@UNCBearsVB Closes Home Schedule Against Idaho and Eastern Washington

Thursday, November 3

Greeley, Colo.

7:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

Idaho

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Photo by: Rob Trubia

11/1/2016 11:06:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

UNC volleyball finishes its home schedule this week against Idaho and Eastern Washington

By: Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado volleyball closes out its home schedule this week, when they host Idaho and Eastern Washington. UNC will look to pick up a pair of key victories as the Big Sky races heats up.

Idaho Gameday Central | Eastern Washington Gameday Central

Match Notes: Northern Colorado | Big Sky | Idaho | Eastern Washington

Gameday Happenings:
- It's Dollar Night, on Thursday when the Bears take on the Vandals. So leave the big bills at home, since tickets are only $2 and hot dogs are only $1!
- Saturday is Senior Night for UNC as they honor four graduating student-athletes in Ashley Guthrie, Audrey Landry, Makenna Meier and Timarie Nymeyer before the match vs Eastern Washington.

Quick Sets
• Northern Colorado secured a spot to its 11th straight Big Sky Tournament last weekend.

• The Bears went 2-0 last week, defeating Montana State in four and sweeping Montana.

• Timarie Nymeyer set the tone for the Northern Colorado attack all weekend long, finishing with a team high .512 attack percentage and averaged 3.43 kills per set.

• Makenna Meier set up a strong defensive effort for Northern Colorado on the weekend, as the team held its opponents to a .144 attack percentage and averaged 15.43 digs and 2.29 blocks per set. Meier led the team in digs for both matches with 15 against MSU and 13 against UM to averaged 4.00 digs per set on the weekend.

• This is the third straight year that the Bears have won both at home and on the road against both Montana and Montana State.

• UNC has played both Idaho and Eastern Washington once this year on the road. Northern Colorado won both of those matches in four sets.

• Before Saturday's match, the Bears will be honoring their four graduating players in Ashley Guthrie, Audrey Landry, Makenna Meier and Timarie Nymeyer.

Scouting the Bears
Northern Colorado finished off its four-match road trip with back-to-back wins against Montana State and Montana to end the trip with a 3-1 record.

Timarie Nymeyer and Makenna Meier set the tone for the Bears last weekend, Nymeyer on attack and Meier on defense. Nymeyer led the team with 3.43 kills per set, and had a team best .512 hitting percentage. She got started early in the weekend with six kills in the first set against MSU and never slowed down, committing just three attack errors over the two matches.

Meier led the team in both matches with 15 and 13 digs to average 4.00 per set. It was not just her efforts in keeping the ball in play, but also setting up a defense that averaged 2.29 blocks per set and held its opponents to just a .144 attack percentage. The Bears held Montana to under .100 hitting in all three sets.

Outside hitter Kortney Lockey kept pace with Nymeyer when it came to kills numbers, tying her with 24 kills as well. She also contributed 2.71 digs per set for the week.

Ashley Guthrie had another big weekend, with 11.86 assists per set, while the team ended up hitting .249.

UNC had a very good serving weekend, with 10 service aces.

The team's middle blockers also played well as Emily O'Neil and Alex Kloehn combined for 26 kills, and 11 blocks.

Scouting Idaho
Idaho ended a five match losing streak last weekend when they defeated both Idaho State and Eastern Washington. The wins keep the Vandals in the picture for the Big Sky Tournament.

UI has a very balanced attack with six players recording over 120 kills this season. Sarah Sharp Becca Mau and Kaela Straw lead the way with 2.99, 2.77 and 2.43 kills per set.

Idaho uses a 6-2 system with Megan Ramseyer and Haylee Mathis as the setters. Combined, the two are averaging 10.16 assists a set.

Opponents are hitting .212 for the year on the Vandals who are averaging 14.96 digs a set, and 1.90 blocks a set.

UNC and UI already played once this season in Moscow, where the Bears won in four sets.

Scouting Eastern Washington
Eastern Washington enters the week with an even 6-6 record in Big Sky play with two weeks to go.

The Eagles offense has struggled at time on the year, hitting .176, while averaging 13.20 kills per set. Ka'iulani Ahuna leads EWU on the attack with her 2.99 kps.

Setting up Ahuna and the rest of the Eagles offense is Sophie Miller and her 7.76 assists per set.

While the offense has struggled at times, EWU's defense has been solid, holding opponents to a .164 attack percentage and averaging 1.92 blocks a set. Chole Weber and Kimberly Brinkworth set up that big block for the Eagles with 0.84 and 0.82 blocks per set.

