SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth Pirates will prep for the upcoming Northwest Conference volleyball tournament with the final two regular season contests of 2023 this week. The Pirates will play at Whitman on Wednesday night (6:00 pm), then close the schedule at home against Linfield on Saturday night (6:00 pm).
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 (14-8 overall, 11-3 NWC) saw a seven-match winning streak come to an end last Saturday. The Bucs are tied with George Fox for second in the Northwest Conference and can do no worse than third in the final standings.
Last Friday night at Puget Sound Whitworth rallied for a 25-14, 20-25, 17-25, 25-22, 15-11 win over the Loggers. After the Pirates dominated the first set, Puget Sound fought back and made Whitworth work hard for a seventh straight win. Amblessed Okemgbo had 16.0 points on 14 kills and four block assists, while Ella Jimenez had 15.0 points with 14 kills and two block assists. Cassidy Franklin chipped in eight kills and eight block assists for 12.0 points. The Bucs finished with 11.0 team blocks. Mya Rodriguez had 24 assists and Josephine Thompson added 19 as Whitworth hit .206 as a team. Whitworth swept the season series against Puget Sound.
The Pirates dominated on offense (.288 hitting percentage, 65 kills) and defense (14.0 team blocks) on Saturday at Pacific Lutheran, but the Lutes served 14 aces and came away with a 17-25, 25-21, 25-23, 8-25, 15-12 win that clinched the regular season NWC title and the top seed in the upcoming NWC tournament. Jimenez had 19.5 points on 18 kills and three block assists, while Okemgbo had 17.5 points on 17 kills and one block assist. Logan Spencer added a dozen kills. Kaity Barr (2 solo, 5 assists) and Franklin (1 solo, 6 assists) had seven blocks apiece. Thompson (29) and Rodriguez (26) combined for 55 assists, while Taylor Miche had 22 digs. PLU swept the season series against Whitworth and is undefeated in conference matches.
NWC Standings Update: Pacific Lutheran (14-0) has clinched the regular-season NWC title and the right to host the first-ever conference tournament. Whitworth and George Fox (both 11-3) are tied for second and will be the second and third seeds. Which order is still to be determined. GFU can spoil PLU's bid for a perfect conference season when the Bruins host the Lutes on Friday night. Puget Sound (7-7) and Willamette (7-7) are battling for the final tournament berth and play each other this weekend. The top four teams make the tournament, which will be Nov. 10-11 at PLU.
Raising the Barr: Kaity Barr leads NWC players, and ranks 8th in all of NCAA Division III, in blocking (1.22 per set). Barr is joined among NWC leaders by Cassidy Franklin (now 2nd in the NWC, 1.00 blocks per set) and Abigail Hudson (8th, 0.78). 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 and ranks 12th in NCAA DIII in hitting percentage (.388), while Franklin is third in the NWC (.349). Ella Jimenez ranks seventh in the conference in kills per set (2.97), 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: Whitman is 5-16 overall and 4-10 in the NWC, but the Blues are coming off a massive win at Puget Sound on Saturday night. Senior OH Kenzie Martinez is this week's NWC Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week in volleyball and she ranks fourth in the conference in kills per set (3.39). Senior OH Nicole Kelly adds 2.36 kills per set and leads the team in service aces (32). Whitworth defeated Whitman 3-1 at home on October 4th, thanks to 12 kills and three blocks from Ella Jimenez and 24 assists and six aces by Josephine Thompson.
Linfield is 8-13 overall and 4-10 in the NWC heading into a match at Whitman on Friday. The Wildcats won 3-1 at Pacific (Ore.) last Friday and lost 3-0 at home to George Fox on Saturday. Linfield ranks second as a team in the NWC in service aces per set (2.22). Sophomore OH Araeya Watanabe leads a balanced offensive attack with 2.31 kills per set. Whitworth defeated the Wildcats 3-0 in McMinnville, Oregon on October 6th. Ella Jimenez had 16 kills and Taylor Miche got 15 digs.
Coming Up: Whitworth will play in the first-ever Northwest Conference tournament against George Fox on Friday night, November 10th at PLU. The winner will advance to Saturday's championship match. Times are still to be determined.
