BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University volleyball program heads to Southern California this week to play four matches in the 2019 West Region Volleyball Showcase hosted by Cal Poly Pomona.

 

The Vikings head into the three-day tournament with a perfect 4-0 record and are ranked No. 3 nationally in the first regular-season edition of the AVCA Division II Coaches Poll. WWU defeated a pair of ranked opponents (No. 13 Wheeling and No. 24 West Florida), and three total tournament teams from the 2018 NCAA Championships at the West Florida Invitational last weekend in Pensacola, Florida.

 

Off to its best start to a season since opening the 2013 season at 7-0, the Vikings will again face top-level competition in the West Region Showcase playing against two teams that played in the NCAA II West Regional last season, Cal Poly Pomona and Chaminade. 

 

The four-match tournament will close out the non-conference portion of the 2019 schedule, with the Vikings then entering Great Northwest Athletic Conference play as the two-time defending league champions. WWU's quest for a 10^th GNAC title begins September 19 (Thursday) and September 21 (Saturday) when the Vikings host Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington to Carver Gym.

 

An annual tradition that pits the schools in the GNAC, CCAA and PacWest against each other in pod play, the West Region Volleyball Showcase features some of the top matchups in the nation while giving 36 schools at six regional locations the chance to flex their muscles in non-conference action. The CCAA plays hosts in 2019, with Cal State San Bernardino, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State LA, Stanislaus State, San Francisco State and UC San Diego each hosting to a six-team pod with competition in the three-day tournament taking place Sept. 12-14.

 

"I am really pleased with the opening weekend. We asked a lot of our players to cross the country for the opening week of play, against good competition. The team came back with four wins, and even more importantly, they grew closer together as a group. I am excited to get back in the gym and go to work with very tough competition again this week at the West Region Showcase." – 20^th year head coach Diane Flick-Williams.

 

Here is a look at the tournament schedule for the West Region Showcase Pomona Pod, with the Vikings playing Cal State Monterey Bay on Thursday at 10 am to kick off the three-day tournament. Fans can follow all the action in Pomona via a free Webcast and Live Stats. 

 

 

This season marks the sixth consecutive season the Vikings have competed in the West Region Showcase, with WWU compiling an 17-3 all-time record in the tournament. The Vikings carry a 7-match showcase winning streak into this season after going 4-0 last season in the pod hosted by Azusa Pacific, and 3-1 in each of the two previous seasons. WWU is tied with Central Washington for having the best record among GNAC programs in the tournament. Overall, GNAC programs are 107-79 (.575) in the West Region Showcase, including an 80-53 mark (.602) vs. PacWest programs and 36-26 (.581) vs. CCAA schools.

 

Senior All-American middle Kayleigh Harper passed the 1,000 kills mark for her career in the season-opening tournament, becoming the 14^th player in WWU history to reach that milestone. With 1,018 career kills, she is 13^th in program history and likely to reach the top 10 by this weekend. Harper also has recorded 463.0 total blocks, 4^th-most in WWU history, and is 37 away from becoming the second player in both WWU and GNAC history to join the exclusive 1,000-kill, 500-block club. 

 

 

The Vikings remained at No. 3 in the first regular-season edition of the AVCA Division II Coaches Poll, extending the streak of being ranked to 96 consecutive polls dating back to the first week of the 2012 season.

 

 

The Vikings had three players selected to the 8-member West Florida Invitational All-Tournament Team, with sophomore outside hitter Gabby Gunterman earning tournament MVP honors. Senior middle Kayleigh Harper and redshirt freshman Calley Heilborn were also all-tournament selections helping lead the Vikings to a perfect 4-0 record. Wheeling (3-1) landed three players on the all-tourney team, while tournament host West Florida had two players selected.

 

West Florida/Springhill Suites Invitational All-Tournament Team:

»      Gabby Gunterman - WWU - OH (Most Valuable Player)

»      Kayleigh Harper - WWU - MB

»      Calley Heilborn - WWU - OH

»      Stephanie Sylvester - Wheeling - S

»      Cassie Meyer - Wheeling - OH

»      Breanna Kramer - Wheeling - OH

»      Jordyn Poppen - West Florida - OH

»      Ashton Marshall - West Florida - L

 

In addition to earning UWF All-Tournament Team honors, redshirt freshman outside hitter Calley Heilborn (offense) and sophomore outside hitter Gabby Gunterman (defense) swept the first 2019 edition of the GNAC Player of the Week awards. Heilborn made her collegiate debut starting all four matches at the West Florida Invitational, averaging team-highs with 3.50 kills and 4.06 points per set, and also averaged 2.75 digs per set. Gunterman recorded three double-doubles and averaged a team-high 5.00 digs per set, with a pair of matches with 20-or-more digs, including a career-high 25 in a four-set victory over No. 13 Wheeling. Gunterman also averaged 3.31 kills and 3.75 points per set, both second-best on the team. WWU has had 81 GNAC Player of the Week selections since the first year of the conference in 2001, including a record-tying nine selections in both 2017 and 2018 (WWU All-Time GNAC Players of the Week).

 

 

The Vikings earned GNAC Team of the Week honors after its 4-0 start to the season at the West Florida Invitational. This marks the seventh time the WWU volleyball team has earned the weekly team conference award dating back to the 2012-13 season, including being selected twice during the 2018 season.

 

The 2019 Vikings will look to replace three players that earned AVCA All-America honors last season and a five-member senior class that helped the program to a 107-22 (.829) record over the last four seasons. But the program still returns three starters and nine total letterwinners, and adds six redshirt freshman into the mix. Senior middle Kayleigh Harper is a two-time All-American and a three-time First Team All-GNAC selection, and was selected as the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year. Sophomore outside hitter Gabby Gunterman and senior libero/defensive specialist Mae Thungc were also selected to the 2019 Preseason All-GNAC Team.

