Sept. 7, 2006

Lutes Travel to Colorado for Tournament Play

THIS WEEKEND: PLU plays at the 2006 Molten/Wyndham Colorado College Invitational in Colorado Springs, Colo. On Friday, the Lutes play Concordia (Texas) at noon and Elmhurst (Ill.) at 4 p.m. On Saturday, PLU battles a familiar foe, Linfield, at 2 p.m. before taking on host Colorado College at 6 p.m.

LAST WEEK: Pacific Lutheran finished with two wins and two losses at the 2006 Puget Sound Volleyball Invitational. The Lutes opened their tournament action early Friday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over Brockport State (NY). Game scores were 34-32, 30-25, 26-30, 30-23. PLU followed that victory with another 3-1 decision, this time against George Fox. Game scores were 30-21, 25-30, 30-26, 30-27. On Saturday, the Lutes dropped matches to Northwest Conference foes Whitman and tournament host Puget Sound. The Missionaries defeated the Lutes in four games, 30-27, 31-33, 30-18, 34-32. The Puget Sound match was a close affair with the Loggers rallying from a 2-1 deficit in games to win in five games, 30-24, 28-30, 27-30, 30-26, 15-10.

ALL-TOURNAMENT SELECTIONS: Two Pacific Lutheran players earned all-tournament honors. Junior setter Gina Di Maggio (Olympia, Wash. / Tumwater HS) finished with 184 assists in the Lutes’ four matches, while junior outside hitter Stacie Matz (Tacoma, Wash. / Wilson HS, Western Oregon Univ.) had 72 kills. Matz had her most impressive hitting match against Puget Sound, finishing with 26 kills, an average of more than five per game.

PLU BEATS SAINTS IN FIVE: Pacific Lutheran improved its season record to 3-2 with a five-game victory over St. Martin's on Wednesday night in Lacey. Game scores were 26-30, 30-20, 30-23, 39-41, 15-11. Senior outside hitter Kati McGinn (Puyallup, Wash. / Puyallup HS) continued her solid start with 21 kills and 22 digs. Matz added 20 kills and 23 digs for PLU, which also got 23 digs from junior defensive specialist Megan Kosel (Puyallup, Wash. / Emerald Ridge HS) and 52 assists from Di Maggio. By the way, that 41-39 score in the fourth game is not a typo.

ROAD WARRIORS: By the time the Lutes play their first home match on Sept. 22 against Cal State East Bay, they will have played 12 contests. In addition to a total of eight matches in two tournaments, the Lutes play a non-conference contest against St. Martin’s and three conference counters against Pacific (Sept. 15), Lewis & Clark (Sept. 16) and Puget Sound (Sept. 20). Once they start the home portion of their schedule, however, the Lutes will play seven of their next nine matches in the friendly confines of Olson Auditorium.

THE COACH: Kevin Aoki is in his 11th season at Pacific Lutheran (his alma mater and has compiled a 162-101 record.