Complete Release | PDF

SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster College women's volleyball team will take to the road for two Frontier Conference matches this week. Westminster will play at Lewis-Clark State on Thursday in Lewiston, Idaho. They will then face Montana Tech in Butte, Mont. on Saturday.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster enters the week at 8-4 overall and 1-0 in the Frontier Conference. They snapped a three-match losing stream with a 3-0 sweep of Montana Western in the Behnken Field House last Saturday. The team started the season at 6-1 to match the best start in school history.

The Griffins have won five matches in 3-0 sweeps and are a perfect 3-0 when they match goes five sets. However, the team is 0-2 on the year in matches that end in four sets. Westminster has recorded a 7-0 record when they win the first set and are also 7-0 when they win the second set.

After a quick start offensively, Westminster has slowed a bit over the past few weeks. The Griffins are now hitting .198 as a team and rank fifth in the Frontier in that department. They average 11.3 kills per set and 10.5 assists per frame to rank sixth in each category. The team continues to be good at the service line and currently lead the conference with 91 aces and a 2.01 per set average. The 91 total aces are tied for 20th in the NAIA.

Ashley Marchant continues to be the top offensive weapon for the Griffins. The senior outside hitter is averaging 2.51 kills per set with a .252 hitting efficiency. Marchant is ranked inside the Frontier top 20 in seven of the 11 statistical categories. Emily Atkinson is second in the league at 8.75 assists per set and third with 385 total assists. She is also second in aces at 0.43 per stanza.

The defense is anchored by libero Kyndall Kordakis and her 4.16 digs per set. She is fourth in the Frontier in that department and ranks sixth with 187 total digs.  Marchant ranks 14th at 2.44 with Atkinson 19th at 2.25 digs per set. Stephanie Jones Morin leads the team with 27 blocks and is 14th in the league at 0.63 blocks per set. Katie Vance has added 23 blocks and 0.55 per set.

About the Opposition
Lewis-Clark State is 5-5 overall this season as they begin play this week. The Warriors are atop the Frontier Conference at 2-0 after back-to-back sweeps of Great Falls and Montana Tech last week. They are averaging 11.5 kills per set while hitting .167 on the year. Keisha Luebbert-Kennedy leads the team with 86 kills and Willow Markowitz has added 80.

Montana Tech has started the year 11-3 and is currently 1-1 in the Frontier. They beat Montana Western in five sets to open league played before dropping a 3-0 decision at Lewis-Clark State. The Orediggers posted a six-match winning streak earlier in the season and have won eight of their last 10. Sydney Norris and Shersteen Cline leads the team with 155 and 151 kills respectively.

Against the Opposition
Westminster has posted a 5-18 record all-time against LCSC. They have dropped 13 consecutive matches to the Warriors and haven't won in the series since 2006.  Against Montana Tech, Westminster has a 16-7 all-time record and are riding a three-match winning streak in the series.