Lutes Host Puget Sound, Linfield in NWC Clashes

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran, unbeaten in 10 Northwest Conference matches, hosts Puget Sound on Wednesday and Linfield on Saturday in Olson Auditorium. The Lutes are currently ranked No. 15 in Division III volleyball. Both matches get underway at 7 p.m.

LUTES MOVE UP TO NO. 15: Make it four straight weeks that Pacific Lutheran has moved up spot up the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III Coaches Top 25 Poll. The Lutes earned 233 votes and are ranked No. 15 in the AVCA national poll released this morning. Since a No. 19 national ranking in the Sept. 22 poll, the Lutes have gone unbeaten and moved up one spot in each of the ensuing weekly polls.

ABOUT THE LOGGERS: The Loggers, 13-5 overall, enter the match ranked No. 21 in the nation and at 7-3 are currently tied with George Fox for second in the NWC. Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound have already played each other three times this year, splitting non-conference matches in tournament play during the opening weekend of the season in early September, and the Lutes taking a three-set win over the host Loggers on Sept. 23. In that match, the Lutes hit .337 for the match, including an incredible .700 by Katy Tauscher who finished with eight kills and one error on 10 attempts. Beth Hanna led the Lutes with 14 kills and hit .333 while Kelsie Moore had nine kills and hit .368. Sarah Beaver finished with 40 assists during the match. On the defensive side, PLU recorded three solo blocks and six block assists and also notched 50 digs, 14 by Hanna and 10 more by Kelcy Joynt. UPS is playing without senior leader Lindsey Denman, who suffered a season-ending knee injury when PLU and UPS met in conference play back in October. Brynn Blickenstaff (2.84 kills per set), Kalli Kamphaus (2.25) and Bre Boyce (2.06) have been carrying the weight on offense for the Loggers. Kamphaus ranks second among conference players with 1.24 kills per set and Leigh Sumida is second in the NWC with 4.24 digs per set. UPS leads the conference in team blocking wtih 2.29 blocks per set.

ABOUT LINFIELD: The Lutes defeated the Wildcats, 25-17, 25-16, 25-21, the first time these teams played on Sept. 25. Beth Hanna, the Lutes' two-time All-America outside hitter, led all players with 11 kills and 14 digs, and both Kelcy Joynt and Kelsie Moore finished the match with eight kills. Joynt hit .500 in the match and the Lutes finished with a .223 team attack percentage, including .300 and .360 marks in the first two sets. Defensively, Moore contributed 13 digs and Erin Bremond had two solo blocks and two blocks assists as the Lutes finished with eight team blocks. Linfield, 7-10 overall, has lost five of its last six matches and currently sits in a fifth-place tie in the NWC standings with a 4-6 record. Emily Vuylsteke leads the team with 2.48 kills per set and Samantha Lau leads the entire conference with 5.03 digs per set. Katie Leavitt (2.25 kills average) and Tara Hill (2.07) are also top offensive threats for the 'Cats.

THE STREAK CONTINUES: Last weekend's victories over Pacific and George Fox were the ninth and 10th straight conference wins for the Pacific Lutheran volleyball team. Pacific Lutheran finished yet another match in three sets by defeating the host Pacific Boxers, 25-12, 25-17, 25-23, Friday night in Forest Grove, Ore. Kelcy Joynt led the Lutes with 13 kills, while Erin Bremond recorded eight kills along with a .538 attack percentage. Kelsie Moore added nine kills, Brenna Archibald finished with 14 digs and Sarah Beaver had 31 assists. Saturday night proved more difficult as George Fox University outplayed and beat the Lutes in the first set. This marked the first time this year in NWC play that the Lutes were defeated in a set. After starting the match with a meager.033 hitting percentage, Pacific Lutheran rallied back to defeat the Bruins, 17-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-17.  Pacific Lutheran ended the night hitting a much improved .221 as a team. Kelsie Moore, playing one-half hour away from her hometown of Oregon City, had a big night for the Lutes with 14 kills and a .407 attack percentage. Prior to the match, the Lutes had won nine straight NWC matches in straight sets. The Bruins ended that streak by winning the opener tonight, but after that it was all Lutes. In addition to Moore's outstanding performance, both Beth Hanna and Erin Bremond finished the match with 11 kills. Hanna and Blair Bjorkman both contributed 13 digs and Sarah Beaver finished with 43 assists.

LUTE NOTES: Pacific Lutheran not only leads the conference with an unbeaten record, it ranks first in many offensive categories including hitting percentage (.227), assists (11.79) and kills (12.79). Kelcy Joynt is tops in the conference with a .292 attack percentage and teammate Kelsie Moore is fourth at .276. Beth Hanna ranks second in kills per set with 3.52 and Joynt is fifth at 3.05. Sarah Beaver tops the circuit with 10.17 assists per set and Erin Bremond is fifth in blocking with an average of 0.97 per set.

LISTEN LIVE: You can listen to all PLU volleyball home matches on Stretch Internet by pointing your browser to the following link - http://www.golutes.com/information/listenlive. Students Paul DiPietro and Bret Handy call the majority of the matches.

- PLU -