KIRKLAND – Northwest heads to California for four matches this weekend at Hope International's Summer Slam in Fullerton.
NU opens the trip on Friday at 8 a.m. against Saint Katherine and finishes Friday with a 2 p.m. match against No. 24 Dordt. Saturday's action begins at 8 a.m. with Benedictine-Mesa and ends with a 1 p.m. contest against host Hope International.
Northwest went 2-2 in the Big Sky Challenge, including a four-set win over No. 10 Providence and a sweep of Dickinson State. NU's losses were both in five sets to No. 9 Viterbo and Rocky Mountain.
Abigail Broussard ranks 16th nationally with 61 points this season. She has 49 kills, five solo blocks, eight block assists, and three aces. She averages 3.8 points per set. Broussard is second in total points in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.
Broussard is 24th in the NAIA with 49 kills this season.
Delaney Sparks is 40th with 45. Sparks ranks second in the Cascade Collegiate Conference and 27th nationally with her .343 attack percentage.
Morgan Harter is fifth in the Cascade Collegiate Conference with 74 assists, with
Anna Saelens at seventh with 74.
Kelsey Moore leads the Cascade Collegiate Conference and is 12th in the nation with 82 digs this season. She averages 4.82 digs per set, which is third in the CCC. Moore is seventh in the NAIA with 10 aces this season. She averages 0.59 per set. She is second in the Cascade Collegiate Conference in aces and aces per set.
Saint Katherine is 2-2 after a four-match trip to the College of Idaho last weekend. The Firebirds beat C of I and Montana Western in four sets each. They were swept by No. 23 Southwest Assemblies of God and lost in four sets to No. 7 Corban. Addison Metz leads SKU with 3.93 kills per set, and Cassandra Orozco averages 1.33 blocks per set. Camille Harvey averages 6.33 digs.
The match against Northwest will be the season opener for Dordt, which finished 19-10 last season. Corrina Timmermans is back after averaging 3.30 kills last season.
Benedictine-Mesa lost its season opener to No. 17 Ottawa-Arizona in five sets on Friday. Laylah Daniel led the Redhawks with 26 kills.
Hope International begins its season with its home event this weekend. The Royals were 9-18 last season. Kills leader Carissa Wiles returns after averaging 3.2 last season. HIU also returns last year's leaders in blocks (Jade Phillips, 0.65), digs (Kylee Hernandez, 3.57), and assists (Stacey Dawes, 5.34).
