The Westminster volleyball team plays at home for the first time this season when they host three Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matches in the Behnken Field House this week. The Griffins begin the action on Tuesday with a contest against Colorado Mesa. They will then welcome Regis to town on Friday and Chadron State on Saturday.
 
All three matches will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are available by visiting WestminsterGriffins.com/tickets.
 
COVERING THE GRIFFINS
All of this week's action will be broadcast live on the Griffins TV Game Central portal located at
portal.stretchinternet.com/westminster. David Winkworth will handle the play-by-play with coverage starting at 6:45 p.m.
 
There will also be live stats available for all three matches. Access to live stats and video is free and available at WestminsterGriffins.com/live.
 
FOLLOWING WESTMINSTER VOLLEYBALL
Make sure to like Westminster Griffins on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and You Tube for the latest news about the Griffins. Updates of the weekend will be available on Twitter by following @wc_griffins.
 
Fans can stay connected with Westminster Volleyball by following @griffinvolleyball on Instagram. You can also read the volleyball blog, written by members of the team throughout the season, on the volleyball page at WestminsterGriffins.com.
 
ABOUT WESTMINSTER
Westminster will play at home after playing the first 10 matches of the season away from home. They have gone 3-7 to start the season and sit at 0-2 in RMAC play after road losses to UCCS and MSU Denver last weekend.
 
Westminster ranks 12th in the RMAC by hitting .136 this season and they are 14th in the league with an average of 10.74 kills per set. The team records 1.26 service aces per set to rank 10th in the RMAC. The Griffins are holding the opposition to .202 hitting with 15.29 digs and 1.91 blocks per set.
 
Amara Culpepper is averaging 2.68 kills per set with 91 kills to lead all Griffins this season. The sophomore is also hitting a team-best .204 and has 29 blocks. Alyse Horton has 80 kills and hitting .169 with Jessica Chellsen adding 55 kills.
 
Megan Gallegos leads the team with 154 digs and is seventh in the RMAC by averaging 4.53 digs per set. Gallegos is tied with Jaden Green for the team lead with nine aces. Kate Tsourmas ranks fourth in the conference at 1.00 bocks per set.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
• Colorado Mesa – The Mavericks come to town at 4-6 overall this season and 2-0 in RMAC action after sweeping MSU Denver and UCCS on the road last weekend. They are currently tied with Regis for the top spot in the RMAC Rocky Division standings. Caitie Breaux leads the team with 95 kills and nine aces while Kricket Adleman has a team-high 124 digs.
 
Colorado Mesa leads the all-time series with the Griffins, 3-1. The two teams have split a pair of matches played in Salt Lake City, including a 3-2 win by the Griffins on August 24, 2012.
 
• Regis – The Rangers begin the week at 5-5 overall and 2-0 in RMAC play. They earned their two conference wins by defeating Adams State and Fort Lewis at home last weekend. Regis is second in the conference by hitting .194 on the year and they sit fifth by getting 12.69 kills per set. Katie Klein leads the team and is third in the RMAC at 3.97 kills per set and Brinley Beresford is fifth in the conference with an average of 8.83 assists per frame.
 
Friday's meeting will mark the first time the Griffins and Rangers have ever played.
 
• Chadron State – The Eagles will enter the week at 2-8 overall this season and they are 1-1 in league play after defeating Fort Lewis and falling to Adams State in home matches last weekend. Chadron State leads the RMAC by getting 2.22 blocks per set and they are hitting .159 as a team. Rudy Leasau leads the Eagles with 108 kills, 94 digs and nine aces.
 
The Griffins and Eagles will meet for the first time on Saturday.
 
500/500 FOR HORTON
Earlier this season, senior Alyse Horton became the sixth player in team history to record 500 kills and 500 digs as a Griffin. Horton is averaging 2.42 kills per set this season and hitting .169. She has three matches with double-digit kills this season and has two double-doubles with five 10-plus dig matches. Horton ranks ninth in school history with 527 career kills and 11th with 597 digs.
 
GUSTAFSON OVER 1,000
During non-conference play, Taylor Gustafson became just the fourth player in school history to record 1,000 career assists. The sophomore finished last season with 890 assists, the third-most assists by a freshman and sixth-most overall in team history. This season, Gustafson is averaging 5.27 assists per set to lead the team and she has led the team in assists six times. She begins the week fourth in school history with 1,064 career assists.
 
CULPEPPER CLIMBING
Amara Culpepper has been the Griffins most consistent offensive threat this season and she leads the team with 91 kills and .204 hitting. Culpepper has four matches with 10-plus kills and she has lead the team in kills five times. The sophomore set a school record by hitting .650 with 15 kills against Cal State East Bay on Sept. 11 and was named to the Shark Invitational All-Tournament Team. Culpepper is 14th in school history with 297 career kills and she is 10th all-time with 111 blocks.
 
UP NEXT
Westminster will return to the road next weekend as they make the trip to New Mexico for matches at Western New Mexico on Oct. 2, and at New Mexico Highlands on Oct. 3.