SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth volleyball team heads back to the NCAA Division III tournament for the sixth time under current head coach Kati Bodecker.  The Pirates will take on Berry College (Ga.) in the opening round of the Emery University Regional in Atlanta on Thursday morning at 11:30 am (8:30 Pacific time).  The winner will take on either Trinity (Texas) or Southern Virginia in one of Friday's regional semifinals.

Check the Whitworth volleyball schedule (link above-right) for up-to-date access to live results.

Tickets:  Parents and fans attending the regional can purchase tickets for the games at the door of the Woodruff PE Center on the Emory University campus.  Single session tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for senior adults, students (with ID) and veterans, and $5 for children (3-12).

NCAA Tournament Info: The 2024 NCAA Division III field is a 64-team tournament broken into eight eight-team regional sites.  The winner of each regional site will advance to the NCAA Division III Finals, which will take place Dec. 4-7 in Salem, Virginia.

The Pirates:  Whitworth, ranked 19^th in the latest AVCA Division III Coaches Poll, earned the automatic bid from the Northwest Conference by sweeping through the 2024 NWC Tournament at home last weekend.

The Pirates rolled past George Fox 25-12, 25-18, 25-18 in Friday's semifinal match.  Whitworth trailed only once in the match, early in the second set.  The defense set the tone, holding the Bruins to a team hitting percentage of -.009 during the contest and posting 11 team blocks.  The Pirates also served 10 aces.  Ella Jimenez had five kills, four aces, and three blocks (two solo, one assist) for a team-high 11.5 points.  Abigail Hudson added six kills and four blocks (one solo, three assists) for 8.5 points.  Megan Lange dished 18 of the team's 32 assists and served a pair of aces.  Lauren Kremer (four assists) and Cassidy Franklin (one solo, three assists) also had four blocks apiece.

Whitworth earned the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament by defeating Pacific Lutheran 25-21, 25-18, 25-21 in Saturday's championship final.  The Pirates had ten team blocks and hit .239 while holding the Lutes to .110.  Whitworth dominated the middle as Franklin and Kremer each had nine kills and four blocks.  Kremer hit .643 while Franklin hit .500.  Jimenez led the team with 11 kills, an ace and three blocks (one solo, two assists) for 14.0 points.  Josephine Thompson had 18 assists and three aces, while Taylor Miche finished with 12 digs.

NCAA Tournament History:  Whitworth has made ten previous NCAA Division III tournament appearances:
- In 2001 the Pirates received a first round bye before falling in the second round to eventual NCAA champion La Verne.
- In 2002 Whitworth hosted and again received a first round bye. This time the Pirates knocked off defending NCAA Div. III champion La Verne before falling to top-ranked CSU-Hayward in the regional final.
- In 2005 the Pirates hosted the regional for a second time - defeating Colorado College in the first round and Linfield in the second round before losing to La Verne in the regional championship.
- In 2010 Whitworth played at the St. Thomas (Minn.) regional and defeated Concordia-Moorhead in the first round before falling to St. Olaf in the second round.

- In 2011 the Bucs went to a regional at California Lutheran, falling in five sets to the host Regals in the first round.  CLU went on to sweep its next two opponents to win the regional and reach the NCAA finals.
- In 2014 Whitworth returned to Cal Lutheran, once again falling to the host school.  This time it was in three sets to the 3rd-ranked Regals.
- In 2015 the Pirates lost in four sets to UT-Dallas in the opening round of the Thousand Oaks Regional, hosted by Cal Lutheran.
- In 2016 the Pirates played UT-Dallas for the second straight year, falling in three sets to the 4th-ranked Comets at the UTD Activity Center.
- In 2019 the Pirates played 8th-ranked Colorado College at Emory (Ga.) and lost in three sets.
- In 2021 Whitworth lost to 5^th-ranked Hope (Mich.) 3-1 in the opening round of the Wisconsin-Eau Claire Regional.

Whitworth is 4-10 all-time in NCAA Division III tournament contests.

Championship Pedigree:  The 2024 NWC regular season title was Whitworth's 13^th in school history and 12^th since 2001.  Whitworth has now won or shared seven conference crowns under 12^th-year head coach Kati Bodecker.

Road Warriors:  Whitworth survived a brutal stretch that saw the Pirates play seven out of eight Northwest Conference matches on the road between Oct. 11 and Nov. 2.  Not only did Whitworth come through unscathed, the Bucs excelled, winning five of those road matches in straight sets.

Pirates in the Polls:  Whitworth moved up to 19th in the most recent poll (Nov. 19).  The next poll will be released following the NCAA Division III tournament.

