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WHAT’S BRUIN: Volleyball News & Notes 11/3
Links: Quick Facts / Roster / Schedule & Results / Statistics / Press Releases
Multimedia: Live Stats / Video / KFOX Radio
Overall Record: 10-14 (Home 1-7, Road 4-4, Neutral 5-3)
NWC Record: 5-9, 5th T (Home 1-5, Road 3-3)
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Coming Up: Season to End at Home with Pacific and Linfield
* Recent Games: Bruins Stun #24 UPS, Push PLU to 5 Games on Road
* Toedtemeier Wins BAA Award, HM for NWC Weekly Honors
* NCAA Stats: Reeves in Digs, Pledger in Blocks Among NCAA Leaders
* NWC Stats: Bruins Take Over Top Spot in NWC in Digs
* Career Lists: Toedtemeier Closing in on 2,000 Career Assists
Coming Up :
Fri., Nov. 5, 7:00 pm – vs. Pacific University, Newberg, Ore. (NWC)
Sat., Nov. 6, 7:00 pm – vs. Linfield College, Newberg, Ore. (NWC)
The 2010 season comes to a close this weekend as the Bruins host the Pacific Boxers Friday and the Linfield Wildcats Saturday at the Wheeler Sports Center / Miller Gym. Both matches tip off at 7:00 p.m. The Bruins would earn a share of fourth place in the conference with a weekend sweep. On Saturday, the Bruins will honor their three graduating seniors in pre-game ceremonies - Ali Toedtemeier, Carley Johnson, and Jenna Dohren.
Multimedia: George Fox will provide live stats, live audio via campus radio station KFOX's internet webcast, and live video via Stretch Internet for both games 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:
Pacific (4-18, NWC 3-11, 9th): The Boxers from Forest Grove, Ore., were picked 8th in the NWC pre-season poll, the Bruins 4th ... The Boxers have lost their last three in a row, including a 3-2 loss at Whitman on Saturday ... The Bruins have won the last four meetings with the Boxers, including 3-1 in Forest Grove on Oct. 8 this year ... Pacific's last win in the series was 3-0 in Newberg on Sept. 17, 2008 ... Pacific in the latest NWC stats: hitting pct. (.130, 6th), opponents' hitting pct. (.195, 9th), kills (10.68, 6th), assists (9.85, 6th), blocks (1.99, 4th), aces (1.22, 9th), digs (14.24, 9th) … Alexa Block is 9th in kills (.275) ... Danica Thompson is 5th in assists (8.90) … Lychelle Roberts-Kirby is 4th in blocks (0.94) ... Mariah McHolland is 5th in blocks (0.88) ... Jade Thompson is 6th in digs (4.76) … Coach Lena Chan is 18-52 to date in her 3rd season … Next: Nov. 6 vs. Puget Sound, 5 pm.
Linfield (8-14, NWC 6-8, 4th): The Wildcats from McMinnville, Ore., were picked 7th in the NWC pre-season poll, the Bruins 4th ... The Wildcats have dropped their last five in a row, including a 3-1 loss at Whitworth on Saturday ... Linfield won this year's first meeting with the Bruins 3-0 in McMinnville on Oct. 9 ... The Bruins' last win in the series was 3-1 in Newberg on Oct. 31, 2009 ... Linfield in the latest NWC stats: hitting pct. (.100, 9th), opponents' hitting pct. (.135, 2nd), kills (10.23, 9th), assists (9.68, 9th), blocks (1.549, 8th), aces (1.46, 8th), digs (19.07, 2nd, 35th nationally) … Cora Hall is 9th in assists (5.07) … Samantha Lau is 1st in digs (6.11, 15th nationally) … Coach Shane Kimura is 594-427 to date in his 33rd season ... The Wildcats host Pacific Lutheran Friday before meeting the Bruins ... Next: End of season.
Recent Results (1-1):
Fri., Oct. 29 – W 3-0 at Puget Sound (25-11, 25-23, 25-21)
The Bruins stunned 24th-ranked UPS, ended the Loggers' 10-game winning streak, and knocked them into a first-place tie with their "neutral-site" win; the match was moved to Pacific Lutheran due to a national conference that took up UPS's Memorial Fieldhouse. Isabel Valentine had 14 kills and hit .385, while Stephanie Kerr added 11 kills with a .308 percentage. Ali Toedtemeier handed out 38 assists, her career high in a three-set match and her highest per-set average (12.67) ever. Patti Reeves led the defense with 22 digs. The Bruins trailed only once the entire match, at 4-5 in the second set.
