HILLSBORO, Ore. – Following a 2020-21 athletic season and academic year like no other, volleyball returns to the Northwest Conference (NWC) beginning Wednesday, September 1. All nine teams are set to return to the court in 2021 after the official NWC volleyball season was cancelled for the Fall of 2020.
Whitworth has been selected as the Northwest Conference frontrunner for the 2021 season, as voted on by conference head coaches. The Pirates earned 64 points and eight first-place votes. Pacific Lutheran ranks second in the poll with 56 points and one first place vote. Whitworth and Pacific Lutheran each received votes in the AVCA Coaches Preseason Top 25 Poll released on August 23.
Puget Sound takes the third spot on the list with 45 points, while Pacific (Ore.) received 43 points to rank fourth. Lewis & Clark earned 34 points to rank fifth followed by George Fox’s 30 points to land them at sixth. Willamette (27 pts.), Whitman (17 pts.) and Linfield (8 pts) round out the poll.
Willamette will host Linfield on Wednesday, September 15 to get conference play off and running.
Below are key returners and players to watch from each team as well as statistical highlights and NWC accolades from 2019.
KEY RETURNERS/PLAYERS TO WATCH
George Fox
Sophia Davies | SR | DS | 2019 Stats: 17 MP, 1 SA, 50 DIGS
Sophia Lawrence | SR | L/DS | 2019 Stats: 25 MP, 71 A, 38 SA, 472 DIGS |
2019 NWC Libero of the Year; 2019 First-Team All-NWC
Bailey LeBreton | JR | MB | 2019 Stats: 25 MP, 186 K, 2.21 K/S, .273 ATT%, 2 A, 31 DIGS, 16 BS, 67 BA, 83 TOT
Lewis & Clark
Emma Ehlers | JR | MB | 2019 Stats: 23 MP, 52 K, .81 K/S, .133 ATT%, 3 A, 23 DIGS, 13 BS, 50 BA, 63 TOT
Michelle McGinn | SR | S | 24 MP, 734 A, 21 SA, 285 DIGS, 1 BS, 15 BA, 16 TOT |
2019 Second Team All-NWC
Kelsey Parker | SR | RS | 2019 Stats: 22 MP, 100 K, 1.64 K/S, .124 ATT%, 8 A, 12 SA, 111 DIGS, 2 BS, 28 BA, 30 TOT
Linfield
Regan Dean | SR | OH | 2019 Stats: 28 MP, 173 K, 1.88 K/S, .085 ATT%, 25 A, 26 SA, 296 DIGS, 2 BS, 23 BA, 25 TOT
Alyea Dixon | JR | S | 2019 Stats: 27 MP, 600 A, 51 SA, 203 DIGS, 1 BS, 19 BA, 20 TOT
Raelynn Hammock | JR | OH | 2019 Stats: 28 MP, 220 K, 2.39 K/S, .105 ATT%, 19 A, 35 SA, 245 DIGS, 2 BS, 16 BA, 18 TOT
Pacific
Shaianne Cambra | SO | S | 2019 Stats: 10 MP, 177 A, 55 DIGS, 2 BA, 2 TOT
Elika Unti | SR | MB | 2019 Stats: 24 MP, 171 K, 1.90 K/S, .332 ATT%, 4 A, 16 DIGS, 9 BS, 51 BA, 60 TOT
Haley Walz | JR | L | 2019 Stats: 26 MP, 66 A, 35 SA, 488 DIGS |2019
Honorable Mention All-NWC
Pacific Lutheran
Emily Dulaney | SR | S | 2019 Stats: 28 MP, 1004 A, 254 DIGS, 2 BS, 37 BA, 39 TOT
Halle Hetzler | JR | L | 2019 Stats: 28 MP, 71 A, 28 SA, 527 DIGS
Baylee Johnson | JR | OH | 2019 Stats: 28 MP, 210 K, 1.98 K/S, .134 ATT%, 5 A, 2 SA, 71 DIGS, 21 BA, 21 TOT
Puget Sound
Chloe Akionna-Bannan | JR | L | 2019 Stats: 28 MP, 73 A, 30 SA, 460 DIGS
Sarah Blumenfeld | SR | S | 2019 Stats: 25 MP, 584 A, 48 SA, 237 DIGS, 1 BS, 17 BA, 18 TOT |
2019 Honorable Mention All-NWC
Jordan Holman | SR | OH | 2019 Stats: 28 MP, 247 K, 2.29 K/S, .145 ATT%, 25 A, 53 SA, 345 DIGS, 2 BS, 30 BA, 32 TOT |
2019 First Team All-NWC
Whitman
Emma Anderson | SR | S | 2019 Stats: 22 MP, 424 A, 17 SA, 172 DIGS, 1 BS, 8 BA, 9 TOT
Christina Boxberger | JR | RS | 2019 Stats: 22 MP, 128 K, .42 K/S, .075 ATT%, 2 A, 1 SA, 38 DIGS, 5 BS, 28 BA, 33 TOT
Sophia Dominitz | JR | MB | 2019 Stats: 21 MP, 46 K, .68 K/S, .172 ATT%, 3 A, 21 DIGS, 11 BS, 39 BA, 50 TOT
Whitworth
Saylor Anderson | SR | S |2019 Stats: 26 MP, 459 A, 38 SA, 188 DIGS
*Kaity Barr | SO | MB | 2019 Stats: N/A
*Maddie Lee | SR | OH | 2019 Stats: N/A
Willamette
Natalie Klotz | SR | OH | 2019 Stats: 25 MP, 293 K, 3.22 K/S, .199 ATT%, 19 A, 22 SA, 254 DIGS, 42 BA, 42 TOT |
2019 Second Team All-NWC
Emma Porter | JR | S | 2019 Stats: 25 MP, 849 A, 19 SA, 297 DIGS, 2 BS, 16 BA, 18 TOT
Shyla Sato | JR | L | 2019 Stats: 25 MP, 73 A, 15 SA, 441 DIGS
(Points awarded on an 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Coaches could not vote for their own teams; numbers in parentheses indicate first place votes)
| Team |
Pts. |
2019 NWC Finish |
| Whitworth (8) |
64 |
1st |
| PLU (1) |
56 |
3rd |
| Puget Sound |
45 |
4th |
| Pacific (Ore.) |
43 |
2nd |
| Lewis & Clark |
34 |
7th |
| George Fox |
30 |
5th |
| Willamette |
27 |
6th |
| Whitman |
17 |
8th |
| Linfield |
8 |
9th |
For the complete 2021 NWC volleyball schedule, click
here.
*Newcomer to the NWC. Did not compete in 2019.