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WHAT’S BRUIN: Volleyball News & Notes 10/21
Overall Record: 8-12 (Home 0-6, Road 3-3, Neutral 5-3)
NWC Record: 3-7, 6th T (Home 0-4, Road 3-3)
Links: Quick Facts / Roster / Schedule & Results / Statistics / Press Releases
Multimedia: Live Stats / Video / KFOX Radio
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Coming Up: Bruins to Play Eastern Washington Teams at Home
* Recent Games: Bruins Fall at Home to L&C, Win at Willamette
* Pledger Again Honorable Mention for NWC Weekly Honors
* NCAA Stats: Reeves in Digs, Pledger in Blocks Among NCAA Leaders
* NWC Stats: Pledger Remains League Leader in Blocks, Hitting Pct.
* Career Lists: Pledger Climbs to 8th in GFU Career Blocks
Coming Up :
Fri., Oct. 22, 7:00 pm – vs. Whitman College, Newberg, Ore. (NWC)
Sat., Oct. 23, 6:00 pm – vs. Whitworth University, Newberg, Ore. (NWC)
Still seeking their first home win of the season, the Bruins will host the Northwest Conference teams from eastern Washington this weekend. The Whitman Missionaries come in on Friday at 7 p.m., while Saturday's match with the Whitworth Pirates will be an hour earlier, at 6 p.m., allowing the visitors a little extra time for the trip home that night. Whitworth is still in the running for the NWC title and the Bruins can play the role of 'spoiler' with an upset of the Pirates.
Multimedia: George Fox will provide live stats, live video streaming via Stretch Internet, and live audio via campus radio station KFOX for both matches this weekend; see links above.
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:
Whitman (6-14, NWC 3-8, 8th): The Missionaries from Walla Walla, Wash., were picked 9th in the NWC pre-season poll, the Bruins 4th ... Whitman dropped a 3-1 decision at Whitworth Wednesday in their last outing ... The Bruins have won the last three meetings with the Missionaries, including a 3-1 win in Walla Walla on Sept. 24 in their first meeting this year. Betsy Wilhelm had 14 kills and the Bruins had a 22-dig margin in the win ... Whitman's last win in the series was 3-2 in Walla Walla on Oct. 25, 2008 ... In the latest NWC stats, Whitman is 2nd in blocks (2.12, 50th nationally), 5th in hitting pct. (.145), 6th in kills (10.63), assists (9.89), 7th in aces (1.51), 8th in digs (14.72), opponents' hitting pct. (.188) ... Courtney Brewer is 7th in hitting pct. (.218), blocks (0.88) ... Jillian Davis is 1st in kills (3.64), 7th in digs (3.55) ... Rachel Cline is 3rd in aces (0.38), 7th in assists (8.29) ... Olivia Nielson is 3rd in blocks (1.00) ... Coach Carolyn Papineau is 28-64 to date in her 4th year ... Next: Oct. 29 vs. Linfield, 7 pm.
Whitworth (12-6, NWC 9-2, 2nd): The Pirates from Spokane, Wash., were picked 6th in the NWC pre-season poll, the Bruins 4th ... The Pirates have won nine of their last 10 matches, including a 3-1 win over Whitman Wednesday in their last outing ... The Pirates have won the last two meetings with the Bruins, including a 3-0 win in Spokane on Sept. 25 in their first meeting this year. Isabel Valentine led the Bruins with 8 kills in the match ... The Bruins' last win in the series was 3-0 in Newberg on Sept. 26, 2009 ... In the latest NWC stats, Whitworth is 2nd in kills (12.10), assists (11.10), 3rd in hitting pct. (.191), 4th in aces (1.63) 5th in digs (16.12), 7th in blocks (1.59) ... Kaimi Rocha is 3rd in kills (3.57), 8th in digs (3.28), 10th in hitting pct. (.214) ... Bree Riddle is 2nd in assists (9.80) ... Amanda Grumbach is 2nd in aces (0.54), 9th in digs (3.18) ... Coach Steve Rupe is 178-129 to date in his 12th year ... Next: Oct. 29 vs. Pacific, 7 pm.
Recent Results (1-1):
Fri., Oct. 15 – L 0-3 vs. Lewis & Clark (23-25, 19-25, 24-26)
Lewis & Clark completed a season sweep of the Bruins, capitalizing on narrow wins in sets one and three. Stephanie Kerr led the Bruins with 13 kills and a .414 hitting percentage, Ali Toedtemeier passed out 35 assists, and Patti Reeves picked up 20 digs.
Sat., Oct. 16 - W 3-1 at Willamette (27-25, 25-17, 22-25, 25-21)
Front-liners Isabel Valentine (15), Betsy Wilhelm (14), and Eliza Pledger (13) combined for 42 kills and Ali Toedtemeier handed out 45 assists, leading the Bruins to a road win over the Bearcats. Pledger also contributed to every one of the Bruins' blocks with two solo blocks and five block assists.
BRUIN BITS ---
* Pledger Again Honorable Mention for NWC Weekly Honors
For the fifth 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 as the Bruins went 1-1 during the week of Oct. 11-17.
In a 3-0 loss to Lewis & Clark on Oct. 15, Pledger had 9 kills and 5 errors in 27 attempts for a .148 hitting pct., with an assist and 2 block assists. 4 errors in only one error in 24 attempts for a .500 hitting pct., with a dig and 7 blocks (1 solo). On Oct. 16, in a 3-1 win at Willamette, she had 13 kills and 4 errors in 32 attempts for a .281 hitting pct., with 7 blocks (2 solo, 5 assists). For the week, in 2 matches and 7 sets, she totaled 22 kills (2.14 per set) and 9 errors in 59 attempts (.220), with one assist and 9 blocks (2 solo, 7 assists).
Pledger currently leads the NWC in blocks per set (1.15) and hitting pct (.291), and is 25th nationally in blocks. She also moved into 8th on the GFU all-time blocks list with 187 in her two years with the Bruins.
* 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; HM, Oct. 11-17)
Isabel Valentine ---
Northwest Conference Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Week - (HM, Sept. 20-26; HM, Sept. 27-Oct. 3)
* NCAA Stats: Reeves in Digs, Pledger in Blocks Among NCAA Leaders
In the latest NCAA Division III national statistics (thru Oct. 17), George Fox ranks 34th in digs per set (19.06) ... Eliza Pledger is 25th in blocks (1.15) ... Patti Reeves is 29th in digs (5.83) ...
* NWC Stats: Pledger Remains League Leader in Blocks, Hitting Pct.
In the latest Northwest Conference statistics (thru Oct. 17), George Fox ranks 2nd in digs (19.06), 3rd in assists (10.94), 4th in kills (11.74), 5th in opponents' hitting percentage (.157), aces (1.57), 6th in blocks (1.89), 7th in hitting pct. (.124) ...
Eliza Pledger is 1st in hitting pct. (.291), blocks (1.15) ...
Patti Reeves is 2nd in digs (5.83), 5th in aces (0.37) ...
Ali Toedtemeier is 3rd in assists (9.28) …
* Career Lists: Pledger Climbs to 8th in GFU Career Blocks
Ali Toedtemeier: With 80 assists in the last two games, Toedtemeier has 668 for the season and 1,762 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 9 blocks in the last two games and has 70 blocks for the season and 187 for her career, moving her past Mindi (Yost) Cotner (182, 1999-2002) into 8th on the all-time list. Ahead is Jeni Nelson (194, 2000-03) ...
Stephanie Kerr: Kerr had 3 blocks in the last two games and has 52 blocks on the season and 152 in her career. She needs 4 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 564-377 (.599) 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.
