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This Week
The Westminster women's volleyball team travels to California for the third time in as many weeks, this time to participate in the Asics/Crowne Plaza Labor Day Tournament hosted by Concordia University. The Griffins will play four matches at the event, including two against ranked opponents.

Westminster opens with a match against Oklahoma City on court one at Concordia on Friday, September 4 at 3:00 p.m. They will then face No. 10 Vanguard at 7:00 p.m. on Vanguard's home court. On Saturday, September 5, the Griffins open with an 11:00 a.m. match against Northwest (Wash.) at Vanguard. The tournament concludes for Westminster with a 5:00 p.m. match against No. 3 Cal Baptist on court two at Concordia.

This is the fifth consecutive year that Westminster has participated in this Labor Day tournament. Over that span the team has gone 4-12 overall. In 2007, they defeated Vanguard in the Friday night match like they have this season.

Westminster heads to the tournament with a 2-6 record in 2009. They have gone 1-3 at each of the opening season tournaments they have played. The Griffins have already faced three opponents ranked in the NAIA Top 25, but have gone 0-3 in those meetings. All four matches played last weekend were decided in three sets and six of the eight matches played this year have gone three.

Live Stats
At this point live stats will not be available for the Asics/Crowne Plaza Labor Day Tournament. Should something change you can find a link to the live stats at westminstergriffins.com.

Westminster Volleyball Quickly
•The four opponents this weekend have a 2009 combined record of 13-6 and Cal Baptist is 5-0.

•Three players are averaging more than two kills per set in 2009, led by the three per set of freshman Ashley Marchant.

•This is the fourth consecutive year that Westminster will play at Vanguard against the Lions. The Griffins are 1-2 in the previous matches.

Scouting Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City heads for California after going 3-1 at the Oklahoma City Classic last weekend. They picked up three wins to open the event before falling to College of the Ozarks in the tournament finale. Xiaoting Ma leads the team with 38 kills and is hitting .267. The team ranks 27th nationally in service aces, averaging 2.2 aces per set.
Series Record: First meeting

Scouting No. 10 Vanguard
Vanguard brings a 4-1 overall record and a No. 10 national ranking into the weekend. The lions went 3-1 last weekend at the Seaside Invitational hosted by Point Loma Nazarene. Their lone loss came against Mount Vernon Nazarene. Heather Dejongh currently is fourth in the country with a .485 hitting efficiency. Kelsey Wirt leads the team with an average of 3.8 kills per set.
Series Record: Vanguard leads, 3-1
Last Meeting: Vanguard def. Westminster, 3-0 (8/29/08)

Scouting Northwest
Northwest enters the weekend at 1-4 overall after going 0-4 at the Lewis-Clark State Invitational last weekend. Northwest picked up a 3-2 win over Walla Walla to open the season on August 27. Breanna Covey and Lauren Holtz currently lead the Eagles with 27 kills apiece. Lauren Holtz has a team-high seven service aces.
Series Record: Northwest leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Northwest def. Westminster, 3-0 (8/26/05)

Scouting No. 3 Cal Baptist
Cal Baptist is 5-0 on the season after completing a perfect UGF/Carroll Holiday Inn Classic two weeks ago. All five of their opponents were from the Frontier Conference. Fei Shi is the Lancers' top hitter with a .415 hitting efficiency and an average of 3.5 kills per set. She ranks in the top 25 nationally in each of those categories.
Series Record: Cal Baptist leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Cal Baptist def. Westminster, 3-0 (8/29/06)

Freshman Sensations
Westminster freshman Ashley Marchant is off to a fast start in her collegiate career. The 5-9 outside hitter from Sandy currently leads the team with 78 kills and four matches with double figures in that category. She has led or tied for the team lead in kills in six of the eight matches played in 2009.

Another Griffin freshman has assumed the offensive controls this season. Megan Evans has started every match at setter and is currently averaging 8.6 assists per set. She currently ranks third in the Frontier Conference in assists. Evans has three matches this season with at least 30 assists and has also posted a team-high three double-doubles. She is also the team leader with seven service aces.

Everyday Ericka
Junior Ericka Evans once again is doing a little bit of everything for the Griffins. Evans currently ranks second on the team with 72 kills and 83 digs. Evans has three times led the team in kills this season and another was tops in digs for a match. The 5-10 outside hitter from Layton has 299 hitting attempts through the first two weekends to lead the team in that department. Evans matched a set a career high with 21 digs against San Diego Christian on August 21.

Digging Machine
Westminster is currently 13th in the country in digs with an average of 17.96 per set. They have recorded at least 50 digs in six matches and have gone for more than 70 three times. They posted a season-high 101 against San Diego Christian on August 21.

Tahnie Blymiller is leading the team in digs with 115. She is currently fourth in the Frontier Conference with her 4.1 digs per set average. Ericka Evans is ninth in the conference at three digs per set and Megan Evans is 11th with her 2.7 digs per set. Katie McLintock is 13th at 2.5 per set, making the Griffins the only team in the conference with four players in the top 15.

Coaches Pick Griffins Fifth
The Frontier Conference released the 2009 Preseason Coach's Poll for volleyball on Tuesday, and Westminster was picked to finish fifth. The Griffins received 25 points in the poll of the eight conference coaches. The Griffins finished the 2008 season in a tie for the fourth spot.

Defending Frontier Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Lewis-Clark State College received seven first place votes and is the preseason favorite of league volleyball coaches to win the league title for the 2009 season.

Next Week
Westminster begins Frontier Conference action with road games at Montana Tech and Montana Western. The Griffins face Tech on Friday, September 11 in Butte, Montana. They finish the Montana swing in Dillon against Western on Saturday, September 12.