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WHAT’S BRUIN: Volleyball News & Notes 10/13
Overall Record: 7-11 (Home 0-5, Road 2-3, Neutral 5-3)
NWC Record: 2-6, 6th T (Home 0-3, Road 2-3)
Links: Quick Facts / Roster / Schedule & Results / Statistics / Press Releases
Multimedia: Live Stats / Video / KFOX Radio
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Coming Up: Bruins to Host Lewis & Clark, Travel to Willamette
* Recent Games: Bruins Split on Road at Pacific and Linfield
* Pledger Honorable Mention for NWC Weekly Honors
* NCAA Stats: Bruins, Reeves Among National Leaders in Digs
* NWC Stats: Pledger Atop Leader List in Blocks, Hitting Pct.
* Career Lists: Kerr Closing in on Top 10 List in All-Time Blocks
Coming Up :
Fri., Oct. 15, 7:00 pm – vs. Lewis & Clark College, Newberg, Ore. (NWC)
Sat., Oct. 16, 7:00 pm – at Willamette University, Salem, Ore. (NWC)
The second half of the Northwest Conference schedule gets under way this weekend as the Bruins seek to avenge two first-half losses, hosting the Lewis & Clark Pioneers on Friday and visiting the Willamette Bearcats on Saturday. Both matches tip off at 7:00 p.m.
Multimedia: George Fox will provide live stats, live video streaming via Stretch Internet, and live audio via campus radio station KFOX for the Lewis & Clark match; see links above. Willamette will provide live stats for Saturday’s match via the Bearcat Sports Network at http://www.willamette.edu/athletics/bsn/live/vb/.
Tickets: Ticket prices for George Fox volleyball matches at the Wheeler Sports Center/Miller Gym on the main campus are $6 for adults and $3 for non-GFU students and seniors 55 and over. Children 6 and under who are not in school are free. George Fox faculty, staff, and students are admitted free with valid GFU ID; the ID covers immediate family members for all employees.
This Week’s Opponents:
Lewis & Clark (7-11, NWC 3-5, 5th): The Pioneers from Portland, Ore., were picked 3rd in the NWC pre-season poll, one point ahead of the Bruins ... The Pios have lost their last three in a row, the latest a 3-0 setback at Whitworth on Oct. 9 ... The Pios won this year’s first meeting 3-1 in Portland on Sept. 17. Cassie Irwin led the Bruins with 14 kills, Ali Toedtemeier had 49 assists, and Chelsea Wilson made 31 digs ... The Bruins’ last win in the series was 3-1 in Portland on Oct. 14, 2009 ... Lewis & Clark in the latest NWC stats: hitting pct. (7th, .119), opponents’ hitting pct. (4th, .150), assists (5th, 10.25), kills (5th, 10.86), blocks (9th, 1.44), aces (5th, 1.58), digs (4th, 17.01) ... Margaret Dowling is 9th in kills (2.76) ... Jennifer Dowdy is 10th in kills (2.63) ... Leia Matsunaga is 8th in assists (6.94) ... Lou Ohki is 4th in digs (4.90) ... Gabby Hands is 5th in aces (0.34) ... Coach Lori Jepsen is 67-121 to date in her 8th year ... Next: Oct. 16 at Pacific, 7 pm.
Willamette (6-11, NWC 2-6, 6th T): The Bearcats from Salem, Ore., were picked 5th in the NWC pre-season poll, the Bruins 4th ... The Bearcats have lost their last five matches, the latest a 3-2 loss at Whitman on Oct. 9 ... The Bearcats have won the last two meetings, including a 3-0 win in Newberg on Sept. 18. Amanda White led the Bruins with 7 kills, Toedtemeier had 23 assists, and Wilson and Jenna Dohren had 11 digs each ... The Bruins’ last win in the series was 3-2 in Newberg on Oct. 9, 2009 ... Willamette in the latest NWC stats: hitting pct. (4th, .145), opponents’ hitting pct. (7th, .163), assists (8th, 9.49), kills (7th, 10.25), blocks (3rd, 2.01), aces (6th, 1.57), digs (7th, 15.11) ... Carly Hargrave is 4th in blocks (1.00), 7th in hitting pct. (.231) ... Molly Blankenship is 4th in kills (3.48) ... Emily Compton is 6th in assists (8.30) ... Coach Tom Shoji is 23-44 to date in his 3rd year ... Willamette visits Linfield Friday before meeting the Bruins ... Next: Oct. 22 at Pacific, 7 pm.