 

WWU will play 10 regular season matches on WECU Court in Carver Gym, all conference matches. The Vikings make their home debut Sept. 19 and Sept 21 hosting Northwest Nazarene (Thursday) and Central Washington (Saturday). All home matches in Carver Gym feature a 7 pm first serve and tickets can be purchased in advance at WWUVikings.com/VB_Tickets or at the Carver Gym Box Office one hour prior to the start of the match. The Vikings have won 31 consecutive matches in Carver Gym dating back to 2014 season (played two seasons at Whatcom CC in 2015-16), including a perfect 13-0 record last season. WWU averaged 752 fans in its 13 home matches last season to rank 7^th among NCAA Division II programs.

 

Coming off a 30-4 season and a national runner-up finish at the NCAA Division II Championships, the Vikings earned its highest preseason ranking in program history checking in at No. 3 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II Preseason Coaches Poll. The No. 3 preseason ranking marks the fifth time Western has been listed in the national top-10 to open a season, joining No. 9 in 2004, No. 10 in 2008, No. 5 in 2016 and last season.

 

The Vikings were selected as a preseason favorite in the 2019 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, gathering 7 of the 11 first-place votes and tied in-state rival Central Washington with 114 total points to headline the list teams predicted to compete for the conference championship. Alaska Anchorage was picked third with 93 points, Simon Fraser fourth with 90 points and Alaska Fairbanks rounded out the top five with 75 points.

 

 

Led by senior middle blocker Kayleigh Harper, the Vikings had three players selected to the 2019 GNAC Preseason All-Conference Team. Harper, a three-time First Team All-GNAC selection, was selected by conference coaches as the Preseason Player of the Year to headline the list of 14 preseason All-GNAC selections. Joining Harper on the preseason all-conference list are senior defensive specialist Mae Thungc and sophomore outside hitter Gabby Gunterman.

 

WWU finished the historic 2018 season with a 30-4 overall record and were a perfect 20-0 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play to win the conference championship for the second consecutive season. The Vikings were selected as the No. 1 seed in the West Region and hosted the NCAA II West Regional Championship in Carver Gym for the first time in program history. WWU defeated rival Cal State San Bernardino in the regional final to advance to the NCAA Elite 8 for the third time in program history. WWU finished the season 30-4 and was the NCAA II National Runner-Up.

 

The Vikings are the two-time defending GNAC champions, combining to go 39-1 over the last two seasons in conference play. WWU became the first conference team to go 20-0 in league play last season, claiming the program's ninth GNAC title.

 

Among NCAA II team rankings last season, WWU finished 4th  \averaging 2.65 blocks per set (6th-best in program history) Also finished 14th in kills per set (14.24), 15th in hitting percentage (.254), 21st in assists per set (13.24) and 22nd in digs per set (19.23)…went 20-2 in 3-set matches, 5-1 in 4-set matches and 5-1 when going the distance in 5 sets (18-4 over last 4 seasons in 5-set matches).

 

The Vikings have reached the 20-win milestone in each of their last seven seasons and 29 times in the 47-year history of the program. The 30 wins last season tied for 3^rd-most in program history. Head coach Diane Flick-Williams has guided the program to at least 20 wins in 14 of her 19 seasons at the helm of the program. Over the last seven seasons (since 2012, including 2019), WWU has combined to go 179-37 (.829).

 

WWU Volleyball head coach Diane Flick-Williams is in her 20^th season and is the winningest coach in program history and GNAC history. She owns a career record of 428-107 (.800), guiding the Vikings to 14 seasons of 20 or more victories, 13 NCAA Championship appearances (7 consecutive), 3 national tournament appearances (2007, 2015, 2018), 9 GNAC championships and received GNAC Coach of the Year honors 10 times (2001-03, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012-13, 2017-18). Amongst active Division II coaches, she entered the 2019 season ranked 10^th in winning percentage (.798) and 23rd in victories (424). Last year she became the 32nd NCAA II head coach to record 400 career victories.

 

WWU is coming off a seventh consecutive trip to the NCAA II Championships, the 13^th overall in program history. Western advanced to the NCAA National Championship Match for the second time (also in 2007), falling in a five-set thriller to the University of Tampa. The Vikings have advanced to the West Regional Final in each of the last four seasons, including winning regional titles in 2015 (in Anchorage, AK) and last season (in Bellingham). Last season also marked the third appearance in the national tournament (final 8) and second in the last four seasons. Each of WWU's trips to the national tournament has included at least one victory (final 4). WWU is 21-13 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

 

Fans can follow WWU Volleyball online at WWUVikings.com/VB, and via social media on Twitter (@WWUVolleyball), Instagram (@WWUVB) and Facebook (@WWUVolleyball).

 

The WWU volleyball program has risen to elite level by advancing to the NCAA Division II Championships in each of the last seven seasons and 13 of the last 18 dating back to the 2001 season. The winner of nine Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships, Western won the 2018 GNAC title with a perfect 20-0 record and the 2017 championship by posting a 19-1 league. Over the last three seasons (includes 2019) the Vikings have combined to go 61-8 overall and 39-1 in conference play, and over the last five seasons are 111-22 (.835). Led by 20^th-year head coach Diane Flick-Williams, the Vikings have posted a 179-37 record over the last eight seasons (.829 winning percentage) and have played in the NCAA II West Region championship match each of the last four seasons (2015-18), winning titles in 2015 and 2018. WWU played for the NCAA II national championship in 2007 and 2018, both national runner-up finishes, have advanced to the NCAA Final Four in two of the past four seasons (2015 and 2015).