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SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster volleyball team plays at home for the first time in three weeks when they welcome Montana Western and Montana Tech to the Behnken Field House this week. Montana Western will face Westminster on September 16 at 7 p.m. with Montana Tech coming in on September 18 at 2 p.m.
Westminster enters the week at 4-6 overall and 0-2 in the Frontier Conference. They doped two road games to open conference action last week at Rocky Mountain and Carroll. After jumping into the top 25 last week, Westminster fell out of the rankings and are among the others receiving votes in the 33rd position.
The Griffins are averaging 11.5 kills per set and hitting .178 through the first 10 matches this season. They have recorded 57 service aces and 423 assists. Defensively the team has posted 543 digs and 75 total bocks.
Clotile Harris leads the team with 140 kills and her 4.24 kills per set is first in the Frontier. Stephanie Jones leads the squad with her .285 hitting efficiency to go with eight service aces and 28 blocks.
Emily Atkinson ranks second in the conference with an average of 9.18 assists per set.
Kyndall Kordakis leads the team with 146 digs and Kative Vance leads everyone with 33 blocks.
Griffins TV
The Westminster Athletics Department recently partnered with Penn Atlantic to provide fans the opportunity to watch home athletic events live on the internet. Griffins TV will broadcast select Westminster events for FREE for fans to watch on their computers. All Westminster women's volleyball home games will be available on Griffins TV. For a complete schedule visit WestminsterGriffins.com/GriffinsTV.
Live Stats
Live Stats will be available for all Westminster women's volleyball home matches this season. Fans can access the Live Stats at WestminsterGriffins.com.
Scouting Montana Western
Montana Western comes to town with a 1-10 overall record and 0-2 in the Frontier Conference. The Bulldogs dropped two conference matches to Great Falls and MSU-Northern last weekend with both matches being played at home. The team has lost eight consecutive matches. Kayla Schmid leads the team with 80 kills and is hitting .147. Shelby Mack leads the squad with her 171 digs while Charelle Minor has a team-best 22 blocks.
Series Record*: Westminster leads, 10-0
Last Meeting: Westminster def. Montana Western 3-0 (10/17/09)
Scouting Montana Tech
Montana Tech enters the week at 8-6 overall and 1-1 in the Frontier Conference. The Orediggers split matches at home against MSU-Northern and Great Falls last week. The win over Great Falls snapped a five-match losing streak. Katie Daly has a team-best 165 kills while leading the team with her .259 hitting efficiency. Allyse Cruise is tops on the team with her 193 digs.
Series Record*: Westminster leads, 12-2
Last Meeting: Westminster def. Montana Tech 3-0 (10/15/09)
*Since 2005
Chasing 100
Griffins head coach entered the season with 95 career wins and currently sits just one win shy of 100 for her career. Norman has more wins than any coach in school history. She has a career record of 99-94 entering the week which is a .513 winning percentage. Norman has been even more successful in Frontier Conference action with a 53-33 (.616) record.
Receiving Votes
Westminster received 28 points in the second edition of the Tachikara-NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, announced Tuesday by the NAIA. After being ranked No. 20 in the first poll, Westminster now sits in the others receiving votes in the 33rd position.
Notable Performance
Clotile Harris was named Frontier Conference volleyball player of the week on August 31. This is her first weekly award from the conference and she becomes the first Griffin to claim the weekly honor this season. Harris averaged 4.76 kills with a .305 hitting percentage. She also averaged 1.41 digs and .59 assisted blocks. She posted 20-plus kills in each of the final three matches, including 25 kills against the College of Idaho on August 27.
Griffins Picked to Finish Fifth
The Frontier Conference released the annual women's volleyball preseason coaches' poll on August 12 and Westminster was selected to finish fifth. The Griffins received 23 points in the poll of the eight head coaches in the conference. Frontier Conference regular season co-champion and conference tournament champion Lewis-Clark State College received six first place votes and was the preseason favorite of the league's volleyball coaches to win the conference title for the 2010 season.
Next Week
It is back to Montana for more Frontier Conference action for the Griffins. Westminster will visit Great Falls on September 23 for a 7 p.m. match. They then face Montana State-Northern on September 25 at 6 p.m.
