SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth volleyball team opens the second round of its Northwest Conference schedule this week with matches at Willamette University (Friday, 7:00 pm) and at Lewis & Clark College (Saturday, 6:00 pm).
Check the Whitworth volleyball schedule (link above-right) for up-to-date access to live results.
The Pirates: Whitworth (9-7 overall, 6-2 NWC) won twice last weeks and makes the turn in the NWC schedule tied for second place in the conference standings.
Ella Jimenez and Amblessed Okemgbo had 12 kills apiece to lead the Bucs to a 25-15, 25-17, 16-25, 25-21 win over Whitman last Wednesday night. Whitworth hit .277 as a team, thanks to starting middles Kaity Barr and Cassidy Franklin who had nine kills and only one error each. Josephine Thompson had 24 assists and served six aces, a single-match high for the Pirates this season. Mya Rodriguez added 23 assists as Whitworth had 51 assists on all 51 kills in the contest.
The Pirates had a quick turnaround with a road match at Linfield on Friday night. Whitworth's slow start allowed the Wildcats to take a 13-4 lead in the opening set, but the Bucs rallied for a 25-19, 25-20, 25-20 win. Whitworth hit .298 while holding Linfield to a .039 percentage thanks to 11.0 team blocks. The Wildcats did not have a single block in the match. Jimenez had 16 more kills, while Thompson and Rodriguez dished 16 assists apiece. Franklin was in on six of the Pirates' blocks and Taylor Miche got 15 digs. Barr served four of Whitworth's five aces.
Jimenez Honored: Ella Jimenez is the NWC's Volleyball Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week following her performance against Whitman and Linfield. Jimenez had 28 kills (4.0 kills per set) and hit .321 in Whitworth's 2-0 week. Jimenez is Whitworth's second NWC SAoW in volleyball this season. Kaity Barr was the defensive winner on September 11th.
NWC Standings Update: Pacific Lutheran (8-0) leads the conference at the halfway point, two games ahead of Whitworth and George Fox in the standings. Puget Sound is 5-3 and Willamette is 4-4. The top four teams will make the first-ever NWC tournament at the end of the season.
Raising the Barr: Kaity Barr leads all NWC players, and ranks 15th in all of NCAA Division III, in blocking (1.15 per set). Barr is joined among NWC leaders by Cassidy Franklin (3rd in the NWC, 0.95 blocks per set) and Abigail Hudson (7th, 0.79). That trio is a big reason Whitworth leads the conference and ranks fifth as a team in NCAA Division III in blocks per set (2.46).
Barr also ranks second in the NWC in hitting percentage (.368) and 7th in service aces (0.48 per set). Ella Jimenez ranks seventh in the conference in kills per set (2.95), while Taylor Miche ranks seventh in the conference in digs per set (4.37).
NWC Poll: Whitworth finished third in the Northwest Conference preseason coaches poll with 51 points, behind Puget Sound (62) and Pacific Lutheran (53). Puget Sound, the other co-champion with the Pirates last season, got six first place votes, PLU got one and Whitworth received two.
The Coach: Kati Bodecker has a record of 181-74 heading into her 11th season guiding the Pirates. She is a four-time Northwest Conference Coach of the Year after leading Whitworth to five NWC championships in her first nine seasons. She is 128-28 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: Willamette is 9-6 overall and 4-4 in the NWC heading into Friday's match. The Bearcats are in the hunt for an NWC tournament spot. They defeated Puget Sound 3-2 on the road last Friday before falling 3-0 at home to George Fox on Saturday. Junior OH Oliva Cadien leads the conference in kills per set (3.75), while junior libero Shyla Sato ranks second in the NWC in digs per set (5.77). Whitworth defeated Willamette 3-0 in Spokane on September 15th, thanks to 15 kills from Ella Jimenez and Kaity Barr's three blocks and three aces.
Lewis & Clark is 6-10 overall and 1-7 in the NWC heading in a Friday night match against Whitman. The Pioneers picked up their first NWC win of the season last Friday, 3-2 at Pacific (Ore.). They lost 3-0 on the road at Pacific Lutheran on Saturday. Senior OH Izzy Willis is third in the NWC in kills per set (3.50), while senior libero Katie Shimaura is third in the NWC in aces per set (0.55) and fifth in digs per set (4.75). Whitworth defeated Lewis & Clark 3-1 in Spokane on September 16th when Amblessed Okemgbo had 17 kills and Mya Rodriguez finished with 31 assists and 24 digs.
Coming Up: Whitworth will host Pacific (Ore.) and George Fox on October 20th and 21st.
