SPOKANE, Wash. - The Whitworth Volleyball team will face its most challenging trip of the season this weekend when the Pirates take on the top two teams in the Northwest Conference on the road in Tacoma. Whitworth will play 18th-ranked Puget Sound on Friday night at Stadium High School. Then on Saturday the Bucs will play at 17th-ranked Pacific Lutheran. Whitworth played well in a 3-1 win over George Fox last Friday. The Pirates then played even better in a sweep of Pacific on Saturday. The pair of wins moved Whitworth's record to 13-11 overall and 6-6 in the NWC. The Pirates are currently tied with Linfield for fourth place in the NWC standings, while George Fox and Pacific stand one game behind. View NWC standings.
Rocha's Big Start: Kaimi Rocha (Fr., OH, Pukalani, Hawaii) has already made a big impact on the Whitworth volleyball team. The dynamic freshman was named the MVP of the NYU Labor Day Invitational and was also named to the Whitworth Invitational All-Tournament team. She is leading the team in kills (3.14 per set), is third in hitting percentage (.204) and has also been solid defensively, averaging 2.54 digs per set, which is third on the team among regular players. Ka'ipo Rocha (Fr., MB, Pukalani, Hawaii) has also been strong in the middle. After missing the first weekend of play due to injury, Ka'ipo now averages 2.18 kills with a team-leading .220 hitting percentage and 0.67 blocks per set. Ka'ipo was also named to the Whitworth Invitational All-Tournament team. Setter-Setter: Whitworth has been running a 6-2 offense since the beginning of the season, utilizing the skills of both Bree Riddle (Fr., S, Spokane, Wash.) and Jordon Hoffnagle (Fr., S, Spokane, Wash.). Both have played in all 88 sets this season (the only two Pirates to do so) with Riddle averaging 4.92 assists per set and Hoffnagle averaging 4.42 assists per set. NWC Statistics : Several Pirates are listed among the NWC statistics leaders. Kaimi Rocha is sixth in kills per set (3.14). Ka'ipo Rocha is eighth in hitting percentage (.220) and tied for 9th in blocks per set (0.67). Bree Riddle is seventh (4.92) and Jordon Hoffnagle is 10th (4.42) in assists per set. Holly Tomlin (Sr., MB, Kirkland, Wash.) is eighth in blocks per set (0.75) and ninth in hitting percentage (.207), while Bethany Castilleja (Sr., DS, Kennewick, Wash.) is seventh in digs per set (4.04). Finally, Nikki Bardwell (Sr., OH, Colville, Wash.) is ninth in aces (0.34 per set). Live Stats: Live stats of all home contests will be available beginning this weekend at the following link: http://www.whitworth.edu/Athletics/Teams/Volleyball/statistics/livestats/xlive.htm. The Coach: Steve Rupe, currently in his tenth season as Pirate head coach, has served longer in this capacity than any coach in program history. Rupe has been named the Northwest Conference Coach of the Year twice (2001, 2002), AVCA Regional Coach of the Year once (2005) and has become the second-winningest coach in school history with a record of 142-92 (.607) over his first nine seasons. Under his direction, the Pirates have won three NWC titles and have advanced to the NCAA Division III regional finals twice (2002, 2005). Coming up: Puget Sound (14-6 overall, 9-3 NWC) is in second place in the NWC standings, one game behind PLU. The Loggers dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to the Lutes last Wednesday after leading two-sets-to-none, but rebounded to defeat Willamette 3-1 on Friday. UPS has managed to put together an outstanding season without playing a single home conference match - they had to move those matches to Stadium High School because of renovations to their Field House. On October 3rd Whitworth handed UPS its first conference loss of the season (3-1) behind 14 kills and 15 digs by Kaimi Rocha. Pacific Lutheran (16-6 overall, 10-2 NWC) has won nine conference matches in a row to move into the lead. The defending champions continue to be led by sophomore Beth Hanna, the 2007 NWC Player of the Year. After coming from behind to beat UPS last Wednesday, the Lutes rolled past third-pace Lewis & Clark at home on Saturday. On October 4th Ka'ipo Rocha led three Pirates to reach double figures in kills, but it was not enough to overtime the Lutes in a 3-1 loss at the Whitworth Fieldhouse. 2008 Volleyball Schedule/Results |
