Women's Volleyball 9/23/2021 2:22:00 PM

Women's Volleyball Notes -- Week 5

WEEK 5
Coming off a weekend that featured a pair of home wins – including defeating No. 25 Westmont – 20th-ranked OUAZ (10-1, 3-0 GSAC) will make its first extended road trip of the season as the Spirit head to northern California for two matches.

OUAZ will begin the trip on Friday when they play at Menlo (2-5, 0-3) in Atherton, California, at 5 p.m. They then head to Rocklin, California, to face William Jessup (3-7, 2-1) on Saturday at noon.

The matches will be the first ones this season out of the state of Arizona for the Spirit. OUAZ is 2-0 in road matches with wins at Park Gilbert and Arizona Christian.

Entering the third week of GSAC play, OUAZ sits alone atop the conference standings as the lone undefeated team in conference matches. Four teams are sitting on one loss, including William Jessup.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Both matches this week will be available live on the OUAZ Digital Network and the GSAC Sports Network app. The OUAZ Network is available on your computer or mobile device at OUAZSpirit.com/watch. You can download the GSAC Network app on all Amazon Fire, Android TV, Apple TV, Roku devices.

ABOUT THE SPIRIT
For the first time in program history, OUAZ cracked the top 25 of the NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll. OUAZ came in at No. 20 in the second regular-season poll of 2021 that the national office released on September 15. The Spirit was awarded 216 points from the voters to move from unranked to the 20th position with Columbia (Mo.).

Off to the best start in program history at 10-1, OUAZ has had to earn many wins, with five matches going to a fifth set. The Spirit is 4-1 in those matches, and they have won nine of the last ten matches to go the distance dating back to the 2019 season.

At 12.91 kills per set, OUAZ currently leads the GSAC and ranks 25th in the NAIA. The Spirit has recorded more kills than its opponents in 10 of the team's 11 matches this year. They have also had a higher hitting percentage in nine matches while hitting .204 overall to sit third in the conference.

The Spirit is leading the GSAC and is currently 16th in the nation, with an average of 17.87 digs per set while posting more digs than the opposition in ten matches. OUAZ also averages 1.65 blocks per set and holds teams to .131 hitting and just 10.9 kills per set.

Kate Pestova has tallied 189 kills on the season, and she leads the conference at 4.11 kills per set. Her kills per set average are 13th in the NAIA heading into the weekend.
• Pestova has reached double figures in kills in all 11 matches this season and all 27 matches she has played at OUAZ.
• She has recorded four double-doubles and had 22 kills and 21 digs in the win over Westmont for her second career 20-20 match.
• Pestova also leads the conference and ranks 18th in the NAIA by averaging 4.5 points per set.

Avie Butsko is hitting a team-best .311 to lead the conference and sit 37th nationally.
• Butsko has been in double figures in kills six times this season, including each of the past three matches.
• Butsko is 14th in the GSAC by averaging 2.50 kills and 3.0 points per set.
• At 0.64 blocks per set, Butsko ranks 16th in the conference.

Cristal Carrizoza has been a key factor in the success of the Spirit this season, running the offense to its highest averages in program history.
• She leads the GSAC at 9.98 assists per set, which also has her 20th in the NAIA. Her 419 total assists are good for second in the conference
• Carrizoza is third in the league with 22 service aces, leaving her sixth with an average of 0.52 per set.
• She also sits 19th in the GSAC by averaging 2.74 digs per set.
• Carrizoza recorded the first 50-20 matches in program history with 54 assists and 22 digs against Westmont on Saturday.

Valentina Trovato leads the Spirit with 208 digs – second-most in the GSAC – and she is averaging 4.52 digs per set.
• That average ranks second in the conference and 69th in the country at this point of the season.
• Trovato has reached double figures in digs during 10 of the team's 11 matches and 18 of the past 19 dating back to last season.

LOOKING AHEAD
OUAZ returns to the road next week as the Spirit will play at Life Pacific on October 1 and Hope International on October 2.

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Players Mentioned

#14 Avie Butsko: MB; 5' 11"; Senior

#17 Cristal Carrizoza: S; 5' 9"; Junior

#13 Kate Pestova: OH; 5' 10"; Senior

#2 Valentina Trovato: L; 5' 6"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#14 Avie Butsko
: 5' 11"; Senior
: MB

#17 Cristal Carrizoza
: 5' 9"; Junior
: S

#13 Kate Pestova
: 5' 10"; Senior
: OH

#2 Valentina Trovato
: 5' 6"; Senior
: L