Three preseason top 10 nationally ranked teams are among the four opponents Western Washington University faces this weekend as it opens the 2010 volleyball campaign at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Challenge. Matches will be played at host Western Oregon in Monmouth, Ore., and at Central High School in Independence, Ore. The Vikings begin play Friday at 10 a.m. against Metro State CO, rated No.10 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll. They face Humboldt State that evening at 8 p.m. On Saturday, Western meets No.8 UC San Diego at 10 a.m.
There's a buzz in the air around the Western Washington volleyball program this season and sophomore Marlayna Geary can hardly wait to get things started. She rubs her hands together like an excited child and her eyes grow wide while she talks about the Vikings potential this year.
Alaska Anchorage returns four starters from last year's NCAA Division II Regional semifinalists and Western Washington has everyone back from its team that barely missed the playoffs a year ago. Those two squads figure to fight it out this fall for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball championship. Each team received four first-place votes in the GNAC Coaches poll though the Vikings, who are seeking a fifth GNAC title, outpointed the Seawolves 72-67 in the overall balloting.
The first practice of the 2010 season for the Western Washington University volleyball team will have a lot of familiar faces. Virtually everyone returns from a year ago, when the Vikings, playing a number of underclassmen, were 17-10 overall, tied for third place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference at 10-6 and narrowly missed out on a berth to the West Regional.
The first practice of the 2010 season for the Western Washington University volleyball team will have a lot of familiar faces. Virtually everyone returns from a year ago, when the Vikings, playing a number of underclassmen, were 17-10 overall, tied for third place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference at 10-6 and narrowly missed out on a berth to the West Regional.
Western Washington University was one of just two NCAA Division II West Region schools and only 55 overall in that division to earn the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the 2009-10 season. The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale.
Outside hitter Kelsey Moore, a senior at Newport High School in Bellevue, has signed a National Letter of Intent to play volleyball at Western Washington University beginning this fall. Making that announcement was Viking head coach Diane Flick.
The NCAA Women's Volleyball Rules Committee has decided to keep the substitution rule at 12 per set. At its annual meeting January 19-21 in Indianapolis, the committee considered liberalizing substitutions to 15 per set but decided to maintain the status quo.
Western Washington University outside hitter Marlayna Geary has been named American Volleyball Coaches Association/NCAA Division II West Region Freshman of the Year.
Two outside hitters who have played volleyball together since the seventh grade have signed national letters of intent to continue their careers at Western Washington University. They are Emily Cotter and Samantha Hutchinson from Curtis High School in Tacoma. Both Cotter and Hutchinson were first-team Tacoma News Tribune all-Area picks as seniors, Cotter for the second straight year. They also were first-team all-South Puget Sound League South Division choices, Hutchinson for the second consecutive season.
Western Washington University outside hitter Marlayna Geary was a first-team choice and received Freshman of the Year honors on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Volleyball All-Star Team announced today.
For the second straight year, the Western Washington University volleyball team was denied one of eight berths in the West Regional of the NCAA Division II National Tournament after being ranked among the top eight in the last regular-season regional poll and winning its final match. The Vikings were rated No.8 in last week's poll and swept Montana State Billings on Saturday to finish 17-10. In 2008, Western was sixth in the final regular-season rating and won its last two matches prior to the selections, finishing 21-3.
Middle blocker Emily Jepsen had team-highs of 11 kills, three blocks and three service aces as Western Washington University ended its regular season with a 25-22, 25-19, 25-21 victory over Montana State University Billings on Saturday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match on Haggen Court at Sam Carver Gymnasium. The Vikings, ranked No.8 in the latest official NCAA Division II West Region poll, completed their regular season 17-10 overall and tied for third with MSUB at 10-6 in the GNAC.
The Western Washington University volleyball team is ranked eighth in the NCAA Division II West Region poll released today. The Vikings are 16-10 overall and fourth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference at 9-6. They entertain Montana State Billings on Saturday in their regular-season finale which could determine third-place in the league standings.