Recent Results (1-1):
Fri., Oct. 8 – W 3-1 at Pacific (21-25, 25-11, 27-25, 25-15)
The Bruins held the Boxers to a .000 hitting pct. over the last three sets and hit .419 in the second set. Eliza Pledger had 13 kills and only one error for .500 hitting pct., while Kristin Knaupp added a career-high 13 kills and Isabel Valentine had 11. Ali Toedtemeier handed out 46 assists, Betsy Wilhelm made 16 digs, and Pledger had 7 blocks.
Sat., Oct. 9 - L 0-3 at Linfield (20-25, 21-25, 21-25)
Despite holding the Wildcats to a .118 hitting pct., the Bruins hit only .008 themselves and dropped three straight sets to their Yamhill County rivals. Stephanie Kerr led the Bruins with 9 kills while hitting .227, Patti Reeves made 16 digs, and Eliza Pledger had 2 solo blocks and 2 block assists.
BRUIN BITS ---
* Pledger Honorable Mention for NWC Weekly Honors
For the fourth time this season, 6-3 middle blocker Eliza Pledger from Wilsonville, Ore., has received honorable mention for Northwest Conference Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Week for Oct. 4-10 as the Bruins went 1-1 in a pair of road games.
In a 3-1 win at Pacific on Oct. 8, Pledger had 13 kills and only one error in 24 attempts for a .500 hitting pct., with a dig and 7 blocks (1 solo). On Oct. 9, in a 3-0 loss at Linfield, she had 3 kills and a -.071 hitting pct., but made 4 more blocks (2 solo). For the week, in 2 matches and 7 sets, she totaled 16 kills (2.29 per set) and 5 errors in 38 attempts (.259), with one dig and 11 blocks (3 solo, 8 assists). Pledger currently leads the NWC in blocks per set (1.13) and hitting pct (.304).
* 2010 Honors
Eliza Pledger ---
Bruin Athletic Association Women’s Athlete of the Week - (Sept. 6-12)
Northwest Conference Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Week - (HM, Aug. 30-Sept. 5; HM, Sept. 6-12; HM, Sept. 13-19; HM, Oct. 4-10)
Isabel Valentine ---
Northwest Conference Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Week - (HM, Sept. 20-26; HM, Sept. 27-Oct. 3)
* NCAA Stats: Bruins, Reeves Among National Leaders in Digs
In the latest NCAA Division III national statistics (thru Oct. 3), George Fox ranks 28th in digs per set
(19.45) ... Patti Reeves is 16th in digs (6.16) ...
* NWC Stats: Pledger Atop Leader List in Blocks, Hitting Pct.
In the latest Northwest Conference statistics (thru Oct. 10), George Fox ranks 2nd in digs (19.17), 3rd in assists (10.80), 4th in kills (11.55), aces (1.60), 5th in blocks (1.92), opponents’ hitting percentage (.155), 8th in hitting pct. (.119) ...
Eliza Pledger is 1st in hitting pct. (.304), 2nd in blocks (1.13) ...
Patti Reeves is 2nd in digs (5.84), 3rd in aces (0.39) ...
Ali Toedtemeier is 4th in assists (9.05) …
Betsy Wilhelm is 9th in digs (3.15) …
* Career Lists: Kerr Closing in on Top 10 List in All-Time Blocks
Ali Toedtemeier: With 71 assists in the last two games, Toedtemeier has 588 for the season and 1,682 in her career, 10th on the all-time list. Ahead is Gina (Coolen) Kluver, now a Bruins’ assistant coach (1,797, 2003-04) ...
Eliza Pledger: Pledger had 11 blocks in the last two games and has 61 blocks for the season and 178 for her career, 9th on the all-time list. Ahead are Mindi (Yost) Cotner (182, 1999-2002) and Jeni Nelson (194, 2000-03) ...
Stephanie Kerr: Kerr had 6 blocks in the last two games and has 49 blocks on the season and 149 for her career. She needs 7 more to tie Sarah Crossfield (156, 2006-09), now a Bruins’ assistant coach, for 10th on the all-time list …
* Coach Steve Grant:
Steve Grant (Biola ‘69) has a 563-376 (.600) record to date in his 29th season as the Bruins’ head coach. Entering this fall, his 556 career wins were 13th among active NCAA Division III coaches and 19th among D-III coaches all-time. He was the NCCAA National Coach of the Year in 1984 and 1987 for leading the Bruins to NCCAA national titles, and in 1998, he was the NWC Coach of the Year. The Bruins have posted 21 winning seasons in his time as the GFU coach. Click here for the complete bio on Coach Grant.
