University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Thursday, November 21
Greeley, Colo.
7 PM
University of Northern Colorado
vs
Portland State
Photo by: Dean Popejoy
Bears Close Out Regular Season at Home, Celebrate Els
11/19/2019 1:54:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Northern Colorado will honor the team's only senior, Taylor Els, pregame on Thursday night
Northern Colorado volleyball will be at Bank of Colorado Arena for its final two regular season matches of 2019. The Big Sky regular season champions will host Portland State on Thursday and Sacramento State on Saturday. Thursday's match will be senior night for UNC, as the team will honor Taylor Els for her outstanding career as a Bear.
Els has been UNC's starting libero for the past three seasons, racking up 1704 digs. Her career total is fifth all-time in program history. This past Saturday against Eastern Washington, Els recorded two service aces to give her 104 career aces, a Division I program record. Els earned another DI record during the 2018 season, with 607 digs, the most in a single season. In the 2018 season, Els picked up both a Big Sky Defensive and Co-Defensive Player of the week award. In her 2017 season, Els recorded 34 aces, the third highest single season total for program history.
Along with being a star on the court, Els is an outstanding student as well. Els was named to the CoSIDA Google Cloud All-District team last week, making it her second straight All-District academic award. Els also is a two-time, Big Sky All-Academic team honoree.
Els is currently third in the Big Sky with 4.52 digs per set and eighth with 0.32 aces per set.
This past weekend, UNC clinched the Big Sky regular season championship outright with a pair of sweeps over Idaho and Eastern Washington. The Bears recorded a .365 attack percentage against the Vandals and three players recorded double-digit kills. Against the Eagles, UNC's defense was suffocating, holding EWU to a 0.054 attack percentage, the second lowest mark of the season.
UNC locked up the number one seed in the Big Sky Tournament and is on an eight-match win streak.
Kailey Jo Ince continues to be a driving force for the Bears offense. The sophomore recorded 3.83 kills per set, while hitting .356 in the two sweeps. Ince is second in the conference with 3.69 kills per set and 10th with a .267 attack percentage, while ranking second with 3.94 points per set.
Daisy Schultz had 76 assists in six total sets this weekend adding 13 digs as well. Schultz is the top setter in the Big Sky with 11.15 assists per set.
Taylor Muff continues to produce as a two-way player for UNC, ranking second on the team with 3.69 kills per set and 2.45 digs per set. Muff had 24 kills and 15 digs over the weekend, adding three block assists and one solo block. The junior hitter is sixth in the Big Sky with 3.68 points per set.
At the net, Lauren Hinrichs maintained her efficient scoring, finishing with 18 kills and two errors on 36 total attempts. Hinrichs ranks seventh in the Big Sky with a .315 attack percentage.Â
The Bears will try to their keep momentum going and head into the conference tournament strong with two final home matches.
Scouting the Vikings
Portland State comes into the final weekend in a tie for the final tournament spot, with a 5-11 conference record. The Vikings share the eighth spot in the Big Sky with Montana and will be fighting for a postseason apperance. Portland St. leads the conference with 16.89 digs per set, led by freshman libero Ellie Snook and her 5.56 digs per set. Snook ranks second in the Big Sky for digs per set. Redshirt-sophomore is the lead hitter for the Vikings, averaging 3.07 kills per set.
UNC defeated Portland St. on the road earlier this season, sweeping the Vikings behind a 16-kill performance from Ince. Â
Scouting the Hornets
Sacramento State finds itself in a three-way tie for fourth in the Big Sky, holding a 9-7 conference record. The Hornets are knotted up with Montana State and Idaho for the fourth seed in the conference tournament. Sac St. fields a potent offense behind outside hitter, Sarah Davis. The senior leads the conference with 4.24 kills per set, scoring 496 total this season. Davis also leads the Big Sky with 47 service aces, averaging 0.40 per set.
Northern Colorado topped Sac St. in four sets on the road earlier this season. The Bears stacked up 14 blocks in the match, with Maddy Bremer leading the team with five block
assists.
Following the Bears
Northern Colorado will host the Vikings for Senior Night on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m.(MT). UNC will close out the regular season against Sacramento State on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m.
