the Spartans to five state tournament appearances, including a runner-up finish in 2012.  She was a four-year starter at the University of Idaho, helping lead the Vandals to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances as a sophomore and junior.

The Opponents:  Pacific Lutheran comes into Friday's match 5-3.  The Lutes went 1-3 at the Augsburg Invitational in Minnesota last weekend, but all three losses came to opponents ranked in the top 25 or receiving votes in the top 25.  PLU started the season 4-0 at the UPS Premiere tournament.  Freshman OH Elle Thomas leads the offense with 2.83 kill per set and a team-high nine assists.  Senior OH Baylee Johnson adds 2.61 kills per set.  Senior libero Halle Hetzler is the returning NWC Libero of the Year.  Last season Whitworth defeated PLU twice, winning 3-0 at home and 3-1 in Parkland.

Puget Sound is 3-5 heading into a Friday night match against Whitman.  The Loggers started 3-1 at their own season opening tournament, but went 0-4 last weekend in Southern California.  Junior MB Avery Alleman is hitting .357 with an average of 2.77 kills per set.  Junior OH Katelyn Checkian adds 2.04 kills per frame and has 10 service aces.  Last season Whitworth defeated the Loggers 3-1 in Spokane and 3-0 in Tacoma.

Coming Up:  Whitworth will play at home for the first time in the 2022 season when the Pirates host Whitman (Sept. 21) and Willamette (Sept. 24).