"The one area that really hurt us was that we weren't able to get a lot of kills," first-year coach Dean Snider said. "We played with them the whole way and had some very long rallies. Our passing and transition were good, for the most part, but we didn't get the kills when we needed them."
After concentrating on passing and transition during last week's initial workouts, his squad will now focus on other parts of the game, Snider said. "We look at this first match as a step in the right direction. Now it's time to take the next step and make improvements in other areas."
Wendy Wilford, who sidelined last season by injuries, paced Whitman's passing game with 19 assists. She also had four kills and no hitting errors. "Wendy did a fine job setting for us," Snider said.
Mandy Rockwell added 19 digs and eight kills for Whitman, while freshman Barby Ream had six kills and just three hitting errors in 19 attempts.
The opposition was led by Ginger Crocker, who struggled through an injury-riddled season a year ago at Whitman before transferring to Eastern Oregon. Crocker had 12 kills, no hitting errors and 23 digs.
Stephanie Meier led a solid Whitman effort with 11 kills, eight blocks, three digs and two service aces. Donna Hager added 10 kills from the outside, along with four service aces and three blocks.
Whitman coach Dean Snider said Whitman played well until the fourth game slipped away, point by point. "We felt it was a match we could have won."
Mandy Rockwell paced Whitman's attack with 11 kills. Donna Hager finished with 10 kills on just one hitting error. Counting the day's earlier match with George Fox (see above), Whitman's Wendy Wilford finished the day with 28 assists and three blocks.
Mandy Rockwell with 29 digs and Stephanie Meier with 18 digs keyed Whitman's defensive effort. Anna Truxes added seven blocks.
Rockwell collected nine kills, 37 digs and five blocks in the match. Meier contributed 11 blocks, 21 digs and seven kills.
Whitman kicked its offense into high gear to claim its first victory of
the season, downing Northwest College in three games in Sherwood Center.
Led by Mandy Rockwell and Donna Hager, Whitman ripped through the match
with a team kill percentage of .320. Rockwell had a team-high 10 kills,
while Hager converted eight of 11 kill opportunities. Stephanie Meier
added seven kills, seven digs, three blocks and three service aces."We played really well as a team," Whitman coach Dean Snider said. "We attacked very well."
Lewis-Clark State, a volleyball powerhouse, closed out its tournament and
ran its season record to 14-1 with a three-game victory over Whitman. The
match wasn't as one-sided as the score indicates, however. Whitman, which
enjoyed an early 3-1 lead in the first game, pulled to within 13-12 in
the second game and 12-9 in the third game."Whitman played very well," LCSC coach Kip Yoshimura said. "They dug everything we hit at them." Whitman ended the match with 59 digs, only five less than the host team. "We had to overcome a tough challenge from a team that came to play, and played hard."
Mandy Rockwell, who keyed Whitman's effort with 21 digs, 10 kills and one block, was one of six players named to the all-tournament team. "It's good to see her get the recognition," Whitman coach Dean Snider said. "She had an outstanding tournament. She is our go-to player."
Whitman picked up its first conference victory of the young season with a
four-game victory over visiting Whitworth. "A win is always good,"
Whitman coach Dean Snider said. "A conference win is even better."The Missionaries nearly closed out the match in three games, after grabbing an 11-5 lead in the third game before Whitworth rallied to win and push the match to four games. "We should have won that third game, but it was good to see us bounce right back and play well again in the fourth game."
Whitman got another strong effort from Mandy Rockwell, who finished with 19 kills, 19 digs, two service aces and one block. "Mandy is not only a standout on this team, she stands out in the conference and the region," Snider said.
Stephanie Meier turned in a solid effort at the net with six blocks, 10 kills, 10 digs and two aces. Wendy Wilford keyed the defense from the right side with 21 digs and three blocks. Freshman Barby Ream converted eight of 17 kills (.353 percent) and added two blocks.
"Barby played very well," Snider said. "Her timing is getting a lot better. She really hammered a couple of her kills."
Whitman as a team had a season-high 102 digs. Mandy Rockwell led the way with 22 digs and 17 kills. Barby Ream added 10 digs, 12 kills and four blocks, while Donna Hager had 14 kills. Anna Brady chipped in with 34 assists.
Mandy Rockwell combined 15 kills with 20 digs to lead Whitman. Wendy Wilford also had a strong all-around game with 19 assists, nine kills (.389%), nine digs, three service aces and one block. Stephanie Meier added 17 digs, while Barby Ream and Anna Truxes each had four blocks.
Whitman coach Dean Snider said the momentum shifted to PLU late in game five when Barby Ream had to leave the court with a cut finger. By the time a bandaged Ream returned, PLU was in the process of erasing Whitman's lead.
Ream finished with 10 kills (and a .421 kill percentage) and two blocks. Mandy Rockwell had 13 kills, 12 digs and a service ace. Whitman also got 10 kills, 10 digs and three blocks from Stephanie Meier and 12 digs from Wendy Wilford.
