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SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster College women's volleyball team will travel to Livonia, Mich. this weekend to play four matches at the Julie Martin Memorial Classic. The tournament is hosted by Madonna (Mich.) University with all matches being played in the Activities Center on Sept. 6-7.

Westminster will open the event against Roosevelt (Ill.) at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. They conclude day one with a match against Davenport (Mich.) at 5:30 p.m. The Griffins return on Saturday to play Illinois Tech at 9:30 a.m. before wrapping up the trip against No. 11 Madonna at 11:30 a.m.

Live stats will be available for all four of the matches at the classic. Links for the live features can be found in the calendar section of WestminsterGriffins.com.

GRIFFIN NOTEBOOK
Westminster heads to Michigan at 3-6 overall this season and looking to snap a five-match losing streak. After opening the year by going 3-1 at the Westminster Tournament of Champions, the Griffins went 0-5 at least weekend's Asics/Wyndham Labor Day Invitational. Four of those losses came against teams ranked in the NAIA top 25.

The Griffins are hitting .188 this season while averaging 11.81 kills per set. They have 437 kills on the year and rank 12th in the NAIA in total kills. Westminster has posted more kills in a match than the opponent in four matches and they have won three of those.

On the other side of the court, Westminster is averaging 2.2 blocks per set to rank 26th in the country. They have more blocks in a match in seven of the nine played while recording at least eight blocks in a match on seven occasions. The Griffins are also averaging 14.51 digs per set and sit 29th in the NAIA with 537 total digs.

AGAINST THE OPPOSITION
Westminster will face each of the four teams on this week's slate for the first time in school history.

AALONA ON THE ATTACK
Outside hitter Alexis Aalona is having a solid start to the 2013 season. Through nine matches, Aalona is averaging 3.24 kills per set to rank fourth in the Frontier Conference. She has been the team leader in kills in eight matches and six times reached double figures in kills. Aalona is hitting .195 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 94 digs. She has been in double figures in digs in six of the last seven matches. The junior is also second on the team with 24 blocks and is averaging 0.65 blocks per set.

ALL ABOUT ATKINSON
Senior All-American candidate Emily Atkinson has recorded 261 assists during the first two weekends of play and she is second in the Frontier with an average of 7.05 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 2,997 career helpers.

DIGGING WITH KORDAKIS
Senor libero Kyndall Kordakis has notched 179 digs on the season and is averaging 4.84 per set to rank 47th in the country. She has been the team leader in digs in all nine matches the team has played and five times she has reached 20 digs. The Griffins have turned 51 of her digs into a kill for a success rate of .285 percent.

Kordakis now has 1,479 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 11.7 digs per match the rest of the season to become the new leader.

RAMIREZ WITH THE REJECTION
Junior Mayra Ramirez has recorded 43 blocks this season and she is fifth in the NAIA with that total. She is averaging 1.16 blocks per set to place 32nd in the country while leading the team in blocks in eight matches. Ramirez has totaled at least five blocks in six matches, including three of the last four.

Ramirez has also been efficient on the offensive end. She leads the squad with a .266 hitting efficiency while averaging 1.76 kills per set. Ramirez has hit above .300 six times this season and in each of the team's last three matches.

CRUSHING WITH KENZIE
Kenzie Mitchell has been one of the team's most efficient hitter from her right side position this season. Mitchell ranks third on the team with 62 kills while hitting .240. Her 1.82 kills per set place her second on the team and she has also notched 11 blocks.

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 138-134 overall record and a .507 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 open Frontier Conference play on Sept. 13 with a trip to Dillon, Mont. to face Montana Western. The action from Straugh Gymnasium will begin at 7 p.m.