Sept. 19, 2006

VOLLEYBALL: Lutes Face Loggers in Early Season NWC Showdown

2006 PLU Season Statistics

THIS WEEK: PLU at Puget Sound, Wednesday, 7 p.m.; PLU hosts Cal State East Bay, Friday, 7 p.m.; PLU hosts Willamette, Saturday, 7 p.m.

LUTES VERSUS LOGGERS IN EARLY SEASON SHOWDOWN: Whenever Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound get together on the volleyball court you can expect a hard-fought match with no clear favorite. That will be the case this Wednesday when the two teams meet in an important early season Northwest Conference showdown. Both PLU and UPS enter the contest with 2-0 records and tied atop the conference standings with Linfield, ranked No. 7 in the nation. Puget Sound defeated Pacific Lutheran in the UPS Invitational on Sept. 2, with the match going to five games. The Loggers rallied from a 2-1 deficit for the victory, 30-24, 28-30, 27-30, 30-26, 15-10. UPS is picked by conference coaches to win the NWC title, while PLU came in third in the coaches’ ballot. Puget Sound, by the way, is just out of the AVCA Top 25 national poll, receiving the most votes of teams in the “others receiving votes” category.

LUTES HOST NO. 25 CAL STATE EAST BAY: The Lutes, 7-4 overall and 2-0 in the Northwest Conference, will play a couple of highly regarded teams this week. In addition to the Loggers, PLU will face Cal State-East Bay, which is ranked No. 25 in this week’s AVCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Pioneers bring an 8-4 record to Olson Auditorium. That match marks the first home contest this season for the Lutes, who after Wednesday night will have played 12 matches away from home. 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. Included in that number is a Northwest Conference match against the Willamette Bearcats on Saturday evening. The Bearcats have had their struggles this year, compiling a 3-8 overall record and a 0-2 mark in the conference.

McGINN NAMED NWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior outside hitter Kati McGinn (Puyallup, Wash. / Puyallup HS) has earned Northwest Conference Player of the Week honors for leading the Lutes to conference road wins over Pacific and Lewis & Clark. McGinn hit .371 with 29 kills, and she added 29 digs, four aces and five blocks.

LUTES START NWC WITH WINS: Pacific Lutheran started conference play last weekend with wins at Pacific (30-22, 30-27, 30-23) and at Lewis & Clark (30-28, 30-13, 30-18). McGinn had 15 kills and 16 digs, junior outside hitter Stacie Matz (Tacoma, Wash. / Western Oregon Univ.) had 13 kills, and junior setter Gina Di Maggio (Olympia, Wash. / Tumwater HS) had 37 assists against Pacific. The following night, McGinn had 14 kills and Di Maggio 41 assists, but freshman middle blocker Kelcy Joynt (Wasilla, Alaska / Colony HS) had the biggest night of her young college career with 14 kills and a .565 hitting percentage.

THE COACH: Kevin Aoki is in his 11th season at Pacific Lutheran (his alma mater and has compiled a 166-103 record.

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