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SALT LAKE CITY – Coming off a second place finish at the Westminster Tournament of Champions, the Westminster College women's volleyball team will now travel to Irvine, Calif. to play five matches at the Asics/Wyndham Labor Day Classic that is hosted by Concordia (Calif.).

The competition begins on Friday as the Griffins face Vanguard (Calif.) at 2 p.m. before a 6:30 p.m. match against No. 16 Westmont (Calif.) that evening. Westminster opens Saturday against No. 9 The Master's (Calif.) at 10 a.m. and then play No. 4 Biola (Calif.) at 2 p.m. The Griffins complete the weekend with a match against top-ranked and defending NAIA national champion Concordia at 8 p.m.

All five of the matches will be streamed live through the Concordia Game Central. There will also be live stats available for all of the matches. Links for these live features can be found in the calendar section of WestminsterGriffins.com.

GRIFFIN NOTEBOOK
Westminster takes a 3-1 record with them on the road this week. The Griffins opened the season with three straight victories before dropping a match to NCAA DII foe Dixie State (Utah). This marks the fourth consecutive season that Westminster has started at least .500 through the opening weekend.

It was a solid opening weekend for the Griffins offensively. They averaged 12.47 kills per set over the four matches and they rank 23rd in the NAIA in that department. Westminster finished with a .226 hitting efficiency during the tournament to place 30th in the country while also ranking 26th with an average of 11.35 assists per set.

The Griffins also dominated at the net defensively. During the team's 17 sets at the TOC, Westminster recorded 44 blocks and an average of 2.59 per set. Those numbers rank 15th and ninth in the NAIA respectively. The Griffins also notched 14.76 digs per set.

AGAINST THE OPPOSITION
Westminster hasn't seen much success against the five teams on the agenda for the weekend. The Griffins are just 7-21 all-time against Vanguard, Westmont, the Master's, Biola, and Concordia. They have a 2-2 record versus The Master's while also claiming two wins against Westmont and Biola. The Griffins are winless in five all-time meetings with Concordia.

ALL ABOUT ATKINSON
Senior All-American candidate Emily Atkinson recorded 139 assists during the first weekend of play and she is 42nd in the country with an average of 8.18 assists per set. In the match against Cornerstone (Mich.), Atkinson became the Westminster career leader in assists as she notched her 2,810th career assist. She enters this weekend with 2,875 career helpers.

Atkinson also picked up 34 digs during the season's first four matches and twice went for double figures in digs. She had two double-doubles while also leading the squad in service aces on two occasions.

AALONA ON THE ATTACK
Outside hitter Alexis Aalona got the new season off to a fast start. The junior posted 61 kills to start the season and her 3.59 kills per set average is 30th in the NAIA. Aalona hit .261 during the four matches and she rank fifth in the Frontier Conference in that category. She led the team in kills in all four matches and reach double figures three times and twice posting at least 15 kills.

Aalona also led the team with three double-doubles in the first four matches. She averaged 2.82 digs per set at the TOC and she currently ranks 10th in the Frontier in that category. Aalona also came up with 13 blocks and she led all players at the tournament with an average of 4.06 points per set.

DIGGING WITH KORDAKIS
Senor libero Kyndall Kordakis came away with 71 digs in the season's first four matches and she currently ranks fifth in the conference in that department. Her average of 4.18 digs per set also rank fifth in the league. Kordakis led the team in digs in all four matches with a double-digit total. She had a season-high 21 in the win over Cornerstone.

Kordakis now has 1,371 digs in her Westminster career and she ranks second in school history on that category. Bree Riet holds the all-time lead with 1,712 digs which means Kordakis would need to average 13.15 digs per match the rest of the season to become the new leader.

CRUSHING WITH KENZIE
Kenzie Mitchell got the new season off to a good start. The senior right side hitter finished second on the team with 30 kills and she is 16th in the Frontier with an average of 2.0 kills per set. Mitchell led the team by hitting .274 during the opening weekend and she posted a season-high 13 kills against Cornerstone.

RAMIREZ WITH THE REJECTION
Junior Mayra Ramirez started her Griffin career by leading the team with 18 blocks in the first four matches. She sits 39th in the NAIA with an average of 1.06 blocks per set and she had at least five blocks in three of the four matches. Ramirez also totaled 28 kills and hit .273 during the TOC.

NORMAN NEARING 150
Head Coach Kim Norman enters her 10th season as the head coach of the women's volleyball team at Westminster in 2013. During that time, Norman has guided the Griffins to a 138-129 overall record and a .517 winning percentage. The team has four winning seasons and has gone 75-52 (.591) in Frontier Conference play while winning regular season titles in 2005 and 2006.

FRONTIER PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
The Griffins have been picked to finish fifth in the Frontier Conference this season according to a poll of the league's coaches. Carroll (Mont.) was selected as the favorite to win the 2013 title after receiving five first-place votes and 60 points. Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) was picked second with 57 points and three first-place votes. Rocky Mountain (Mont.) took one first-place vote to earn 48 points to be selected third with Montana State-Northern coming in fourth with 41 points. Great Falls (Mont.), Montana Tech and Montana Western were selected sixth, seventh and eight respectively. Dickinson State (N.D.) was selected ninth.

FOLLOWING THE GRIFFINS
To keep up with all of the latest news and information about the Westminster women's volleyball team, fans are encouraged to "Like" the Griffins on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. And as always, make sure to visit WestminsterGriffins.com for all things Griffins during the 2013 season.