SPOKANE, Wash. - Whitworth University begins its Northwest Conference volleyball schedule this weekend when the Pirates host Pacific University and George Fox University. Whitworth is coming off of a 2-2 finish at its own invitational last week.

Roster Changes: Because of injuries Whitworth was down to only eight healthy players during last weekend's play. Partly because of the numbers crunch, two players have been added to the Pirate roster. Holly Tomlin (RS Jr., Kirkland, Wash.), a starter last season, returns to the roster and will participate as much as her demanding Nursing program schedule allows. Bethany Castilleja (Jr., DS, Kennewick, Wash.), who had been on the roster the last two seasons but had moved into a team manager role this summer, returns to the active roster.

Cassie Moore

Records Already: Whitworth has already broken four school records this season. Cassie Moore (Sr., Libero, Spokane, Wash.) set an individual record for digs in a four-game match with 35 against Willamette last Saturday. She broke the record of 33 set by Gretchen Smith against George Fox in 2000. Two weekends ago Moore dished out nine aces against both Russell Sage and College of Notre Dame while the team was in Las Vegas. Though both matches were three sets, the nine aces sets a record for any length match at Whitworth.

As a team the Pirates set a school record with 123 digs in the four-game contest with Willamette last weekend, breaking the mark of 117 against Linfield in 1994. And Whitworth had 18 aces against both Russell Sage and College of Notre Dame, breaking the team record in that category.

All-Tournament Twice: Sarah Rusch (Jr., MB, Walla Walla, Wash.) has played in two tournaments as a Pirate and has been named All-Tournament twice. So far this season Rusch is averaging 4.21 kills per game with a .237 hitting percentage. She also leads the Pirate with 15 total blocks.

Cassie Moore joined Rusch on the all-tournament team at the Whitworth Invitational last weekend.

Coming up: Pacific and George Fox have the best records in the NWC (both are 5-2) so far this season. The Pacific match on Friday starts at 7:00 p.m., while the George Fox contest will kick off at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Pacific has some impressive wins to its credit. The Boxers defeated Warner Pacific 3-2 and Cascade 3-0 on the road over the weekend. Last year Pacific beat Whitworth twice, winning 3-2 in Spokane and 3-0 in Forest Grove to close out the season.

George Fox started 3-0 and then went 2-2 over the weekend at the Pacific Coast Classic in Claremont, California. The Bruins earned 3-0 wins over Principia College and host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, but lost a 3-2 decision to Pomona-Pitzer and 3-1 to Haverford. Whitworth beat GFU 3-0 at home and 3-2 on the road last season.