Western Washington University placed six student-athletes, four for the second straight year, on the 2009 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Academic All-Star Volleyball Team announced today. Heading the Viking repeaters was middle blocker Kathryn Mertens, a biology/anthropology major with a 3.89 (4.0 scale) grade point average.
A season of learning experiences for a young Western Washington University volleyball team comes to a close as the Vikings play host to Montana State University Billings in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match Saturday (7 p.m.) on Haggen Court at Sam Carver Gymnasium that could determine third place in the league standings. Western, which does not have a senior on its active roster, is 16-10 overall and currently fourth in the GNAC at 9-6.
Western Washington University had 30 attack errors, one short of its season high, and hit just .099 as the Vikings fell to Central Washington University, 11-25, 25-21, 25-15, 21-25, 15-11, on Saturday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match at Nicholson Pavilion. The Vikings dropped to 16-10 overall with their third loss in four matches and 9-6 in GNAC action. They have lost three five-set matches since defeating Cal State L.A., 3-2, on Aug. 29.
Outside hitter Marlayna Geary posted her 11th double-double of the season with a match-high 20 kills and 13 digs as Western Washington University defeated Northwest Nazarene University, 25-13, 22-25, 25-15, 25-22, on Thursday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match at the Johnson Sports Center. The Vikings improved to 16-9 overall and are third in the GNAC standings at 9-5.
Looking to snap a two-match losing streak, the Western Washington University volleyball team is on the road this week for two Great Northwest Athletic Conference matches, traveling to Northwest Nazarene on Thursday (7 p.m.) and going to arch-rival Central Washington on Saturday (7 p.m.).
Outside hitter Marlayna Geary had a team-high 17 kills and added 19 digs, but Western Washington University still suffered its second straight loss, falling to Seattle Pacific University, 25-17, 18-25, 25-17, 26-24, on Saturday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match on Haggen Court at Sam Carver Gymnasium.
With its last opportunity to post a win over one of the two Great Northwest Athletic Conference front runners, the Western Washington University volleyball team entertains Seattle Pacific in a league counter Saturday (7 p.m.) on Haggen Court at Sam Carver Gymnasium. The Vikings, 15-8 overall and third in the conference standings at 8-4, were swept by the Falcons on Sept. 30 at Seattle. Seattle Pacific, which is at Montana State Billings for a GNAC contest Thursday, is second in the GNAC at 8-2.
The cake went for $1,400. The man who bought it never imagined the bidding would go that high ... And Peter Rynders is a big booster of the women's volleyball team at Western Washington University. And that cake for which he got into a bidding battle early this month? Well, he didn't even realize it was a cake when he first saw it sitting there on a table at Viking Night, the major fundraiser for the WWU athletic program ...
A fast start fizzled for Western Washington University as it fell to University of Alaska Anchorage, 8-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-9, on Saturday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex. The loss snapped a four-match winning streak for the Vikings, who fell to 15-8 overall and remained third in the league standings at 8-4. Alaska Anchorage, which won its seventh straight match, improved to 17-7 overall and took over the GNAC lead at 9-2.
Outside hitter Megan Amundson had a team-high 15 kills and a .364 attack percentage and middle blocker Emily Jepsen added 13 kills on .480 hitting and a match-high six blocks as Western Washington University swept University of Alaska Fairbanks, 25-22, 25-22, 25-21, on Thursday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match at Patty Center. The Vikings, who have won four straight matches, equaling their season high, improved to 15-7 overall and remained in third place at 8-3 in GNAC action.
Western Washington University middle blocker Emily Jepsen has been named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Volleyball co-Player of the Week for Oct. 11-17. Jepsen, a 5-foot-11 sophomore from Kennewick (graduate of Kamiakin High School), led the Vikings to victories over Western Oregon, 3-1, and Montana State Billings, 3-0. She had a .509 hitting percentage in the two matches with 30 kills and just one error in 57 attempts as Western moved to within one-half match of the GNAC lead.
