SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth volleyball team returns home for the first time in three weeks to take on Pacific University (Friday, 7 pm) and George Fox University (Saturday, 6 pm) in a pair of key Northwest Conference contests.
Check the Whitworth volleyball schedule (link above-right) for up-to-date access to live results.
Tickets: Digital tickets are required for entrance to the Whitworth Fieldhouse for all fans. Tickets can be purchased in advance using the Hometown Ticketing App. Follow the Tickets link on the schedule for access. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for senior adults, non-Whitworth students and children. Whitworth students, as well as faculty and staff, get free admission by using an ID number.
The Pirates: Whitworth (11-7 overall, 8-2 NWC) won two road matches last weekend and remains tied with George Fox for second place in the Northwest Conference standings.
The Pirates dominated both sides of the net in last Friday's 25-21, 25-18, 25-18 sweep at Willamette. Whitworth hit .397 as a team with 38 kills and only nine errors in 73 attacks. Meanwhile the Bucs came up with 12 team blocks and 34 digs to hold the Bearcats to a .040 team hitting percentage. Amblessed Okemgbo was nearly unstoppable with 13 kills and a .632 hitting percentage. Ella Jimenez added eight kills, while Kaity Barr was in on eight of the team's blocks. Mya Rodriguez and Josephine Thompson dished 16 and 15 assists, respectively. Whitworth won both matches against Willamette this season by 3-0 scores.
The Pirates had one off-set at Lewis & Clark on Saturday before coming away with a 25-15, 23-25, 25-18, 25-21 victory to sweep the season series against the Pioneers. Whitworth won both matches by 3-1 scores. Jimenez and Okemgbo had 12 kills apiece, while Kaity Barr totaled seven kills, two aces, one solo block and six block assists for 13.0 points. Rodriguez (24) and Thompson (16) had 40 combined assists in the match. Okemgbo led the team in digs for the first time this season with 18.
Barr Honored, Again: Kaity Barr is the NWC's Volleyball Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week for the second time this season following her performance at Willamette and Lewis & Clark. Barr totaled one solo block and 14 block assists in the two road wins, averaging 2.14 blocks per set to increase her NWC-leading totals to 1.25 blocks per set and 90 total blocks. Barr was also the defensive winner on September 11th while Ella Jimenez was the NWC's Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week last week (Oct. 9).
NWC Standings Update: Pacific Lutheran (10-0) leads the conference with six matches to play, two games ahead of Whitworth and George Fox (both 8-2) in the standings. Puget Sound is 6-4 and Willamette is 5-5. The top four teams will make the first-ever NWC tournament at the end of the season.
Raising the Barr: Kaity Barr leads NWC players, and ranks 6th in all of NCAA Division III, in blocking (1.25 per set). Barr is joined among NWC leaders by Cassidy Franklin (4th in the NWC, 0.90 blocks per set) and Abigail Hudson (8th, 0.82). That trio is a big reason Whitworth leads the conference and ranks fourth as a team in NCAA Division III in blocks per set (2.49).
Barr also leads the NWC in hitting percentage (.378, also 17th in NCAA DIII) and 10th in service aces (0.47 per set). Ella Jimenez ranks seventh in the conference in kills per set (2.94), while Taylor Miche ranks seventh in the conference in digs per set (4.14).
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: Pacific (Ore.) is 5-14 overall and 1-9 in the NWC heading into the week. The Boxers are looking to end a six-match losing streak, including last week's setbacks to George Fox (3-0 away) and Pacific Lutheran (3-1 home). Junior OH Mara Murphy continues to dominate, averaging 4.51 points per set. She leads the NWC in kills per set (3.92) and leads her team with 20 service aces. Senior setter Emily Cheavtharn is second in the NWC in assists per set (8.91). Whitworth rallied to win 3-2 at Pacific on September 22nd after trailing 2-1. The Pirates scored the final four points of the match to pull out a 16-14 fifth set. Kaity Barr had 16 kills and 18.5 total points to help offset a 27-kill performance from Murphy.
George Fox is 12-5 overall and 8-2 in the NWC heading into a match at Whitman on Friday. The Bruins followed up last week's sweep of Pacific with a 3-1 win over Puget Sound, avenging one of their two NWC losses on the season. George Fox leads the NWC in team hitting percentage (.222) and is the least-blocked team in the conference (1.32 per set). The Bruins rank second in the league in digs per set (17.34). Senior OH Kassandra Staton leads a balanced attack with averages of 3.41 points and 3.00 kills per set. GFU rallied to beat Whitworth 3-2 in Newberg, Oregon on September 23rd after trailing 2-1. Ella Jimenez had 15 kills and five blocks to lead the Bucs.
Coming Up: Whitworth will travel to Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran on October 27 and 28.
