Women's Volleyball | 10/10/2012 3:23:00 PM
HORNETS TAKE ON LIONS AND BEARCATS
Emporia State embarks on a weekend trip to Missouri Southern and Southwest Baptist, returning to conference play.
LAST TIME OUT
The Hornets won all four matches at the Lady Blues Fall Classic in Topeka, Kan. last weekend.
Brianna Kaiser was name to the All-Tournament team after recording double-doubles in ESU”s wins over SE Okla. St. and East Central. Emporia State hit .408 as a team in Saturday’s match vs. Southern Nazarene, the second best mark this season.
Courtney Haring led ESU with nine kills and nine blocks vs. SW Okla. St.
LAST TIME VS. OPPONENTS
Emporia State recorded its 20th win of the season with a 3-1 victory over Missouri Southern on Nov. 5 in Emporia.
Paige Vanderpool and
Courtney Haring each had 10 kills while
Meg Schwartz tallied 28 digs. ESU also got nine kills from
Caitlyn Murray and
Hunter Porter.
The Hornets last met Southwest Baptist on Nov. 1 in Bolivar and won 3-0. Vanderpool led the Hornets with 12 kills and hit .393, while Schwartz led Emporia State with 23 digs. Murray and
Katie Deutschmann added eight kills each.
SERIES RECORDS
Emporia State leads the all-time series with Missouri Southern 41-30.
Emporia State leads the all-time series with Southwest Baptist 42-1. The Hornets have not lost to SBU since 1987.
THE?COACHES
Bing Xu is 184-69 in his eighth year as head coach at Emporia State. Xu has led the Hornets to the NCAA Division II Regional Tournament in five of the last seven seasons. In 2008 he led Emporia State to its first MIAA Championship.
Trish Knight is in her second season with Missouri Southern and has an overall record of 5-43.
Kelly Richardson is in her sixth season with Southwest Baptist and has an overall record of 64-123.
SCOUTING?THE OPPONENTS
Missouri Southern traveled to Topeka to face #4 Washburn on Oct. 9 and lost in straight sets 25-14, 25-17, 25-11. Setter Abby Finder is averaging 7.23 assists per set for the Lions, which ranked seventh the MIAA. Katie Politte is the Lions’ top hitter averaging 2.81 kills per set. Sydney Potts leads MSSU is digs, averaging 2.94 per set.
Southwest Baptist hosted the SBU Crossover last weekend, defeating Henderson State, Arkansas-Monticello, and Northwestern Oklahoma State and losing to Southern Arkansas. Offensively, the Bearcats are led by Jordan Nedbalek who leads the team with 2.71 kills per set and 1.05 blocks per set. Kaitlyn Allison leads the defense averaging 4.18 digs per set, while setter Whitney Miller averages 5.51 assists per set.
GOING FOR THE KILL
The Hornets will face two of the MIAA’s lowest ranked offenses this weekend. Entering this week, Emporia State ranks fifth in the MIAA (17th nationally) with a .216 hitting percentage and is averaging 13.74 kills per set, good for fourth in the MIAA and 18th nationally. Missouri Southern averages 9.79 kills per set and is hitting .094, the lowest marks in the conference. Southwest Baptist ranks in the bottom three in both categories, as the Bearcats enters the week ranked 12th with a .160 hitting percentage and 11th in kills with 11.32 per set.
HORNETS ON A STREAK
Emporia State has won four matches in a row for the third time this season and look to extend its streak. Since head coach Bing Xu took over in 2005, the Hornets have gone 12-3 against Missouri Southern and won both meetings last season. The Lions last beat ESU in 2010 on at home. Emporia State has won an astounding 41 straight matches against Southwest Baptist since the two teams first faced each other in 1984, the most against any single opponent. The Bearcats won the second meeting in 1987.
UP?NEXT
Emporia State goes on the road to face #7 Central Missouri at the Multipurpose Building in Warrensburg on Oct. 17. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
