COMING UP: at Red Lion-Anaheim SummerSlam (La Mirada, Calif.) – Thursday vs. Biola, Noon (PT), vs. Westmont, 8 p.m. (PT); Friday vs. Davenport, 10 a.m. (PT), vs. Vanguard, 4 p.m. (PT).
LIVE STATS/LIVE VIDEO: Live Stats and Live Video of all four C of I matches at the Red Lion-Anaheim SummerSlam will be available through Biola University's online portal at
http://athletics.biola.edu/sports/2015/7/28/SummerSlam2k15.aspx?path=vball.
OFF TO CALIFORNIA/HISTORY AT TOURNAMENT: The Lady Yotes open the 2015 season this week, traveling to La Mirada, Calif., playing four matches at the Red Lion-Anaheim SummerSlam. It marks the fifth-straight season that C of I has competed in the tournament, which features 14 teams. The Coyotes are 5-11 all-time in the tournament, going 3-1 in 2011, 1-3 in 2012 and 2014, and 0-4 during the 2013 campaign.
AGAINST THE TOP-25: Though the first Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches Poll will be released on Aug. 17, six of the 14 teams in the tourney were ranked at the conclusion of the 2014 season. Of the Yotes opponents, Biola finished last season ranked No. 3, Vanguard ended at No. 11, while Davenport was ranked No. 15. The Lady Yotes closed out last season ranked No. 14 after their seventh-straight trip to the NAIA National Championships.
CONFERENCE POLL: The Lady Yotes were picked to finish in a tie for second in the 2015 Cascade Conference Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll, released Aug. 12. The Lady Yotes, coming off a 22-12 season, received three first-place votes and earned 108 voter points from the 11 conference coaches, deadlocked with Southern Oregon in the second-place position. Defending regular-season champion, Eastern Oregon, claimed nine first-place votes to take the preseason No. 1 position. Northwest University and Oregon Tech round out the Top-5.
FIVE-SET MATCHES: Of the 34 matches the Lady Yotes played during the 2014 season, 14 went the full five sets, with C of I going 9-5 in the final run to 15 points. In fact, each of the final five victories of last season was in five sets, including the semifinal and championship victories in the CCC Tournament, and three wins at the NAIA National Championships.
HOME SWEET HOME: Though they open the season on the road, playing at home has been a key for the Yotes, as C of I is a combined 117-9 in the J.A. Albertson Activities Center since October of 2005 – including a 73-match CCC win streak that was snapped during the 2013 season. Overall, the Lady Yotes are 208-45 at home all-time, including a 156-21 record under head coach
Liz Mendiola.
OPPONENT PREVIEW – BIOLA: C of I opens against the class of the Golden State Athletic Conference, as Biola returns seven seniors from a squad that shared the conference crown, qualified for their eighth-straight NAIA Championships, and advanced to the national semifinals. The Eagles (32-5 in 2014) return three All-Americans in middle blocker Lauren Hoenicke (1.69 k/s, 0.77 b/s) and the outside hitter tandem of Alyssa Mason (2.84 k/s, 0.54 b/s) and Joclyn Kirton (2.75 k/s, 0.51 b/s). Biola swept a four-set match from the Lady Yotes at last season's tournament and holds a 5-1 all-time series lead on C of I.
OPPONENT PREVIEW – WESTMONT: Day 1 ends with a second match-up against a GSAC foe, as the Yotes clash with Westmont. The Warriors (18-14) are coming off a disappointing 2014 and lost a pair of All-Conference hitters to graduation. Top returners include outside hitter Taylor Beckman (2.25 k/s, 2.29 d/s, 28 aces) and libero Kami Troesh (4.13 d/s, 18 aces). It is the first meeting between the teams since 2013, with the all-time series deadlocked at 1-1.
OPPONENT PREVIEW – DAVENPORT: Friday, the Yotes tangle with Davenport, from Grand Rapids, Mich., for the first time ever. The Panthers (36-9) are coming off a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference title and trip to the NAIA Championships. Despite losing a pair of All-Americans, DU returns a trio of solid hitters in Marcey DeHaan (3.12 k/s, 0.57 b/s), Molly Lameyer (2.50 k/s, 0.44 b/s), and Krissy Dill (2.67 k/s, 3.54 d/s).
OPPONENT PREVIEW – VANGUARD: The tournament concludes against a third GSAC opponent, Vanguard, as the Lions (25-13) are coming off a trip to the NAIA Championships. Despite losing their top two players to graduate, VU has a bevy of quality players, including hitters Rachel Barker (2.03 k/s, 0.43 b/s) and Charlotte Heerlyn (2.22 k/s, 0.42 b/s). The two teams have met four previous times, the last in 2013, with C of I holding a 3-1 series lead.
ABOUT THE COACH: Liz Mendiola is in her 15th season as head coach of the C of I volleyball program and has posted a career record of 327-120. She has recorded the most wins and highest win percentage in program history, with the 327 wins the most by a women's coach in school history. Mendiola has been honored as CCC Coach of the Year on eight occasions (in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013) and has coached 29 All-CCC selections, 14 NAIA All-Americans, and 18 NAIA Scholar-Athletes. She has taken the Lady Yotes to the postseason in each of her 14 seasons as head coach, including 13 consecutive berths in the CCC Championships – winning eight CCC regular-season titles (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013); six CCC postseason tournament championships (2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014); and the 2005 NAIA Region I title. Her teams have made nine trips to the NAIA Volleyball National Championships (2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014), advancing to the final site of the tournament on seven occasions, and to single-elimination bracket play five times – including an appearance in the 2011 national quarterfinals. Her teams won a school record 42-straight home matches from 2005-08; won a league-record 73-straight conference home matches from 2005-13; and have been ranked in the NAIA Top-25 poll every season since 2005, climbing as high as No. 6 multiple times, as recent as the 2013 preseason ranking. A native of Jerome, Mendiola graduated from the C of I in 1996 with a degree in elementary education, and taught kindergarten in Nampa before becoming head coach in 2001. A two-year member of the Coyotes, Mendiola set school records for kills per game (4.86) in 1994, and holds the school mark for kills per game in a career (4.46). She earned All-CCC honors following her senior season with the Yotes. Prior to becoming head coach, Mendiola was an assistant at the College for four seasons, while coaching club volleyball for the Treasure Valley Volleyball Club.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: For more information on the C of I volleyball program, visit the official homepage of the Lady Yotes,
http://www.yoteathletics.com/index.aspx?path=wvball.
