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This Week
The Westminster women's volleyball team has two games at home this week, marking their first games in the Behnken Field House this season. Westminster battles Montana State-Northern on Thursday, September 17 at 7:00 p.m. On Saturday, September 19, Great Falls comes to town for a 2:00 p.m. game with the Griffins.

Westminster enters the week at 4-10 on the season and 1-1 in the Frontier Conference. They split two matches in Montana last weekend, picking up a win over Montana Western and falling at Montana Tech.

The Griffins lead the Frontier Conference with an average of 12.0 kills per set. They also rank first in assists and second in digs among conference teams. Their 18 digs per set average is the 27th-best total in the country.

Ericka Evans leads the team with 148 kills and is hitting .191 this season. Megan Evans has dished out 433 assists and recorded 12 service aces. Talita Kresser leads the Griffins with 33 total blocks.

Behnken Field House
The Behnken Field House is located inside the Dolores Dore Eccles Health, Wellness, and Athletic Center on the campus of Westminster College. The spectator entrance is located on the west side of the building. All seating in general admission and tickets are $3 for adults and $2 for children and seniors.

Live Stats
Live stats will be available for both games this week. You can access the live stats by visiting westminstergriffins.com.

Westminster Volleyball Quickly
•Westminster is 18-2 against MSU-Northern and Great Falls since 2005.

•After this week, the Griffins are not at home again until October 15.

•Tahnie Blymiller leads the conference with 4.4 digs per set.

Scouting Montana State-Northern
Montana State-Northern enters the week at 3-4 on the season and 0-1 in the Frontier Conference. The Sky Lights dropped a 3-2 decision against Great Falls on September 11 and have now lost three-of-four. Bill Huebsch guides the team in his first year as head coach.

Kaylee Bossert currently leads the team with 89 kills while hitting .254. Her 3.1 kills per set is good for third in the conference. Paige Richardson is second in the conference with a hitting efficiency of .300. Jordan Merrill runs the offense at setter and has dished out 210 assists and has six service aces.

Series Record: Westminster leads, 9-0 (since 2005)
Last Meeting: Westminster def. MSU-Northern, 3-0 (10/25/08)

Scouting Great Falls
Great Falls comes to Salt Lake City at 6-7 overall and 1-0 in the Frontier Conference. They began conference with a 3-2 win at MSU-Northern on September 11. That match was decided by a 21-19 fifth set. Head coach Arunas Duda is in his sixth year at the helm of the Argonauts.

Cali Buck leads the Argos in kills, service aces, and blocks. She has a total of 126 kills and is hitting .217 on the season. Tosha Nunes is second on the team with 116 kills. The 6-2 offense is under the direction of setters Jennifer Petersen and Jessika Weber. Great Falls ranks second in the Frontier with 1.9 service aces per set.

Series Record: Westminster leads, 9-2 (since 2005)
Last Meeting: Westminster def. Great Falls, 3-2 (10/23/08)

Freshman Sensations
Westminster freshman Ashley Marchant got off to a fast start in her collegiate career. The 5-9 outside hitter from Sandy is currently second on the team with 132 kills and seven matches with double figures in that category. She has led or tied for the team lead in kills in nine of the 12 matches played in 2009. Marchant suffered a season-ending injury during the Montana Tech match on September 11.

Another Griffin freshman has assumed the offensive controls this season. Megan Evans has started every match at setter and is currently averaging 8.84 assists per set. She currently ranks third in the Frontier Conference in assists. Evans has seven matches this season with at least 30 assists and has also posted a team-high six double-doubles. She is also the team leader with 12 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 148 kills and is second with 147 digs. Evans has seven 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 539 hitting attempts this season to lead the team in that department. Evans matched a set a career high with 21 digs against San Diego Christian on August 21.

Evans was named the Frontier Conference Player of the Week on September 14. She averaged 4.5 kills and 3.17 digs per set during the two Westminster matches last weekend.

Digging Machine
Westminster is currently 27th in the country in digs with an average of 18 per set. They have recorded at least 50 digs in 10 matches and have gone for more than 70 digs six times. They posted a season-high 101 against San Diego Christian on August 21.

Tahnie Blymiller is leading the team in digs with 214. She currently leads the Frontier Conference with her 4.37 digs per set average. Ericka Evans is eighth in the conference at 3.00 digs per set while Megan Evans is 11th with her 2.65 digs per set. Katie McLintock is 20th at 2.23 per set.

Chasing Records
Ericka Evans is fourth in career kills at Westminster with 461 entering the weekend. She also ranks fourth all-time with 1,598 career attack attempts. Junior Tahnie Blymiller moved into second all-time with her 891 career digs. She needs just 109 digs to become just the second Griffin to record 1,000 digs in their career.

With 433 assists this season, Megan Evans is currently sixth all-time for most assists in a season. She is on pace for 897 assists this season which would rank third in school history.

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
It's back on the road for the Griffins. This time they head to Lewiston, Idaho for a Frontier Conference match against No. 12 Lewis-Clark State College. That match is at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, September 25.