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This Week
The Westminster women's volleyball team takes a break from conference action for two matches in Hawaii against Brigham Young-Hawaii and Chaminade. Westminster will face BYU-Hawaii on Friday, October 9 in Laie, Hawaii at 7:30 p.m. They face Chaminade on Saturday, October 10 at Noon in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Westminster has dropped three consecutive matches after a season-best three match winning streak. They went 0-2 last week during a trip to Montana to face Carroll and Rocky Mountain. The Griffins rank third in the Frontier Conference with an average of 11.8 kills per set. They lead the conference and rank 17th nationally in digs at 18.6 per set.
Ericka Evans leads the team and ranks fourth in the conference with 192 total kills. Her average of 3.0 per set is also fourth-best in the Frontier Conference.
Megan Evans is third in the conference with an average of 8.5 assists per set.
Tahnie Blymiller is first in the conference with 324 digs and leads in digs per set at 5.0. Blymiller ranks 37th nationally in that same category.
Frontier Conference Update
Through the first round of play in the Frontier Conference, Westminster sits tied for fifth at 3-4. Carroll currently leads the conference at 6-1 followed by Lewis-Clark State and Great Falls at 5-2. If the tournament started today, the Griffins would face Great Falls in the opening round.
Live Stats
Live Stats are not available for the game at BYU-Hawaii. There will be live stats for the game at Chaminade on October 10. You can access the live stats at westminstergriffins.com.
Westminster Volleyball Quickly
•These two matches will be the first non-conference matches that weren't part of a tournament since 2007.
•After this weekend, the Griffins will have played 19-of-21 matches away from the Behnken Field House.
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Tahnie Blymiller has recorded 20-plus digs in four consecutive matches and five of the last six.
Scouting Brigham Young-Hawaii
Brigham Young-Hawaii enters the week with a 6-9 overall record and is 3-3 in the Pacific West Conference of NCAA DII. They play two matches at Dixie State in St. George, Utah before facing the Griffins in Hawaii. As a team, they average 11.9 kills per set and are seventh in the Pac West in hitting percentage at .158. The rank second in the conference in blocks with an average of 2.22 per set.
Tanza Buroker leads the Pac West with an average of 1.34 blocks per set and is seventh in hitting efficiency at .270. Kylee Nawahine leads the team with 128 kills and is hitting .155. Lacey Laycock averages 8.22 assists per set and Losaline Faka'osi is tops on the squad with 140 digs.
Series Record: First meeting
Scouting Chaminade
Chaminade enters the week at 2-14 overall and 1-6 in the Pacific West Conference. They snapped a 13-match losing streak with a 3-2 win over Dominican (Calif.) on October 2. They rank eighth in the conference with a .158 hitting efficiency and allow opponents to hit .229. They average 10.81 kills per set and record just 0.91 service aces per set.
Courtney Lorusso and Whitney Viveiros rank first and second on the team with 174 and 167 kills respectively. Malilimago Toailoa is the team's most efficient hitter with a .192 efficiency. Tanya Alvino runs the floor as setter, recording 602 assists through the opening 16 matches. Viveiros also leads the team with an average of 3.13 digs per set.
Series Record: First meeting
Freshman Setter
Griffin freshman
Megan Evans has assumed the offensive controls this season. Evans has started every match at setter and is currently averaging 8.5 assists per set. She currently ranks third in the Frontier Conference in assists. Evans has eight matches this season with at least 30 assists and has also posted a team-high eight double-doubles. She is also the team leader with 18 service aces.
Everyday Ericka
Junior
Ericka Evans once again is doing a little bit of everything for the Griffins. Evans currently leads the team with 192 kills and is second with 195 digs. Evans has eight times led the team in kills this season and another was tops in digs for two other matches. The 5-10 outside hitter from Layton has 730 hitting attempts this season to lead the team in that department. Evans matched a career high with 21 digs against San Diego Christian on August 21.
Evans recorded the 500th kill of her career on October 3 against Rocky Mountain College. She became just the fourth player in school history to reach the 500 kill club. She sits just one service ace shy of 50 in her career, ranking fourth in school history in that category.
Digging Machine
Westminster is currently 17th in the country in digs with an average of 18.62 per set. They have recorded at least 50 digs in 17 matches and have gone for more than 70 digs nine times, including the last three matches they have played. They posted a season-high 101 against San Diego Christian on August 21.
Tahnie Blymiller is leading the team in digs with 324. She currently leads the Frontier Conference with her 4.98 digs per set average and ranks 37th in the country. She has posted 20-plus digs in four straight matches and five of the last six. In conference matches, Blymiller has average 6.0 digs per set. She reached the 1,000 dig plateau on October 3 at Rocky Mountain College.
Talita on the Outside
Talita Kresser has thrived since moving to the starting outside hitter position on September 17. She has posted double-digit kills in all five matches after only doing that twice in the first 14 matches of the season. In these five matches, Kresser is averaging 4.12 kills per set while hitting .243. She is also third on the team with 41 digs during the five matches. Westminster has gone 2-3 in the five matches with Kresser on the outside, including winning the first two.
Kresser was named the Frontier Conference Player of the Week on September 22 for her performance against MSU-Northern and Great Falls. Kresser averaged five kills and three digs while hitting .455 during the week.
Next Week
Westminster returns to the Behnken Field House to begin the second half of the conference season. The Griffins host Montana Tech on Thursday, October 15 at 7:00 p.m. and Montana Western on Saturday, October 17 at 2:00 p.m.