SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth volleyball team heads into the final regular season road matches of the 2024 campaign this weekend in Oregon. The Pirates will play at Lewis & Clark on Friday night (7:00 pm) and at Willamette on Saturday (6:00 pm).
Check the Whitworth volleyball schedule (link above-right) for up-to-date access to live results.
The Pirates: 23rd-ranked Whitworth (20-2 overall, 12-0 NWC) opened a two-game lead in the Northwest Conference standings with a pair of 3-0 wins last week.
The Pirates served 10 aces and pulled away late for a 25-21, 25-23, 25-13 win at Whitman last Tuesday night. Ella Jimenez had 18 kills, four aces and two block assists for 23.0 points to lead all players by a wide margin. No other player in the match had more than 9.0 points. She also had 13 digs. Amblessed Okemgbo and Lauren Kremer had six kills apiece, with Kremer chipping in three blocks. Josephine Thompson had 21 assists, while Megan Lange added 12 assists and three aces. Whitworth swept the season series against the Blues.
Playing at home for the first time in three weeks, the Pirates defeated Linfield 25-18, 25-17, 25-16 last Saturday to sweep the season series. Whitworth hit .333 in the match, had 10 more aces and finished with 8.0 team blocks. Jimenez had 14 kills and hit .500 to go along with four aces and five block assists for 20.5 points. She also led the Bucs with 11 digs. Cassidy Franklin had 10.5 points with eight kills (.438), one solo block and three block assists. Okemgbo finished with nine kills. Thompson (19) and Lange (14) combined for 33 of the 41 assists. Lange also had four aces.
Jimenez tabbed for fourth time by NWC: Ella Jimenez is the NWC's volleyball Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week for the fourth time in 2024. Even in the midst of an All-NWC kind of season, Jimenez had her most dominating week yet. She finished with 32 kills in a pair of three-set sweeps, averaging 5.33 kills per set and hitting .339 in the process. She added four aces in each match and finished with 43.5 points during the week, an average of 7.25 points per set. She was previously selected on September 9th, September 23rd and October 21st.
Taylor Miche (Sept. 3), Cassidy Franklin (Sept. 30) and Lauren Kremer (Oct. 14) have each been the Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week once. Amblessed Okemgbo (Sept. 16) has also won the Offensive award, giving Whitworth eight weekly awards in 2024.
Pirates in the Polls: Whitworth moved up one spot in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III poll last week. Following their debut at #24 the previous week, the Pirates are now 23rd in the most recent poll (Oct. 23). The next poll will be released on Wednesday, October 30th.
NWC Stat Leaders: Whitworth leads the conference in several key statistical categories. The Pirates are first in team hitting percentage (.232 – 27th in NCAA DIII), opponent hitting percentage (.098 – 16th in DIII), kills per set (13.09 – 35th in DIII), total kills (1,008), assists per set (12.00 – 38th in DIII), total blocks (186.5– 25th in DIII) and in blocks per set (2.42 – 10th in DIII).
Individually, Ella Jimenez leads the league in kills per set (3.78), total kills (291), points per set (4.76 – 21st in DIII), and is fourth in service aces per set (0.57). Cassidy Franklin leads the NWC in hitting percentage (.324) and is third in blocks per set (1.00). Lauren Kremer is also third in blocks per set (1.00) and fourth in hitting percentage (.270). Amblessed Okemgbo is third in hitting percentage (.278). Taylor Miche is fourth in digs per set (4.42).
NWC Standings Update: Whitworth (12-0) leads the conference by two games over PLU (10-2) and Puget Sound (10-2). George Fox (8-4) is currently in fourth place by three games over Willamette (5-7). The top four teams will make the NWC tournament at the end of the season (Nov. 15-16) and the team that finishes first in the regular season earns the right to host.
The Coach: Kati Bodecker has a record of 213-81 in her 12th season guiding the Pirates. Bodecker picked up her 200th win as Whitworth's coach on Sept. 13th vs. Chapman University. 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 154-32 in conference matches. 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: Lewis & Clark is 0-18 overall and 0-11 in the NWC heading into its match at Linfield on Wednesday night. The Pioneers took a set from PLU on the road last Friday before losing 3-1. They lost 3-0 at Puget Sound on Saturday. Erin Labasan continues her third season as head coach. Senior OH Annika Traxler is ninth in the NWC in kills per set (2.59) and leads the team in service aces. Sophomore setter Ruby Kuershner averages 5.48 assists per set and has 20 aces. Whitworth defeated L&C 3-0 at home on October 5th thanks to 16 service aces and a team hitting percentage of .435.
Willamette is 6-14 overall and 5-7 in the NWC heading into its match with Whitman on Friday night. The Bearcats were beaten 3-1 at George Fox last weekend in their only match of the week. Willamette ranks second in the NWC in aces per set (2.33) under 4th year head coach Lily Hallock. Senior OH Olivia Cadien is fifth in the NWC in kills per set (2.76) and fourth in points per set (3.42). Junior Alayna Hughes is second in the conference in service aces per set (0.61). The Bearcats pushed Whitworth to five sets in their first meeting on October 4th, leading 2-sets-to-1 and ahead 13-10 in the fourth set. The Pirates outscored Willamette 30-5 the rest of the way, thanks in part to nine aces, 9 assists and 23 digs from Taylor Miche.
Coming Up: Whitworth host Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran on November 8th and 9th in the final regular season matches of 2024.
