Nov. 6, 2006

VOLLEYBALL: Lutes Headed to California for NCAA Regional

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran at NCAA Division III Regional Tournament hosted by University of La Verne, Thursday through Saturday.

LUTES RECEIVE TOURNAMENT INVITE: Pacific Lutheran, co-champion of the Northwest Conference, has received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III national volleyball tournament, which begins this Thursday in eight regional locations across the country. The Lutes, 20-6 this season and ranked No. 22 in the country, are the No. 3 seed in the West Region tournament being hosted by the University of La Verne in La Verne, Calif. Pacific Lutheran will face the regional tournament’s No. 6 seed, University of Redlands (20-6), at 6 p.m. Thursday.

OTHER PARTICIPANTS: The other first-day pairings at the West Region tournament have No. 2 Linfield (20-2, ranked No. 14 and Northwest Conference co-champions with PLU) against No. 7 Colorado College (23-10), and No. 4 California Lutheran (15-5) against No. 5 Cal State-East Bay (27-8 and ranked No. 23). University of La Verne (27-2 and ranked No. 3 in the nation) has a bye on the first day. The semifinal matches on Friday will pit the winner of PLU versus Redlands against the winner of the Linfield versus Colorado College contest, and La Verne against either Cal Lutheran or Cal State-East Bay. The semifinal winners battle for the regional championship on Saturday. The region winner advances to the eight-team national tournament quarterfinal round in Salem, Va., Nov. 16. The national champion will be crowned in Salem on Nov. 18.

MORE ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Redlands Bulldogs, the Lutes’ first round opponent, finished third in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings behind La Verne and Cal Lutheran. The Bulldogs have won nine straight matches, however, including a three-game sweep of La Verne in the regular season finale last weekend. PLU has played several of these tournament teams this season, losing two of three to Linfield, beating Cal State East Bay in three games at PLU and losing to Colorado College in four games in Colorado. The Lutes played the match against Colorado College without the services of their leader in kills per game, injured junior outside hitter Stacie Matz (Tacoma, Wash. / Western Oregon University).

BEEN THERE BEFORE: Pacific Lutheran will be making its third appearance in the NCAA Division III national playoffs. In both 1999 and 2004, PLU teams won their first match and then lost in the second round. The 2004 team won their opener against Mt. Ida (Iowa) and then lost in the second round to the University of La Verne Leopards. Current members of the PLU team that played in the 2004 national tournament are senior middle blocker Kati McGinn (Puyallup, Wash. / Puyallup HS), junior setter Gina Di Maggio (Olympia, Wash. / Tumwater HS) and junior libero Megan Kosel (Puyallup, Wash. / Emerald Ridge HS).

WHAT THE COACH SAYS: “We're excited,” said PLU head coach Kevin Aoki, “number one because we are co-champions of our conference, but also to be recognized as an NCAA tournament participant. Anytime that you can get to that level it shows you’re not only successful in your conference but that your program is also nationally known. This is exciting for the girls. We’ve had a really good year.”

CONFERENCE CO-CHAMPIONS: By sharing the Northwest Conference championship with the Linfield Wildcats, Pacific Lutheran won its third conference title since the 1999 season. This is the first time that the Lutes shared the crown. PLU won the 2004 NWC crown with a 15-1 record, and before that the school won the 1999 conference championship.

LINFIELD EARNED CO-CHAMPIONSHIP: Pacific Lutheran needed a win over the visiting Linfield Wildcats on Friday night to win the conference championship outright, but credit the Wildcats for a strong effort in defeating PLU, 30-26, 25-30, 30-25, 30-17. Because of the conference tiebreaking procedure, Linfield earned the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III national playoffs. Linfield had the advantage based on games won in head-to-head competition in conference matches: PLU defeated the Wildcats in five games in McMinnville, Ore., but Linfield came back to win in four games tonight. Pacific Lutheran got 17 kills from Matz and 15 more from freshman outside hitter Kelcy Joynt (Wasilla, Alaska / Colony HS), but the Lutes hit just .128 against the tough Linfield defense. Megan Kosel led all players with 28 digs and Gina Di Maggio had 48 assists for the Lutes.

LUTES END REGULAR SEASON WITH WIN: Pacific Lutheran claimed a share of the Northwest Conference volleyball championship by beating the visiting George Fox Bruins, 30-23, 30-25, 30-25, on Saturday night. Stacie Matz, who led all players with 18 kills, had nine of her finishes during the third game. Kelcy Joynt had arguably the best game of young collegiate career with 16 kills and a .577 hitting percentage. Kati McGinn, honored before the match as the Lutes’ lone senior, added 10 kills for the winners, who hit .291 for the match despite the Bruins finishing with eight team blocks.

THE COACH: Kevin Aoki has compiled a 179-105 record in what is now his 11th season as volleyball head coach at his alma mater.

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