Despite losing two of three matches over the weekend, Snider was pleased with his team's continued improvement. "With a little bit of luck, we could have won all three matches," he said. "We're playing very, very well now. I think we caught some people by surprise. Other teams are going to start looking for us now."
Stephanie Meier had a big match for Whitman with 17 kills, nine digs, four blocks and three service aces. Mandy Rockwell added 15 kills and 23 digs, while Anna Brady collected 35 assists.
Mandy Rockwell, who had 10 digs, seven kills and one serving ace against Alberton, earned a spot on the all-tournament team. Rockwell also made the all-tourney team earlier in the season at a tournament hosted by Lewis-Clark State College.
Stephanie Meier had 10 digs and five blocks against Albertson.
Mandy Rockwell led the Missionaries with 10 kills, five service aces, nine digs.
Whitman rebounded from the previous night's disappointing performance
with a stronger effort against Lewis & Clark, although the visitors
escaped with a victory by winning the deciding fifth set 15-13. "We
played fairly well, and it was a back-and-forth match," Whitman coach Dean
Snider said. "We missed too many
serves, and over the course of a five-game match, that's probably what
made the difference."Mandy Rockwell's 17 kills, 19 digs, five blocks and two aces led Whitman. Rockwell got plenty of help from Donna Hager, who added 16 kills and four blocks, and freshman Barby Ream, who had 13 digs and nine blocks.
"Barby provided some very good leadership on the floor," Snider said. "She played all the way around for us, and she showed the ability to elevate the play of her teammates, as well as her own play. She's going to be an outstanding player."
Donna Hager and Mandy Rockwell paced the offense with 10 kills each. Wendy Wilford and Stephanie Meier added eight kills apiece, while Barby Ream contributed seven.
Whitman also enjoyed a balanced effort on defense with four players -- Wilford, Ream, Rockwell and Paula Cleveland -- coming up 16 digs each. Meier had 14 digs and Brady had 12.
It was third time Whitman and Whitworth had played season. Whitman won the first two.
Anna Brady, who keyed the offense with 28 assists, also had six digs. Wendy Wilford contributed seven digs, six blocks and five kills. Barby Ream had six kills to go with five digs.
Stephanie Meier combined 18 digs with nine kills and five blocks. Mandy Rockwell had nine kills and 11 digs. Donna Hager added 10 kills. Anna Brady finished with a match-high 38 assists.
For the second time in less than a month, Whitman dropped a five-game
match to Lewis & Clark, losing the deciding fifth game by the same 15-13
score. The Missionaries won two of the first three games before the
Pioneers rallied to win the last two.Mandy Rockwell blistered the opposition for 26 kills and had 20 digs as well. "Mandy is just a great player," Whitman coach Dean Snider said. "She's as good as any other power hitter in the conference."
Whitman also got a strong one-two punch from Wendy Wilford (11 kills, 12 digs and five blocks) and Stephanie Meier (eight kills, 16 digs and five blocks). Anna Brady contributed 47 assists, 10 digs and six kills. Donna Hager had eight kills and four blocks. Starter Barby Ream missed the match because of a thumb injury.
For the second time in two days, Whitman grabbed the early lead in a
Northwest Conference volleyball match, only to lose the fifth and
deciding set 15-13. This time, the Missionaries swept the first two games
against host Pacific before dropping the next three.Mandy Rockwell was a key to both the offense with 18 kills and five serving aces as well as the defense with 22 digs. Her totals in all three areas were tops for both teams.
Wendy Wilford (10 kills, 18 digs) and Stephanie Meier (nine kills, 16 digs) added strong games. Anna Truxes had 17 digs and four blocks, while Anna Brady served up 36 assists to go with 13 digs. Barby Ream missed the match with an injury.
Whitman's rough weekend on the road came to a discouraging close in
Portland with a three-game loss to Cascade College, a team the
Missionaries had a week earlier. With Stephanie Meier succumbing to a bad
back and Barby Ream still sidelined by a bad thumb, Whitman dropped the
first two games by 15-13 scores before bowing out in the third game.Mandy Rockwell had 15 kills and eight digs for Whitman, while Wendy Wilford added 11 digs and eight kills. Anna Brady also turned in a solid game with 28 assists, six service aces and eight digs.
Mandy Rockwell collected 21 digs and six kills for Whitman, while Stephanie Meier had 17 digs and six kills. Donna Hager added eight kills. Wendy Wilford and Barby Ream each contributed 11 digs, and Wilford had five kills. Anna Brady finished with 27 assists.
With coach Dean Snider's entire roster seeing action, Whitman got 13 digs and six kills from Mandy Rockwell. Four players had seven digs each -- Anna Brady, Wendy Wilford, Barby Ream and Jennifer Edwards. Wilford added six kills and Stephanie Meier added five. Brady had 18 assists.