NWC Stat Leaders:  Whitworth leads the conference in several key statistical categories.  The Pirates are first in team hitting percentage (.226 – 38^th in Div. III), opponent hitting percentage (.091 – 10^th in DIII), kills per set (12.88 – 41^st in DIII), total kills (1,249), assists per set (11.74 – 62^nd in DIII), total blocks (237.5– 25^th in DIII) and in blocks per set (2.45 – 11^th in DIII).

Individually, Ella Jimenez leads the league in total kills (354), points per set (4.65 – 26^th in DIII), and in service aces per set (0.59).  She is second in kills per set (3.65) Cassidy Franklin leads the NWC in hitting percentage (.319) and is second in blocks per set (1.02).  Lauren Kremer is third in blocks per set (1.00) and fifth in hitting percentage (.268).  Amblessed Okemgbo is fourth in hitting percentage (.274).  Taylor Miche is fifth in digs per set (4.12).

All-NWC Honors:  Whitworth was well-represented on the 2024 All-NWC Volleyball Team.  Ella Jimenez became the Pirates' 11^th NWC Player of the Year in school history.  She was joined on the first team by Cassidy Franklin, who was the 2021 NWC Freshman of the Year.  Amblessed Okemgbo made the second team, while Lauren Kremer and Taylor Miche received honorable mention consideration.  Kati Bodecker was voted as the NWC's Coach of the Year for the fifth time in her 12 seasons.

The Coach:  Kati Bodecker has a record of 219-81 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 now a
five-time Northwest Conference Coach of the Year and has led Whitworth to seven NWC championships in her 12 seasons.  She is 160-32 in conference matches.  Bodecker has also now directed the Pirates to six appearances in the NCAA Division III tournament (2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024).  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:  Berry College, from Mt. Berry, Georgia, comes into the tournament 16-13 overall.  The Vikings have played a very difficult schedule against many nationally-ranked opponents and it paid off when Berry won the Southern Athletic Association tournament with a 3-1 road victory at top-seeded Centre College.  The Vikings are making their seventh NCAA Division III tournament appearance under 9^th-year head coach Caitlyn Moriarty, and fourth in a row.  Senior RS Bella Boston is a first team All-SAA honoree in 2024 who averages 3.1 kills per set and hits .266.  Junior OH Lura Underwood also earned first team All-SAA with averages of 2.31 kills per set and 3.16 digs per set.  She was the SAA Tournament MVP.  Whitworth and Berry have played only once, a 3-0 win for the Vikings that took place in an early-season tournament at Emory on Sept. 7, 2018.

The winner of the match will take on either Trinity (Texas) or Southern Virginia.

Trinity (San Antonio, Texas) is 24-6 and ranked 16^th in the latest AVCA Div. III poll.  The Tigers rolled through the regular season of the Southern Collegiate Athletics Conference with a 15-1 mark and defeated 22^nd-ranked Southwestern (Texas) in the SCAC Tournament championship match.  Head coach Julie Jenkins has won 1,075 matches at Trinity over 40 seasons and has led the Tigers to 28 NCAA Division III tournaments.  Maddie Fate, a 5^th-year MB, is the 2024 SCAC Player of the Year who led the league in blocks per set (1.19) along with 2.06 kills per set and a .390 hitting percentage.  Fellow first team honoree, and 2023 SCAC Player of the Year, Mackenzie Logan (5^th OH) averages 3.46 kills per set and has 36 service aces.  Whitworth is 4-4 against Trinity since 2011, but the Tigers have won the last three meetings including a 3-1 win in San Antonio on Sept. 1, 2023.

The Southern Virginia Knights (Buena Vista, Va.) are 22-11 overall and won the USA South conference with a 15-3 record.  Southern Virginia defeated Salem College 3-1 in the conference tournament final.  Debbie Baker is the USA South Coach of the Year and in her seventh season.  Sydney Bassett, a senior OH, is the 2024 USA South Player of the Year who averages 3.70 kills per set and has 39 service aces.  Senior RS Brenna Clyde, another first team All-USA South honoree, averages 2.74 kills per set (.256) with 66.0 blocks.  The Pirates and Knights have never played in volleyball.

The Other Half:  The other half of the NCAA Regional at Emory features the host Eagles (26-2), who are ranked 5^th in the latest AVCA poll and won the University Athletic Association crown with a 3-0 victory over Washington (Mo.) in the final.  Covenant College (Lookout Mountain, Ga.) is 22-12 and won the Collegiate Conference of the South tournament with a 3-0 win over Huntington.  Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) is 21-6 and ranked 14^th.  The Athenas got an at-large bid after falling 3-0 to La Verne in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference tournament final.  Transylvania University (Lexington, Ky.) is 22-7 and receiving votes in the latest poll.  The Pioneers defeated Manchester 3-1 in the final of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament to claim an automatic bid.