Sat., Oct. 30 - L 2-3 at Pacific Lutheran (25-22, 26-28, 20-25, 25-19, 9-15)
Hoping for a second upset of an NWC title contender in as many days, the Bruins came up just short at PLU. Kristin Knaupp and Isabel Valentine each had 14 kills to lead the Bruins, and Ali Toedtemeier had 55 assists, a career high and the most by a Bruin in a match since set scores were reduced from 30 points for a win to 25 in 2008. Patti Reeves led all players with 31 digs. The Bruins had a season-high 65 kills and had 108 digs, second only to 119 vs. Whittier this year.
BRUIN BITS ---
* Toedtemeier Wins BAA Award, HM for NWC Weekly Honors
Recording 93 assists while leading the Bruins to an upset of nationally-ranked Puget Sound and anear-upset of Pacific Lutheran, setter Ali Toedtemeier has been named the Bruin Athletic Association Women's Athlete of the Week and received honorable mention for Northwest Conference Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Week for Oct. 25-31.
In a 3-0 win vs. league-leading and 24th-ranked UPS on Oct. 29 that was played at Pacific Lutheran, Toedtemeier had 38 assists and 5 digs as the Bruins ended the Loggers' 10-game winning streak and dropped them into a first-place tie with Whitworth in the conference race. It was the highest total of assists for her in a three-set match and her highest per-set average (12.67) ever. In a 3-2 loss at Pacific Lutheran on Oct. 30, she had 55 assists, 17 digs, a kill and a service ace, setting a career high in total assists and posting the most by a Bruin in a match since set scores were reduced from 30 points for a win to 25 in 2008. She set up the Bruin offense for a season-high 65 kills. For the week, in 2 matches and 8 sets, she had 1 kill and 1 error in 15 attempts (.000), 93 assists (11.63 per set), 22 digs (2.75 per set), and an ace.
Toedtemeier, a senior from Beaverton, Ore., currently ranks 3rd in the NWC in assists (9.55). She is 9th on the Bruins' all-time assists list with 1,915, and can become the 8th player in Bruin history with 2,000 career assists if she can make 85 in the Bruins' last two matches this weekend vs. Pacific and Linfield.
The Athlete of the Week Award for both men and women is presented throughout the Bruin sports seasons by the Bruin Athletic Association, whose mission is to provide George Fox student-athletes with an outstanding athletic and academic experience and to strengthen the overall competitiveness of the Bruin athletics program. For more information about the organization or to become a member, visit the Bruin Athletic Association website.
* 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; HM, Oct. 18-24)
Ali Toedtemeier ---
Bruin Athletic Association Women's Athlete of the Week - (Oct. 25-31)
Northwest Conference Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Week - (HM, Oct. 25-31)
* NCAA Stats: Reeves in Digs, Pledger in Blocks Among NCAA Leaders
In the latest NCAA Division III national statistics (thru Oct. 31), George Fox ranks 34th in digs per set (19.19) ... Eliza Pledger is 27th in blocks (1.15) ... Patti Reeves is 24th in digs (5.90) ...
* NWC Stats: Bruins Take Over Top Spot in NWC in Digs
In the latest Northwest Conference statistics (thru Oct. 31), George Fox ranks 1st in digs (19.19), 3rd in assists (11.17), 4th in kills (11.93), opponents' hitting percentage (.155), 5th in aces (1.60), 6th in blocks (1.84), 7th in hitting pct. (.129) ...
Eliza Pledger would 1st in hitting pct. (.291) and blocks (1.15) and 10th in kills (2.66), but due to back problems has dropped below the minimum 75% participation in matches required for NWC stats ...
Patti Reeves is 2nd in digs (5.90), 3rd in aces (0.36) ...
Ali Toedtemeier is 3rd in assists (9.55) …
Isabel Valentine is 7th in hitting pct. (.217), 9th in blocks (0.83) ...
Betsy Wilhelm is 9th in aces (0.32) ...
* Career Lists: Toedtemeier Closing in on 2,000 Career Assists
Ali Toedtemeier: With 93 assists in the last two games, Toedtemeier has 821 for the season and 1,915 in her career, 9th on the all-time list. Ahead is Denise (Iverson) Vernon (2,099, 1979-81, 1984) ...
Eliza Pledger: Pledger has missed the last four Bruin matches with back problems and remains with 70 blocks for the season and 187 for her career, 8th on the all-time list. Ahead is Jeni Nelson (194, 2000-03) ...
Stephanie Kerr: Kerr had 2 blocks in the last two games and has 58 blocks on the season and 158 in her career, 10th on the all-time list. Ahead is Mindi (Yost) Cotner (182, 1999-2002) …
* Coach Steve Grant:
Steve Grant (Biola '69) has a 566-379 (.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.
