Nov. 7, 2007

VOLLEYBALL: Lutes Prepare for NCAA West Region Tournament; Hanna Named NWC Player of the Year

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran at NCAA Division III West Region Volleyball Tournament, Nov. 8-10, Hayward, Calif.

LUTES EARN NO. 1 SEED AT REGIONAL TOURNAMENT: Pacific Lutheran received the top seed and with it a first-round bye in the NCAA Division III West Region volleyball tournament scheduled for Thursday through Saturday at Hayward, Calif. The Lutes, 23-3 this season and undefeated champion of the Northwest Conference, will play at 4:30 p.m. Friday against the winner of the first round game between Northwest Conference rival Puget Sound (17-8) and Nebraska Wesleyan (17-11). Cal State-East Bay (28-4) will meet Colorado College (22-2) at 7 p.m. Thursday in the other first round game with the winner of that contest to face La Verne (26-6) at 7 p.m. Friday. The tournament championship match is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, with the winner advancing to the eight-team NCAA Division III Championships scheduled for Nov. 15-17 at the Shirk Center on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Ill.

MORE TOURNAMENT INFORMATION: The University of La Verne, champion of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, is the No. 2 seed, while tournament host Cal State-East Bay, an NCAA Division III independent, is No. 3. Puget Sound is the No. 4 seed and Nebraska Wesleyan, another independent, is No. 5. Colorado College, which finished fourth in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament, is the No. 6 seed. A couple of side notes: Cal State-East Bay (formerly Cal State-Hayward) is hosting the regional volleyball tournament for the third time; and La Verne has won four regional titles in eight previous tournament appearances.

PLU’S TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Head coach Kevin Aoki, with 202 career wins in his 12th year at PLU, has led the Lutes to Northwest Conference championships and NCAA postseason tournament appearances in 1999, 2004, 2006 and again this year. The Lutes are 2-3 in NCAA tournament play, including 1-1 records in both 1999 and 2004 (played in Hayward, Calif.) and a 0-1 record in 2006. Last year, PLU dropped a five-game decision to Redlands in a first-round match at the University of La Verne.

LUTES ON A ROLL: Pacific Lutheran goes into the regional tournament having won 19 consecutive matches and 23 overall this season, both school records. The Lutes are led by a trio of seniors - setter Gina Di Maggio, outside hitter Stacie Matz and libero Megan Kosel - and freshman outside hitter Beth Hanna. Di Maggio averages 12.02 assists per game and is on pace to break her own school record. Hanna averages 5.36 kills per game, also on pace to establish a new school record, and she averages 3.72 digs per game. Matz averages 4.16 and 3.66 digs per game, while Kosel leads the Lutes with an average of 4.47 digs per game. Hanna is among the national leaders – and is on school-record pace – with an average of 5.36 kills per game while hitting at a .292 percentage.

LUTES MOVE UP TO NO. 13: PLU has moved up one spot to No. 13 in the CSTV/AVCA Division III top 25 national poll. After spending two weeks at No. 14, the No. 13 spot is the highest ranking that the Lutes have had this season. The other regional tournament teams are ranked as follows: La Verne, No. 4; Cal State-East Bay, No. 9; Puget Sound, No. 20; Colorado College, tie for No. 25; Nebraska Wesleyan, unranked.

HANNA, AOKI EARN TOP NWC HONORS: Pacific Lutheran dominated the 2007 Northwest Conference volleyball season and the postseason awards reflected that fact. Freshman outside hitter Beth Hanna received Player of the Year honors and head coach Kevin Aoki was named Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his 12-year tenure. Joining Hanna on the Northwest Conference First Team was senior setter Gina Di Maggio, while senior Libero Megan Kosel and senior outside hitter Stacie Matz received second team recognition. In conference matches, Hanna led all players in hitting percentage (.316), kills per game (5.87) and in total kills (311). Di Maggio, a two-time first team All-Northwest Conference selection, finished NWC action with an average of 13.15 assists per game. Kosel, who earned honorable mention all-conference honors in 2004 and 2006, finished third among conference players in aces per game (0.53) and fifth in digs per game (5.08). An honorable mention all-conference choice last year, Matz finished fourth in the conference with an average of 4.40 kills per game. The Lutes led the Northwest Conference in hitting percentage (.222), opponents hitting percentage (.105), kills per game (16.30) assists per game (14.79) and aces per game (2.77).

PLU SWEEPS LINFIELD: Pacific Lutheran won for the 22nd time – a new school record that it would add to the following night – in a 30-23, 31-29, 30-24 Northwest Conference sweep of Linfield on Friday night at the Wildcats’ Ted Wilson Gym. Scoring six of the first seven points of the night, the Lutes raced out to an early lead that Linfield could never match. The Wildcats got within two at 10-8 before the Lutes made another run, this time a 7-1 surge. Beth Hanna had nine kills, leading PLU to a 30-23 win in the first game. After taking a 24-21 edge on the heels of an 8-0 spurt, the Wildcats could not hold off the Lutes in the second stanza. PLU rallied back before Linfield tied the game at 29. PLU recaptured the lead on a drop shot by Hanna, and then took the set 31-29 after a Wildcat team error. PLU took care of business in the third game to sweep a match for the 16th time this season. Linfield was able to knot the game at 10-10, but PLU proved too much, taking the lead and holding it the rest of the way, winning 30-24. Hanna, a freshman outside hitter from Clackamas playing in her home state, led the Lutes with 20 kills. Senior setter Gina DiMaggio dished out 42 of the Lutes’ 46 assists, and senior libero Megan Kosel was all over the floor with an incredible 32 digs.

LUTES WRAP UP UNBEATEN NWC SLATE: The Lutes wrapped up an unbeaten Northwest Conference season with a 30-21, 30-24, 30-25 victory over the host Pacific Boxers on Saturday night at the Pacific Athletic Center. The Lutes became the first team since Puget Sound in 2000 to go a perfect 16-0 against conference opponents. They also added to a pair of ongoing school records with their 19th straight win and their 23rd victory overall this season. During their 19-match winning streak, the Lutes have won 57 games while losing just seven. Beth Hanna led the Lutes with 17 kills while Stacie Matz registered 14 kills. Megan Kosel added a team-high 20 digs and Gina Di Maggio added 36 assists.

BROKEN JOYNT ON THE MEND: Rehabilitation gets underway soon for sophomore middle blocker Kelcy Joynt, whose torn ACL was surgically repaired last Wednesday. At the time of her injury, Joynt led the team in blocks with 47 and was third in kills with 203.

SEVERAL LUTES ON RECORD PACE: There are a handful of Lutes closing in on school records this season. If the season were to end today, Beth Hanna would own the school record for kills per game with a 5.36 average. The current record for kills per game is 5.01 set by Rachelle Snowdon in 1995. Hanna needs just 16 more kills to surpass Snowdon’s season kills record of 486. Gina DiMaggio is on pace to break the assist per game record of 11.56 that she set her freshman year. DiMaggio is currently averaging 12.02 assists per game.

ABOUT THE COACH: Kevin Aoki is guiding the Lutes to the most successful season in school history. In his 12th year at PLU, Aoki has compiled a 202-109 record. He has been named the Northwest Conference Coach of the Year four times (1999, 2004, 2006 and 2007) and in 2004 was selected as the AVCA West Region Coach of the Year.

- PLU -