Season Begins in Alaska
The Westminster women's volleyball team will open the 2016 season in Anchorage, Alaska, where they will play four matches at the SpringHill Suites Invitational. The Griffins begin play against No. 14 Alaska Anchorage on Thursday at 9 p.m. MT. On Friday the team will play Stanislaus State at 1:30 p.m. MT before facing No. 19 Arkansas Fort Smith at 6:30 p.m. MT. The weekend concludes on Saturday with an 11 a.m. MT match against Rollins.

Returning Experience
The 2016 season squad will return eight players from the 2015 team that finished 7-20 overall. That group includes four starts and the libero. The team will feature five juniors, three sophomores and eight freshmen.
 
Preseason Poll
The coaches in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference selected the Griffins to finish 12th in the coming season. Westminster received 46 points in the poll for the 12th-place prediction. The Griffins will enter their second season in the RMAC in 2016. They finished the 2015 season tied for 12th in the conference race.
 
All-Conference Performer
Amara Spere returns for her junior campaign after being named Second Team All-Conference in the RMAC last season. Spere averaged 3.28 kills per set and had double figure kills in 16 matches. She begins this season 10th in team history with 524 career kills and fourth with her .205 hitting efficiency.
 
Quickly
• Westminster enters its second season as a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 2016. The Griffins finished 4-14 in RMAC matches last season to place tied for 12th. They went 3-8 in road matches and 3-4 on a neutral site a year ago.
 
• Megan Gallegos is back for her junior season after finishing eighth in the RMAC with her 4.40 digs per set last season. The libero had 22 matches with at least 10 digs – including the final 14 matches of the season – and she had six 20-dig outings. Gallegos starts the year with 765 career digs to rank ninth in team history.
 
• At setter, Taylor Gustafson is back after playing in 26 matches and 85 sets in 2015. The junior averaged 6.04 assists per set to lead the team while also recording 1.72 digs per set. Gustafson is currently fourth in team history with 1,403 assists and tied for 19th with 38 service aces.
 
• Desiree Wickwar is back for her junior season after averaging 1.61 kills per set to rank fourth in the team last season. Wickwar added 0.51 blocks per set as a sophomore and hit .173. She has 296 career kills to rank 15th in team history while sitting tied for 16th all-time with 87 blocks.
 
• Katie Allen led the Griffins in blocks last season with 67. She finished sixth in the RMAC by getting 0.93 blocks per set and she had 11 matches with at least three blocks. Allen hit .120 on the season with 52 kills and she added nine service aces.
 
Match Facts: No. 14 Alaska Anchorage
• The SeaWolves opened their season by going 2-1 last weekend in Hawaii.
• They return seven players from the 2015 squad that won the GNAC.
 
Match Facts: Stanislaus State
• The Warriors begin the season this weekend after going 16-11 in 2015.
• Blair Ehrlich and Taylor Massengale return after being named to the All-CCAA second team last season.
 
Match Facts: No. 19 Arkansas Fort Smith
• The Lions open the 2016 season this weekend after finishing 29-4 and advancing to the Elite Eight last season.
• It is a senior-laden team with seven upperclassmen on the 16-player roster.
 
Match Facts: Rollins
• The Tars will begin the 2016 season in Alaska under first-year head coach Mika Robinson.
• The team went 11-19 last season and lost just two seniors.
 
Looking Ahead
The Griffins are home next weekend to host the Fairfield Inn & Suites Volleyball Invitational. The two-day event will feature 10 matches in the Behnken Field House on Sept. 9-10. More information on the event is available at WestminsterGriffins.com/vbinvite.