SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth volleyball team closes out the regular season at home this weekend against the two schools that still have a chance to catch the Pirates at the top of the Northwest Conference standings. Puget Sound visits the Fieldhouse on Friday night (7:00 pm) and Pacific Lutheran comes in on Saturday (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: 23rd-ranked Whitworth (22-2 overall, 14-0 NWC) clinched at least a share of the Northwest Conference regular season championship with a pair of 3-0 wins on the road last week.
Whitworth earned a 25-19, 25-16, 25-18 win at Lewis & Clark on Friday night, sweeping the season series against the Pioneers. Ella Jimenez had 11 kills and Amblessed Okemgbo added nine to lead the Pirates offensively. Assists were almost evenly spread between Megan Lange (13), Josephine Thompson (12) and Taylor Miche (10). Defensively, Jimenez had 15 digs while Cassidy Franklin had five blocks. Jimenez and Thompson each served a pair of aces.
The Pirates won 25-16, 25-21, 25-17 at Willamette on Saturday, a far-cry from the five-set contest the teams played a month earlier in Spokane. Okemgbo came out on fire, drilling nine of her match-high 14 kills in the opening set. Jimenez added nine kills and once again led the Bucs in service aces (3) and in digs (12). Thompson (17) and Lange (12) combined for 29 assists.
Road Warriors: Whitworth is coming off a brutal stretch that saw the Pirates play seven out of their last eight Northwest Conference matches on the road. Not only did Whitworth come through unscathed, the Bucs excelled, winning five of those road matches in straight sets.
Pirates in the Polls: Whitworth held steady in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III poll last week. The Pirates remained 23rd in the most recent poll (Oct. 3o). The next poll will be released on Wednesday, November 6th.
NWC Stat Leaders: Whitworth leads the conference in several key statistical categories. The Pirates are first in team hitting percentage (.229 – 34th in NCAA DIII), opponent hitting percentage (.094 – 10th in DIII), kills per set (13.07 – 34th in DIII), total kills (1,085), assists per set (12.00 – 38th in DIII), total blocks (199.5– 32nd in DIII) and in blocks per set (2.40 – 12th in DIII).
Individually, Ella Jimenez leads the league in kills per set (3.75), total kills (311), points per set (4.74 – 22nd in DIII), and in service aces per set (0.59). Cassidy Franklin is second in the NWC in hitting percentage (.318) and in blocks per set (1.01). Lauren Kremer is third in blocks per set (0.99) and fifth in hitting percentage (.255). Amblessed Okemgbo is fourth in hitting percentage (.282). Taylor Miche is fourth in digs per set (4.30).
NWC Standings Update: Whitworth (14-0) leads the conference by two games over PLU (12-2) and Puget Sound (12-2). If the Pirates win one out of the two matches this weekend, they clinch the outright NWC regular season title and earn the right to host the conference tournament. George Fox (8-6) is currently in fourth place by two games over Willamette (6-8). 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 215-81 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 156-32 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: Puget Sound is 15-7 overall and 12-2 in the NWC heading into Friday's match. The Loggers are the second-hottest team in the conference, having won six in a row since losing to Whitworth on October 12th. UPS defeated Pacific (3-0) and George Fox (3-1) at home last weekend. The Loggers rank second in NWC statistics in team hitting percentage (.210) and in blocks per set (2.36 – 13th in Division III) under head coach Mark Massey, who is in his 29th season. First-year middle blocker Maddie Badger may be the NWC's Freshman of the Year. She leads the conference in blocks per set (1.12) and hitting percentage (.320) to go along with 2.62 kills per set. Senior OH Mackenzie Leith is the team leader in kills (2.80 per set). Whitworth defeated UPS 3-0 in Tacoma thanks to 14 kills from Ella Jimenez and 10 kills and two blocks by Cassidy Franklin.
Pacific Lutheran is 17-6 overall and 12-2 in the NWC heading into a match at Whitman on Friday night. The Lutes also defeated George Fox (3-1) and Pacific (3-0) last weekend, contending for the conference crown once again under 29th-year head coach Kevin Aoki. PLU leads the NWC in digs per set (16.30) and in service aces per set (2.31). Libero Makenna Jackson ranks third in the NWC in digs per set (4.72) and fourth in aces per set (0.56). Setter Ayre Takamoto leads the conference in assists per set (9.07). Whitworth won 3-1 at Pacific Lutheran on October 11th, bouncing back after dropping the first set. Ella Jimenez had 17 kills, while Cassidy Franklin had eight blocks.
Coming Up: The Northwest Conference tournament will take place on November 15-16 with semifinals scheduled for 4:30 and 7:00 pm on Friday and the championship slated for 6:00 pm on Saturday. The NWC regular season champion will host. If there is a tie for the regular season title, the conference will use a tiebreaking system to determine the tournament host.
