The Westminster volleyball team will spend the weekend in New Mexico to play a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matches. The Griffins will play at Western New Mexico on Friday in Silver City, N.M. and then visit New Mexico Highlands on Saturday in Las Vegas, N.M. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m. MT.
 
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. Both matches will be produced by the host institution.
 
There will also be live stats available for the two 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 make the trip at 4-9 overall this season and they are 1-4 in RMAC action. The Griffins are 0-3 in road games this season and 3-7 in all matches played away from the Behnken Field House. They are 3-1 this season when winning the first set and 4-0 when posting more service aces than the opponent.
 
Westminster is hitting .146 on the year to rank 12th in the RMAC and they are 14th in the league by averaging 10.9 kills per set. The Griffins are getting 1.29 aces per set to rank ninth in the RMAC. Westminster opponents are hitting .207 with the Griffins averaging 15.07 digs and 2.00 blocks per set.
 
Amara Culpepper currently leads the Griffins with 125 kills and .225 hitting. She has recorded double-digit kills in six matches and led the team in that category during seven matches. Alyse Horton had added 108 kills and five double-digit totals.
 
Taylor Gustafson and Jacey Saunders have recorded 221 and 183 assists respectively. Gustafson has led the team in assists eight times with one double-double. Saunders had recorded three double-doubles in the past six matches and she has led the team in assists six times.
 
Megan Gallegos is averaging 4.29 digs per set to rank eighth in the conference and she has posted at least 10 digs in a match nine times this season. Culpepper and Kate Tsourmas leads the team with 37 blocks apiece and Tsourmas is fifth in the RMAC by averaging 1.0 blocks per set.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
• Western New Mexico – The Mustangs will start the week at 10-3 overall and 5-0 in conference play. They have won eight of their previous nine matches and claimed win during three road matches last week. They are averaging 13.36 kills per set to rank second in the RMAC and they hit .193. Leeta Garp is third in the league by averaging 4.07 kills per set. Ashley Mataele gets 4.88 digs per set to rank second in the conference.
 
Friday will mark first time that Western New Mexico and Westminster will have played.
 
• New Mexico Highlands – The Cowgirls begin action this week at 4-8 overall and 1-4 in the conference. They snapped a four-match losing skid with a 3-1 win over Johnson & Wales (Colo.) in non-conference play on Sunday. NMHU averages 11.93 kills per set and is hitting .167 as a team. Andrea Nunez leads the Cowgirls with 65 kills and Tianna Matthews ranks third in the RMAC at 1.04 blocks per set.
 
Westminster and New Mexico Highlands will meet for the first time on Saturday.
 
LOOKING BACK
The Griffins went 1-2 during last week's action, earning their first win as a member of the RMAC with a 3-1 win over Colorado Mesa on September 22. Culpepper had 16 kills and Horton added 11 in the win. Westminster was then swept in consecutive home matches by Regis and Chadron State. Horton had a double-double in the loss to Chadron State.
 
500/500 FOR HORTON
Earlier this season, Horton became the sixth player in team history to record 500 kills and 500 digs as a Griffin. Horton is averaging 2.51 kills per set this season and hitting .165. She has five matches with double-digit kills this season and has three double-doubles with six 10-plus dig matches. Horton ranks ninth in school history with 555 career kills and 11th with 627 digs.
 
GUSTAFSON OVER 1,000
During non-conference play, 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 5.14 assists per set to lead the team and she has led the team in assists eight times. She begins the week fourth in school history with 1,111 career assists.
 
CULPEPPER CLIMBING
Culpepper has been the Griffins most consistent offensive threat this season and she leads the team with 125 kills and .225 hitting. Culpepper has six matches with 10-plus kills and she has lead the team in kills seven times. The sophomore set a school record by hitting .650 with 15 kills against Cal State East Bay on September 11 and was named to the Shark Invitational All-Tournament Team. Culpepper is 14th in school history with 331 career kills and she is 10th all-time with 119 blocks.
 
UP NEXT
The Griffins will return home for two matches against Western State Colorado on October 9 and Colorado State-Pueblo on October 10. Both matches will start at 7 p.m. MT and tickets are available at WestminsterGriffins.com/tickets.