In the first meeting between the teams UNC came out victorious in four sets.

Last Time vs
Idaho
UNC used a balanced offensive attack to pick up a Big Sky road win over Idaho to begin October. The Bears had four different players finish with double figure kills in the match led by Timarie Nymeyer's 17. It was not just the offense that played well, but also Makenna Meier who finished the match with 25 digs.

Eastern Washington
Northern Colorado picked up its first conference road win of the season behind the right arms of Kortney Lockey and Kim Weissmann. The duo combined for 26 of the team's 51 kills along with 18 digs and two blocks. The Bears held EWU to .147 hitting for the match.

On the Date
November 3
The Bears have enjoyed playing on November 3rd, especially at home where they have a 5-1 record. Overall, the team is 10-4. It has been five years since UNC has played on the date, back in 2011 when they swept Portland State.

November 5
UNC has an eight match win streak on November 5, including being 5-0 when playing in Greeley. The last time the Bears played on the date was in 2012 against North Dakota, when UNC earned a tough five set win.

Down the Stretch They Come
As the final two weeks of the regular season approach, all eyes turn towards the Big Sky race to host the conference tournament over November 17-19.
• Northern Colorado, Northern Arizona, North Dakota, Sacramento State and Idaho State all have punched their ticket to the tournament.
• NAU and UND are tied for first place overall in the conference with a 10-2 record. The two teams will play in Grand Forks in the last week of the regular season. UNC and Sac State are just a game behind with a 9-3 record.
• The last seven teams in the conference are still alive for a spot in the Big Sky Tournament.

RPI Report
Northern Colorado continues to hold onto the second spot in the RPI ranks for the Big Sky Conference. UNC which ranks No. 127 this week, only behind Northern Arizona at 110. This week's opponents in Idaho and Eastern Washington rank No 199 and 189, respectively.

Thank You Graduates
Saturday night marks the final home regular season match of the season for Northern Colorado. The Bears will honor Ashley Guthrie, Makenna Meier, Audrey Landry and Timarie Nymeyer before the match.

Leading the Sky
The offense has been clicking during Big Sky play, as the team leads the conference in kills (14.84), attack percentage (.255) and assists (13.91) during conference games. Senior setter Ashley Guthrie leads the conference with 11.89 assists per set, and Timarie Nymyer is leading the conference with a .388 attack percentage.

Big Sky Efficient
Last season, Timarie Nymeyer led the Big Sky in attack percentage at a clip of .324, and she is starting to make her way to the top of the conference again this year. Since conference play began, she has hit .388 and is currently ranked first in the conference for those matches only. Last week she led the team with 24 total kills, and hit an outstanding .512

Teammate Emily O'Neil has worked her way into the Top 10 of the Big Sky attack percentage as well, hitting .324 on the year to rank sixth.

Blockin' Solo
Alex Kloehn is no stranger to making the big block for UNC, and 41 times in her career she has done so all by herself. Her one solo blocks last weekend ties her with Ashley Lichenberg and Andrea Spaustat's 41 for third place in the programs DI history. She currently has 19 solo blocks this season, a new career high for a season, breaking her previous best of 18 that she set last year, and four off the programs DI best 23 set by Brianna Strong in 2013.

Setting the Way
Senior setter Ashley Guthrie has been setting the way for the Bears for the past four year, and the numbers are starting to add up. On September 24th she recorded her 4,000th career assist, becoming just the sixth player in program history to do so. She currently sits at 4,487 assists, with her sights set on Tatjana Smith's mark of 4,747 to crack the Top 5. Guthrie is now in the Top 10 all-time in the Big Sky conference for assists, passing Garyn Schlatter (2010-13) of Portland State.

Guthrie is averaging 10.91 assists per set this season to rank second in the Big Sky only behind Sacramento State's Kennedy Kurtz 11.38. She also ranks 25th in the NCAA in sets per set.

1-2 Punch
The duo of Kortney Lockey and Kim Weissmann provide Northern Colorado with a tough 1-2 punch on the pins. Lockey leads the team with 3.25 kills per set, while also adding in 2.93 digs a set. Her right arm was leaned on heavily to begin the season, and the numbers proved it. Against North Dakota State during the first weekend Lockey set a career high with 27 kills in the five set victory. She also has set a new career high in digs this season, with 22 against Idaho State.

Weissman had to work her way back from an offseason knee injury during non-conference play, but has come on strong during Big Sky play. She is averaging 2.75 kills per set in twelve conference matches, and has added in 14 total blocks over them.

