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SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster College women's volleyball team opens Frontier Conference play this week with a trip to Dillon, Mont. to face Montana Western. The lone match of the week is slated for Friday at 7 p.m. in Straugh Gymnasium.

The game will be stream live and feature live stats. Links for the live features can be found in the calendar section of WestminsterGriffins.com.

GRIFFIN NOTEBOOK
Westminster enters league play after going 6-7 at three tournaments to start the season. The Griffins are coming off a 3-1 weekend at the Julie Martin Memorial Classic with the only loss coming to No. 11 Madonna (Mich.) in the finale. Westminster was the tournament runner-up with wins over Roosevelt (Ill.), Davenport (Mich.), and Illinois Tech.

The Griffins have gone 3-6 in matches played away from home this season, including a 0-2 mark in road games. They are 6-2 against teams that aren't ranked at the time of the match and 2-3 in night matches.

The Westminster offense sits fourth in the Frontier by hitting .181 and with an average of 11.42 kills per set. They have had more kills than the opposition in six matches and claimed five wins in that situation. The Griffins rank fifth in the league with 10.52 assist per set and seventh at 1.17 service aces per set.

Defensively the Griffins are posting 2.21 blocks per set to place second in the league and they are fourth in the NAIA with 115 total blocks. Westminster has had at least five blocks in all but one match they have played this year and four times they have been in double figures. The Griffins are also averaging 14.21 digs per set and holding the opposition to .161 hitting.

AGAINST THE OPPOSITION
Westminster is 16-4 all-time against Montana Western and 7-3 in Dillon. The Griffins had a 16-match winning streak against UMW snapped with a 3-1 loss in Dillon last October. Of the 20 matches they have played only once has the match gone five sets.

AALONA ON THE ATTACK
Outside hitter Alexis Aalona is averaging 2.87 kills per set to rank fourth in the Frontier Conference. She has been the team leader in kills in 10 matches and seven times reached double figures in kills. Aalona is hitting .171 on the year while reaching at least 15 kills on three occasions.

Aalona also leads the team with six double-doubles and is second on the team with 126 digs. She has been in double figures in digs in seven matches. The junior is also second on the team with 34 blocks and is averaging 0.65 blocks per set.

ALL ABOUT ATKINSON
Senior All-American candidate Emily Atkinson has recorded 384 assists during the first three weekends of play and she is second in the Frontier with an average of 7.38 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 3,120 career helpers.

Atkinson ranks third on the team with 102 digs and she has posted three double-doubles. She has been in double figures in digs during three matches, including a season-high 14 against Roosevelt last weekend.

DIGGING WITH KORDAKIS
Senor libero Kyndall Kordakis has notched 249 digs on the season and is averaging 4.79 per set to rank second in the Frontier. She has been the team leader in digs in all 13 matches the team has played and seven times she has reached 20 digs. The Griffins have turned 80 of her digs into a kill for a success rate of 32.1 percent.

Kordakis now has 1,549 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 9.65 digs per match the rest of the season to become the new leader.

ALL-TOURNAMENT RAMIREZ
Junior Mayra Ramirez has recorded 55 blocks this season and she is fourth in the NAIA with that total. She is averaging 1.08 blocks per set to place 34th in the country while leading the team in blocks in 10 matches. Ramirez has totaled at least five blocks in six matches.

Ramirez has also been efficient on the offensive end. She leads the squad with a .256 hitting efficiency while averaging 1.78 kills per set. Ramirez was named to the Julie Martin Memorial Classic All-Tournament Team after averaging 1.86 kills and 0.86 blocks per set during the four matches. She hit .231 during the weekend and also picked up six digs.

NORMAN NEARING 150
Head Coach Kim Norman is in 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 141-135 overall record and a .511 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.

LOOKING AHEAD
Westminster will visit Helena, Mont. for a match against Carroll (Mont.) on Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. before returning home for a 2 p.m. with Montana Tech on Sept. 21 in the Behnken Field House.