SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth Pirates will compete in the first-ever Northwest Conference volleyball tournament this weekend. The Pirates will play George Fox on Friday night (7:30 pm) in the second semifinal. The winner will take on either Pacific Lutheran or Willamette in the tournament championship match on Saturday night (6:00 pm).
Check the Whitworth volleyball schedule (link above-right) for up-to-date access to live results.
The Pirates: Whitworth (15-9 overall, 12-4 NWC) split a pair of matches last week to finish in sole possession of second place in the Northwest Conference standings.
Whitworth dropped a 26-24, 25-19, 23-25, 20-25, 16-14 decision at Whitman last Wednesday night. The Blues rallied from a 13-3 deficit to win the first set, then used that momentum to control the second game. The Pirates pulled out the third and fourth sets and led 11-5 in the fifth, but could not close out Whitman. Ella Jimenez had a career-high 26 kills and hit .392 in the contest. Logan Spencer added 11 kills and four blocks (two solo, two assists). Josephine Thompson played the entire match at setter and totaled 52 assists and also added six kills. Taylor Miche had 26 digs. Whitman was able to end a 12-match losing streak to the Pirates.
Whitworth closed the regular season with a dominating 25-18, 25-14, 25-12 win over Linfield last Saturday. After recognizing the senior class prior to the first serve, the Pirates got stronger as the night progressed, hitting .225, .341 and .586 in each succeeding set. The Bucs finished the match with a team hitting percentage of .364, the second highest of the season. Jimenez had another dominating performance with 14 kills and a .400 hitting percentage. Spencer added 12 kills and hit .476. Thompson (26) and Mya Rodriguez (14) combined for 40 assists to lead the offensive attack. Whitworth swept the season series against Linfield.
NWC Tournament Info: The 2023 Northwest Conference playoffs consist of a four-team tournament hosted by regular season champion Pacific Lutheran in Parkland, Washington. The semifinals are on Friday, November 10, and championship game is on Saturday, November 11. While the 2023 Northwest Conference championship was decided by regular season play, the 2023 NWC playoffs will determine the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
As the regular season champion, Pacific Lutheran is the top-seed in the tournament and will host fourth-seeded Willamette in the first semifinal on Friday (4:30 pm). Whitworth (#2) and George Fox (#3) face off in the second semifinal (7:30 pm). The winners will meet in the championship game on Saturday at 6:00 pm.
Jimenez Honored, again: Ella Jimenez is the NWC Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week in volleyball for the second time this season. She totaled 40 kills (5.0 kills per set) and hit .394 over the two matches last week. Jimenez was also the NWC Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week on October 9th.
Raising the Barr: Kaity Barr leads NWC players, and ranks 11th in all of NCAA Division III, in blocking (1.17 per set). Barr is joined among NWC leaders by Cassidy Franklin (2nd in the NWC, 0.95 blocks per set) and Abigail Hudson (8th, 0.77). That trio is a big reason Whitworth leads the conference and ranks seventh as a team in NCAA Division III in blocks per set (2.42).
Barr also leads the NWC and ranks 14th in NCAA DIII in hitting percentage (.382), while Franklin is third in the NWC (.353). Ella Jimenez ranks fifth in the conference in kills per set (3.14) and points per set (3.56), while Taylor Miche ranks seventh in the conference in digs per set (4.23).
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: George Fox is 15-8 overall and finished 11-5 in the NWC. The Bruins lost twice at home last weekend. On Friday night GFU led PLU 2-0 before falling 3-2, despite holding a 12-7 lead in the fifth set. On Saturday the Bruins fell 3-1 to 4th place Willamette. George Fox leads the NWC in team hitting percentage (.227) and is second in kills per set (12.39). Senior OH Kassandra Mendenhall is seventh in the conference in kills per set (3.04), while senior MB Olivia Jacobsen is fourth in the NWC in blocks per set (0.92). Whitworth and George Fox split a pair of matches this season. The Bruins pulled out a 3-2 decision in Newberg, Oregon on September 23rd. The Pirates won in a sweep in Spokane on October 21st.
The Other Half: The other half of the NWC bracket features #1 seed Pacific Lutheran and #4 seed Willamette.
PLU rolled to the 2023 NWC regular season title with a 16-0 record and the Lutes are 17-7 overall. After storming from behind to defeat George Fox on Friday night, the Lutes closed with a sweep at Lewis & Clark on Saturday. PLU leads the NWC and ranks 17th in DIII in digs per set and they rank first in the conference in kills per set (12.47). Senior libero Halle Hetzler is second in the country in digs per set (6.77) and first in the NWC in aces per set (0.56). Setter Olivia Evaro leads the conference in assists per set (9.96). Whitworth and PLU have played a pair of epic matches this season, but the Lutes won both. PLU won 3-1 in Spokane on September 30th and 3-2 in Parkland on October 28th.
Willamette (14-9 overall, 9-7 NWC) was the final team to qualify for the NWC tournament. What was supposed to be a tough match against defending NWC champion Puget Sound last Friday turned into a 3-0 sweep for the Bearcats, who followed that up with their impressive win at George Fox in the regular season finale. Willamette ranks second in the NWC in aces per set (2.16). Senior OH Olivia Cadien is second in the NWC in kills per set (3.56) and points per set (4.21). She has also served 38 aces. Whitworth swept Willamette in both matches this season.
Coming Up: The winner of the NWC tournament will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III field. That field will be announced on Sunday.