Digging Bones
UNC had been digging up a lot of balls this season, ranking fifth in the Big Sky in digs per set at a rate of 16.34. That places the team 45th in the nation. Makenna Meier leads the team with 4.38 digs per set, ranking her seventh overall in the Big Sky, and 100th in the NCAA. She turned in a career-high 31 dig effort against Northern Arizona on September 22, and ended up winning the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week. That mark is the most by any UNC player in the DI era for a four set match. After Meier, four other Bears are getting over 2.00 digs a set.

Double Trouble
The Bears have a double trouble duo up the middle with Alex Kloehn and Emily O'Neil. Kloehn leads the way for the two with 2.53 kills a set and 0.75 blocks a set. She is second on the team with a .283 hitting percentage. O'Neil is not far behind Kloehn with 1.90 kills and 0.55 blocks a set, while hitting .324 for the year. The duo combined for 26 kills and 11 blocks last weekend, while hitting .221.

Triple-Double
For the second time in her career, Ashley Guthrie recorded her second ever triple-double. Against Weber State last Friday night, Guthrie had 60 assists, 14 digs and 10 kills. It was the first triple-double at UNC since Guthrie had her first in 2013 also against Weber State. In that triple-double she had 50 assists, 10 kills and 10 digs. She is one of 27 players to have a triple-double this season in the NCAA.

Everybody Digging In
In the match against Idaho State, everyone was contributing on the defensive end by grabbing a dig. The team finished with 102 digs for the match, and had three players with 20+. Makenna Meier lead the team with 24, while teammates Kortney Lockey (22) and Ashley Guthrie (21) weren't far behind. Kayla Uyemura also added in 15 digs, while Taylor Els just missed out on double figures as well with nine.

Adding to A Legacy
Entering her 12th year as the head coach at Northern Colorado, Lyndsey Oates has made a name for herself. During her time at the helm she has led the program into the Division I era and seen plenty of success. She has led four teams to NCAA Tournament appearances and five to Big Sky championships. Along with those accomplishments, Oates has also been a three time recipient of the Big Sky Coach of the Year honor (2009, 2011, 2014). She added to that legacy on September 15 in the victory over Air Force by accomplishing win No. 200 for her career.

Marathon Set
Northern Colorado and Houston Baptist played in one of the longest sets in NCAA history on September 3rd. UNC and HBU ended up playing in a set that had the final score of 45-43 in favor of the Huskies. That tied the record set by Manhattan and Rider in 2010.

In the set, Kortney Lockey reached double figures in kills with 11, while teammate Kayla Uyemura had 11 digs.

Veteran Leadership
Head coach Lyndsey Oates has a plethora of veterans to lean on this season with 12 returns on the team. Of those 12 players, 10 are letter winners.

Preseason Expectations
Preseason expectations are nothing new to the Northern Colorado volleyball program. This season the Bears are once again expected to compete for the Big Sky title, being picked second in the preseason poll. UNC is also seeing national attention, receiving votes in the VolleyballMag.com preseason Top 25.

Freshman Five
UNC brought in five new faces for the 2016 season in freshmen Anna Graham, Taylor Els, Alyssa Chisholm, Sarah Wyland and Kaitlyn Detlefsen. Even with the 12 returners on the team, don't be surprised to see the freshmen to be key contributors as well.

Making the Grades
For the fifth straight season UNC volleyball earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association academic honor. The team posted a GPA over 3.30 to earn the honor. The Bears also had 12 players from last year's team earn All-Big Sky Academic honors as well.

On the Tube
Northern Colorado will be on a TV near you again this season thanks to CET Sports. For the second straight year CET Sports will carry select UNC volleyball games. This year's matches broadcasted will be a pair of intra-state rivalries with Colorado State on August 30th and Denver on September 7th.

Big Sky TV
In a partnership with EverSport.tv all home Big Sky school matches will be streamed for free on Big Sky TV once again for 2016. The Northern California-based company will provide service for streaming all Big Sky football, volleyball and basketball events both on PC or laptop along with any tablet and phone through the Watch Big Sky app.

UNC Bears Focus
Back again this year for all Northern Colorado athletics fans is the UNC Focus presented by Advantage Bank. The UNC Focus is a weekly radio show. The Voice of the Bears Troy Coverdale will host it each Wednesday night on 1310 KFKA from 5pm-6pm.

Looking Ahead
The regular season ends next week when the team heads to Southern Utah on Thursday, and then take on North Dakota on Saturday. The Bears have already secured a spot in the Big Sky Tournament over November 17-19.