VOLLEYBALL MATCH NOTES: The Evergreen State College plays its fifth consecutive conference road match on Friday before closing out the home portion of the 2016 season on Sunday. The Geoducks will be in Kirkland, Wash., on Friday for a 7 p.m. start against the Northwest University Eagles, that before hosting the Walla Walla University Wolves in the home finale at 2 p.m. Sunday.

FOLLOW THE GEODUCKS: 
Northwest live stats - http://www.nueagles.com/sports/2013/9/19/WVB_0919131949.aspx
Northwest video stream - http://backlighttv.com/northwest-university/
Walla Walla match live stats and video stream - https://portal.stretchinternet.com/evergreen/

ABOUT THE GEODUCKS: Evergreen (4-19 overall, 3-13 CCC) is currently tied with Multnomah for ninth place in the conference standings and is mathematically eliminated from the conference postseason tournament. It is interesting to note that the Geoducks rank either eighth or ninth in all but one conference team statistical category. Geoducks ranked in this week's CCC statistics are sophomore outside hitter Natalie Taylor (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho/Lake City HS), sixth in kills per set with 3.53, and senior setter Kylie Kytan (Puyallup, Wash./Puyallup HS/Pierce College), sixth in assists per set with 8.79. Other notables in terms of statistics include freshman middle blocker Bethanie Nelson (Pasco, Wash./Chiawana HS), the team leader with 0.77 blocks per set, and freshman outside hitter Chloee Hunt (Astoria, Ore./Astoria HS), third with 2.33 kills per set and second with 0.67 blocks per set. Senior middle Jorden Porter (Belgrade, Mont./Belgrade HS/Walla Walla CC) is third in attack percentage at .259 and second with 2.47 kills per set, while freshman libero Megan Breckenridge (Sequim, Wash./Sequim HS) has averaged nearly 3.50 digs per set in conference matches.

HONORING THE SENIORS: Kylie Kytan and Jorden Porter, both two-year members of the Evergreen volleyball program, will be honored prior to the start of Sunday's match against Walla Walla.

BAIRD FEATURED: Junior libero Cheyenne Baird (Puyallup, Wash./Puyallup HS), who played the first half of the season before suffering a knee injury, is featured in an article on the conference Web site, www.cascadeconference.org. Baird is serving as the vice chair of the conference student athlete advisory committee.

ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS: Evergreen volleyball was well represented on the academic all-conference list. Geoducks who earned accolades for their work in the classroom (and their major) are Cheyenne Baird, English; junior middle Matisse Davis (Phoenix, Ariz./Thunderbird HS), Clean Energy Science; Kylie Kytan, Psychology; Jorden Porter, Biology; and Natalie Taylor, Psychology. To qualify for the award, student athletes must maintain a minimum 3.20 grade point average and have at least sophomore standing.

ABOUT NORTHWEST UNIVERSITY: The Eagles (14-7 overall, 11-5 CCC) are tied for third in the conference standings and this week received votes in the NAIA Top 25 national poll. The team ranks first in the conference with 16.84 digs per set, led by the individual conference leader, libero Leia Roy, with 4.62 per set. Another defensive strength is blocking, where Northwest ranks third in the CCC with 2.19 per set. Considering the digs and blocks, it is not a surprise that the Eagles limit opponents to a .115 attack percentage, second best in the CCC. Individual leaders besides Roy are Hannah Hanson, seventh in kill percentage at .266 and 10th in blocks per set with 0.90, and Mattie Jo Johnson, 10th in attack percentage at .261 and seventh in blocks per set with 0.96.

THE FIRST TIME: Missing two of its starting players, Evergreen battled on nearly even terms with then No. 20-ranked Northwest University before the visiting Eagles took a 24-26, 25-14, 20-25, 25-17, 15-13 conference win on Sept. 29 in Costantino Recreation Center. The Geoducks hit .073 as a team and Natalie Taylor finished with a season-high 22 kills. Evergreen had 11.5 team blocks including six block assists from Renita Gray, five assists from Chloee Hunt and four from Taylor.

ABOUT WALLA WALLA: The Wolves (1-19 overall, 0-16) sit at the bottom of the conference standings and in most of the team categories. Their strongest statistical area is blocks per set with 1.63, a number that ranks eighth in the 11-team Cascade Conference. In their 16 conference matches the Wolves have won a set only three times, otherwise losing in three straight.  

THE FIRST TIME: Chloee Hunt had a big performance with 16 kills, 10 digs, one solo block and three block assists to lead Evergreen to a 25-13, 25-15, 24-26, 25-9 victory over host Walla Walla on Oct. 2. Hunt hit. 278 for the match to help the Geoducks finish with an overall attack percentage of .241.

RECENT RESULTS: The Geoducks are on a seven-match losing skid following conference defeats last week at Northwest Christian (25-22, 25-17, 25-19) and No. 22-ranked Corban (25-14, 25-11, 25-21).

WHAT'S AHEAD: Evergreen closes out its 2016 season in Portland, Oregon, playing Multnomah on Nov. 4 and Warner Pacific on Nov. 5.