Nov. 1, 2006

VOLLEYBALL: Conference Title on Line as Lutes Host Linfield

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran (19-5 overall, 13-1 Northwest Conference) hosts Linfield, Friday, 7 p.m.; PLU hosts George Fox, Saturday, 7 p.m.

CONFERENCE TITLE UP FOR GRABS: The Northwest Conference title – and with it the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III national tournament – will be up for grabs Friday when Pacific Lutheran hosts Linfield (19-2 overall, 12-2 conference) at 7 p.m. in Olson Auditorium. Currently, PLU leads the conference standings with a 13-1 record, followed by Linfield at 12-2. The Lutes have faced Linfield in two matches this season. The Wildcats took the first match, 32-30, 33-31, 30-24, at the Colorado College tournament on Sept. 9, but that was a non-conference contest and doesn’t figure into the conference standings. Neither does that match figure into possible tie-breaking procedures needed should the two teams tie for the conference title. The match that does figure into the tiebreaker went PLU’s way. On Oct. 6, the Lutes traveled down to McMinnville and defeated the Wildcats in five games, 20-30, 30-27, 30-28, 19-30, 15-10. There are several scenarios that could come into play regarding tiebreakers – among them number of games won and lost – but all of that will be worked out later. On Friday, you can bet that the Lutes and the Wildcats will be more focused on playing well and trying to end up on the winning side of the ledger.

HISTORY LESSON: Should Pacific Lutheran win the conference title it would be the Lutes' second championship in the last three years. PLU won the 2004 NWC crown with a 15-1 record, and before that the school won the 1999 conference championship. Linfield last won the Northwest Conference title in 2003.

SATURDAY’S MATCH ALSO IMPORTANT: One thing that the Lutes want to avoid is putting everything into the Linfield match and leaving nothing for George Fox, which visits Olson Auditorium on Saturday night for a conference match and the teams’ regular season finale. The Bruins (9-16 Overall, 5-9 Northwest Conference) and Lutes have played each other twice this year and PLU has come out on the winning end both times. The Lutes took George Fox in four games, 30-21, 25-30, 30-26, 30-27, at the UPS Invitational on Sept. 1, and they swept the Bruins, 30-26, 30-24, 30-27, on Oct. 7 in Newberg, Ore. The weekend should be full of action as the Lutes will honor their lone senior, middle blocker Katie McGinn (Puyallup, Wash. / Puyallup HS), and try to capture the Northwest Conference title.

McGINN’S WEEKEND: The Lutes’ lone senior, middle blocker Kati McGinn (Puyallup, Wash. / Puyallup HS), will be honored on Saturday night. She has had a tremendous senior season and certainly has to come into consideration as the Northwest Conference Player of the Year. She leads the Lutes with 0.89 blocks per game and with 4.1 kills per game while hitting .225, and she is third with 3.53 digs per game. In addition, she is tops among the Lutes with 40 service aces this season.

LUTES SPLIT ON EASTERN WASHINGTON ROAD TRIP: Pacific Lutheran remains in first place in the Northwest Conference despite a split last weekend against Whitman and Whitworth. The Whitman Missionaries proved to be a tough opponent in Walla Walla with PLU losing 27-30, 21-30, 30-24, 30-28, 15-11. It was the Lutes’ first conference loss of the season and also ended PLU’s 13-match winning streak. PLU returned to form on Saturday with a sweep of Whitworth, 30-24, 30-26, 33-31, in Spokane.

- PLU -