To purchase tickets to the match online, visit UNCBears.com/tickets. Tickets can also be purchased by calling 970.351.4849 or in person at UNC Campus commons. Walk-up and phone sales are available, Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
Both matches can be streamed live on PlutoTV (Ch. 541) and live stats can be viewed through UNCBears.com.
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Els has been UNC's starting libero for the past three seasons, racking up 1704 digs. Her career total is fifth all-time in program history. This past Saturday against Eastern Washington, Els recorded two service aces to give her 104 career aces, a Division I program record. Els earned another DI record during the 2018 season, with 607 digs, the most in a single season. In the 2018 season, Els picked up both a Big Sky Defensive and Co-Defensive Player of the week award. In her 2017 season, Els recorded 34 aces, the third highest single season total for program history.
Along with being a star on the court, Els is an outstanding student as well. Els was named to the CoSIDA Google Cloud All-District team last week, making it her second straight All-District academic award. Els also is a two-time, Big Sky All-Academic team honoree.
Els is currently third in the Big Sky with 4.52 digs per set and eighth with 0.32 aces per set.
This past weekend, UNC clinched the Big Sky regular season championship outright with a pair of sweeps over Idaho and Eastern Washington. The Bears recorded a .365 attack percentage against the Vandals and three players recorded double-digit kills. Against the Eagles, UNC's defense was suffocating, holding EWU to a 0.054 attack percentage, the second lowest mark of the season.
UNC locked up the number one seed in the Big Sky Tournament and is on an eight-match win streak.
Kailey Jo Ince continues to be a driving force for the Bears offense. The sophomore recorded 3.83 kills per set, while hitting .356 in the two sweeps. Ince is second in the conference with 3.69 kills per set and 10th with a .267 attack percentage, while ranking second with 3.94 points per set.
Daisy Schultz had 76 assists in six total sets this weekend adding 13 digs as well. Schultz is the top setter in the Big Sky with 11.15 assists per set.
Taylor Muff continues to produce as a two-way player for UNC, ranking second on the team with 3.69 kills per set and 2.45 digs per set. Muff had 24 kills and 15 digs over the weekend, adding three block assists and one solo block. The junior hitter is sixth in the Big Sky with 3.68 points per set.
At the net, Lauren Hinrichs maintained her efficient scoring, finishing with 18 kills and two errors on 36 total attempts. Hinrichs ranks seventh in the Big Sky with a .315 attack percentage.Â
The Bears will try to their keep momentum going and head into the conference tournament strong with two final home matches.
Scouting the Vikings
Portland State comes into the final weekend in a tie for the final tournament spot, with a 5-11 conference record. The Vikings share the eighth spot in the Big Sky with Montana and will be fighting for a postseason apperance. Portland St. leads the conference with 16.89 digs per set, led by freshman libero Ellie Snook and her 5.56 digs per set. Snook ranks second in the Big Sky for digs per set. Redshirt-sophomore is the lead hitter for the Vikings, averaging 3.07 kills per set.
UNC defeated Portland St. on the road earlier this season, sweeping the Vikings behind a 16-kill performance from Ince. Â
Scouting the Hornets
Sacramento State finds itself in a three-way tie for fourth in the Big Sky, holding a 9-7 conference record. The Hornets are knotted up with Montana State and Idaho for the fourth seed in the conference tournament. Sac St. fields a potent offense behind outside hitter, Sarah Davis. The senior leads the conference with 4.24 kills per set, scoring 496 total this season. Davis also leads the Big Sky with 47 service aces, averaging 0.40 per set.
Northern Colorado topped Sac St. in four sets on the road earlier this season. The Bears stacked up 14 blocks in the match, with Maddy Bremer leading the team with five block
assists.
Following the Bears
Northern Colorado will host the Vikings for Senior Night on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m.(MT). UNC will close out the regular season against Sacramento State on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m.
To purchase tickets to the match online, visit UNCBears.com/tickets. Tickets can also be purchased by calling 970.351.4849 or in person at UNC Campus commons. Walk-up and phone sales are available, Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
Both matches can be streamed live on PlutoTV (Ch. 541) and live stats can be viewed through UNCBears.com.
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Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
DS
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
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