Pirates Look to End Three-Match Skid
SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Whitworth University volleyball team will conclude the 2009 season with home matches this week against Whitman College (Wednesday, 6:00 p.m.) and Pacific University (Friday, 7:00 p.m.). Friday's match will be the final contest for Pirate seniors Tracy Schwada (Whitefish, Mont.) and Morgan Veleke (Kennewick, Wash.). Whitworth is now 9-16 overall and 5-9 in the NWC losing twice in Tacoma last weekend. The Pirates played well against a pair of nationally-ranked opponents, but just couldn't get over the top. On Friday Whitworth took a 2-1 lead in sets at #21 Puget Sound, outplaying the Loggers in the second and third set. UPS rallied to win the fourth and led 13-7 in the final set before the Pirates rallied to tie it 14-14. But Puget Sound eventually won 25-14, 18-25, 22-25, 25-14, 16-14. Veleke had a career-high 16 kills and added 14 digs. Ka'ipo Rocha (So., MB, Pukalani, Hawaii) added 11 kills and Ariana Obert (So., Lib, Deer Park, Wash.) led all players with 21 digs. Saturday Whitworth pushed 15th-ranked Pacific Lutheran hard, but fell in three close sets (25-23, 25-23, 25-20). Kaimi Rocha (So., OH, Pukalani, Hawaii) had 10 kills and 12 digs, while Ka'ipo Rocha had eight kills and hit .500. Big Blocker: Randi Stephens (Jr., MB, Bozeman, Mont.) has been Whitworth's most effective defensive player this season. She is averaging 1.11 blocks per set, which currently ranks third in the individual NWC statistics leaderboard. In statistics from conference matches only, she leads the NWC with an average of 1.22 per set. The Opponents: Whitman College comes into the week 4-17 overall and 1-13 in the NWC, hoping to end an 11-match losing streak. The Missionaries lost 3-0 at PLU last Friday and 3-0 at Puget Sound on Saturday. Alex Graves leads the team in kills per set with an average of 3.54, which ranks third in the NWC. She has taken almost one third of her teams attacks this season. On October 7th Whitworth won 25-12, 25-23, 22-25, 25-16 at Whitman. Kaimi Rocha had 15 kills and Morgan Veleke had 11 in the Pirates' win. Pacific University is 7-14 overall and 2-12 in the NWC, looking to end their seven match losing streak. The Boxers fell 3-0 at George Fox last Friday and 3-0 at home to Lewis & Clark on Saturday. Freshman Alexa Block has led the NWC in kills for most of the season and she currently has a league-leading average of 3.64 per set. Like Graves of Whitman, she takes almost a third of her teams total attacks each match. On October 10th Whitworth pulled out a 25-15, 21-25, 25-15, 20-25, 15-11 win at Pacific. Ka'ipo Rocha had 11 kills and Randi Stephens had eight block assists to lead the Bucs. |
