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SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster College women's volleyball team begins the 2011 campaign with four matches at the Bison Blast in Shawnee, Okla. Oklahoma Baptist is the host of the tournament. The Griffins begin with matches against William Woods and John Brown on Friday. On Saturday the Griffins face No. 4 Texas at Brownsville and No. 19 Oklahoma Baptist.
Game Coverage
At this time there will not be live stats or video streaming available for the matches this weekend. If something changes, all of the links will be available at WestminsterGriffins.com.
Friday's Opponent: William Woods
William Woods is coming off a 16-20 season in 2010. They lost in the opening round of the American Midwest Conference Tournament as the No. 5 seed. The team returns seven players from the 2010 squad and welcomes a new head coach.
Lauren Fleming is back after leading the Owls with 364 kills last season. Fleming hit .306 on the year and also had a team-best 95 blocks. Alicia Green also returns after a year that she posted 300 kills with a .349 hitting efficiency. Setters Emily Nolte and Sarah Wehmeyer also return after combining for 1,198 assists in 2010.
Friday's Opponent: John Brown
John Brown is coming off an 18-17 season in which they finished sixth in the Sooner Athletic Conference at 5-9. They return nine players and were picked to finish sixth in the Sooner this year.
Erin Didier returns after a team-best 367 kills last season while hitting .206. Allie Rankin is also back after hitting .288 with 270 kills.
Saturday's Opponent: Texas at Brownsville
Texas at Brownsville finished 38-2 last season and advanced to the semi-finals of the NAIA National Championships. The defending Red River Conference champions are ranked fourth in the 2011 preseason coaches' poll.
The Scorpions return nine players from that 2010 squad including Danica Markovic who finished with 432 kills and a .262 hitting efficiency. Ana Guerra also returns with her 285 kills from 2010 along with Paula Barros who had 449 digs.
Saturday's Opponent: Oklahoma Baptist
Oklahoma Baptist is the host of the Bison Blast and are ranked 19th in the NAIA Preseason Top 25. OBU went 26-10 last season, but they were upset in the opening round of the Sooner Conference Tournament.
The Bison went 3-2 last week at the Azusa Pacific Tournament. They picked up wins over Vanguard, Hope International and Cal State-San Marcos.
Griffin Notebook
The 2011 Westminster women's volleyball team will look to build off a season in 2010 that saw the program headed back towards the top of the Frontier Conference. The Griffins finished 12-13 overall last year and were fourth in the Frontier Conference at 7-7 despite starting a freshman in four positions.
Stephanie Jones Morin is back after leading the team with a .275 hitting efficiency in 2010 while recording 175 kills and 62 blocks. During her freshman campaign,
Emily Atkinson was third in the Frontier in assists at 8.9 per set. She was named to the conference all-freshman team and her 823 assists rank third for a season in school history.
Griffins Picked for Fourth
The Westminster College women's volleyball team was tabbed to finish fourth in the Frontier Conference by the league's coaches in their preseason poll, which was recently released.
The Griffins received 31 points in the poll to come in the same spot they ended the 2010 regular season. Lewis-Clark State received five of the eight first-place votes (coaches weren't allowed to vote for their own team) to finish with 46 points.
Tough Slate
Westminster has once again compiled one of the toughest schedules in the country. The Griffins will face eight teams that are ranked in the Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Preseason Poll. The schedule features seven teams that qualified for the 2010 NAIA National Championships along with four matches against teams from the Golden State Athletic Conference. The non-conference slate also features a home-and-home with the College of Idaho and a home match with NCAA DII foe Mesa State.
