Women's Volleyball | 11/12/2012 4:31:00 PM
TOURNAMENT TIME
Emporia State earned the #5 seed and will travel to #13 Truman, the #4 seed, for the opening round of the MIAA Tournament.
LAST TIME OUT
The Emporia State volleyball team concluded its regular season with a 23-25, 25-16, 25-15, 25-14 win over Lindenwood on Senior Night at White Auditorium on Nov. 10. Senior libero Meg Schwartz recorded 31 digs to lead all players. Carly Spicer and Paige Vanderpool shared the team lead with 14 kills. Spicer also the Hornets with four total blocks, one solo while Vanderpool chipped in 22 digs. Katie Deutschmann and Sydney Hartman notched 28 and 26 assists respectively, running the Emporia State offense.
LAST TIME VS. TRUMAN
The Emporia State volleyball team fell in a five set thriller to #13 Truman 25-20, 27-29, 25-14, 18-25, 15-12 at White Auditorium in Emporia on Nov. 9. Paige Vanderpool registered a double-double with 20 kills and 13 digs, while Meg Schwartz added 32 digs. Raney Okeson and Brianna Kaiser each accounted for 12 kills in the match. Katie Deutschmann posted 38 assists, 13 digs, and added six kills. Courtney Haring was the leader in total blocks with six, and added nine kills. Vanderpool also led Emporia State with a .348 hitting percentage. The fifth and final set saw 12 ties and six lead changes.
SERIES RECORDS
Truman leads the all-time series with Emporia State 35-15. The Bulldogs won the previous meeting in Kirksville on Sept. 17, 2011 in five sets.
THE?COACHES
Bing Xu is 191-74 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.
Ben Briney is in his fourth year with Truman with an overall record of 96-40.
SCOUTING?THE BULLDOGS
Thirteeth-ranked Truman defeated Northwest Missouri in five sets in Maryville on Saturday night, with four players registering double-digit kill totals. The Bulldogs have won 18 of their last 19 matches, which included a 16 match winning streak. Entering this week, Truman ranked third in the MIAA with a .243 hitting percentage and was holding opponents to a .141 hitting percentage, also third in the MIAA. Sophomore Allie Brak currently leads the MIAA averaging 3.77 kills per set. Senior Megan Sharpe ranks third in the MIAA with a .343 hitting percentage and is second in blocks averaging 1.25 per set.
BACK IN THE POSTSEASON
The Hornets last experienced postseason play during the 2010 season when they advanced to the South Central Regional Semi-final. The seventeenth-ranked Hornets defeated West Texas A&M in four sets on Nov. 18. Paige Vanderpool had nine kills and seven digs in the match while Meg Schwartz led Emporia State with 32 digs. The Hornets then fell to host Central Missouri in four sets on Nov. 19. Vanderpool co-led the Hornets with 12 kills.
A FAMILIAR FOE
Emporia State and Truman last met in the postseason on Nov. 23, 2008 in the NCAA South Central Regional Final, where the MIAA Champion and fifth-ranked Hornets hosted the eighth-ranked Bulldogs. Truman emerged with a 25-15, 25-14, 25-18 victory. Hannah Carter led the Hornets with nine kills. It marked the third time in three years the Hornets’ season concluded with a match with Truman.
MILESTONE MEG
Meg Schwartz ranks second in the MIAA in digs per set with 5.35 through 30 regular season matches. In last week’s matches versus Fort Hays State, #13 Truman, and Lindenwood, Schwartz averaged 7.58 digs per set. Schwartz owns the Emporia State career record averaging 5.00 digs per set, and has 1,800 in her career, fourth all-time. She needs 12 digs to surpass Leah Griswold’s total of 1,811.
UP NEXT
The winner of the Emporia State/Truman match will face the winner of the match between top-seeded Nebraska-Kearney and #8 seed Central Oklahoma. The semi-finals of the MIAA Tournament will be hosted by the highest remaining seed on Nov. 16.
