SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth Pirates hit the road for a crucial weekend of Northwest Conference volleyball matches that will conclude the first round of the NWC schedule this week. Whitworth plays at Pacific Lutheran on Friday night at 7:00 pm and then goes to the University of Puget Sound on Saturday at 6:00 pm.
Check the Whitworth volleyball schedule (link above-right) for up-to-date access to live results and a link to the broadcasts.
Watch on FlowCollege: All of Whitworth's Northwest Conference athletic events will be steamed through FloCollege in 2026-27. Fans can sign up to watch Pirate sports on the FloCollege portal. Registration is $116 for an annual subscription or $20 per month. Those who register with a .edu email address get a significant discount.
The Pirates: Whitworth (11-2 overall, 5-1 NWC) takes a five-game winning streak into this weekend's matches. The Bucs are coming off a 3-1 win over Willamette last Friday and a 3-0 sweep of George Fox on Saturday.
Whitworth defeated Willamette, an NWC-tournament team last season, 25-16, 25-14, 20-25, 25-20 on Friday night. The Pirates had 11.0 team blocks against the Bearcats, the team's second-highest total of the season. Kaylee Winterroth was in on six of those blocks. Lindsey Short had 16 kills and only one error in 34 attacks (.441) and had one solo block and three block assists. Lauren Kremer had 10 kills, two aces and four block assists.
The Pirates dominated George Fox in a 25-14, 25-18, 25-15 win on Saturday night. Whitworth hit .273 as a team and held the Bruins to .028. Alyssa Baird had her best match since returning to the lineup with 10 kills (.348) and 11 digs. Bryanna Dodson led the Bucs with 12.0 points, totaling eight kills, three aces and two block assists. Olivia Paul served three of the team's 10 aces.
Washington State Showdown: The current NWC standings show the four member schools from the state of Washington crowded at the top. Pacific Lutheran leads at 6-0, with Whitworth, Whitman and Puget Sound all tied for second place at 5-1. Linfield has dropped back to fifth place at 3-3. All four Washington schools play each other in Tacoma this weekend.
Winterroth Honored Again: One week after she won the offensive award, Kaylee Winterroth is this week's NWC Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week for her performances last week against Willamette and George Fox. She had six block assists against the Bearcats and four against the Bruins for 10 total blocks. She averaged 1.43 blocks per set over the course of the weekend.
NWC Stat Leaders: Three weeks into Northwest Conference play, Whitworth ranks among conference leaders in several key statistical categories. The Pirates lead the league in team hitting percentage (.220), kills per set (12.62) and assists per set (11.38). Whitworth also leads the conference in opponents' hitting percentage (.097) and in opponent kills per set (9.30).
Individually, Madison Pridon is second in the NWC in assists per set (7.94) and seventh in service aces per set (0.47). Alyssa Baird is second in the league in kill per set (3.15) and seventh in points per set (3.33). Lindsey Short is fifth in kills per set (2.91) and fifth in points per set (3.54). Olivia Paul is fourth in the NWC in digs per set (4.32). Lauren Kremer (.319) and Kaylee Winterroth (.306) rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in hitting percentage. Winterroth is also fifth in blocks per set (0.79), while Kremer is sixth in aces per set (0.47).
The Coach: Kati Bodecker has a record of 240-88 entering her 14th season guiding the Pirates. Bodecker picked up her 200th win as Whitworth's coach on Sept. 13, 2024 vs. Chapman University. She is a five-time Northwest Conference Coach of the Year, including 2021 and 2024 when the Pirates posted perfect 16-0 NWC marks. She is 169-35 in conference matches through her first 13 years. Bodecker has 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: Pacific Lutheran (13-2 overall, 6-0 NWC) has rolled through its first six conference matches, dropping only one set along the way. The Lutes won 3-0 at both Linfield and Lewis & Clark last weekend. PLU leads the NWC in aces per set (2.68) and ranks second in hitting percentage (.204), kills (11.06) and digs (16.40). Senior MH Alexis Eggert is an early candidate for NWC Player of the Year. She is third in the NWC in hitting percentage (.346) and fourth in both kills per set (3.06) and blocks per set (0.82). Junior setter Ayre Takamoto leads the conference in assists (9.18 per set) and aces (0.54 per set). Last season Whitworth defeated PLU twice in the regular season, winning 3-0 at home and 3-1 in the regular season finale on the road. But one week later the third-seeded Lutes defeated the top-seeded Pirates 3-1 in the NWC Tournament championship game in Spokane.
The University of Puget Sound is 8-6 overall and 5-1 in the NWC heading into Friday's game against Whitman. The Loggers' only conference setback was a 3-1 loss at PLU. Puget Sound also won a pair of 3-0 victories at Lewis & Clark and Linfield last weekend. The Loggers have the best blocking average by far in the NWC, knocking back 2.06 per set. Junior MB Maddie Badger is the reigning NWC Player of the Year and she is picking up where she left off in 2025. She leads the conference in hitting percentage (.351) and blocks per set (1.02) and is third in kills per set (3.10). Senior libero Samantha Keightly is fifth in the NWC in digs per set (4.22) and eighth in aces per set (0.46). Puget Sound won 3-1 at Whitworth last season, but the Pirates returned the favor with a 3-1 win in Tacoma.
Coming Up: Whitworth will open the second half of the NWC schedule on the road at Lewis & Clark and Linfield on October 16-17.
