Women's Volleyball | 9/20/2012 1:03:00 PM
HOME OPENER
Emporia State plays its first home matches of the season as Central Oklahoma and Pittsburg State visit White Auditorium Friday and Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT
The Hornets won 3-0 over Missouri Western in St. Joseph, Mo., to extend their winning streak in St. Joseph to nine. Morgan Buckner led the Hornets with 14 kills. Katie Deutschmann earned a double-double with 11 kills and 27 assists. Paige Vanderpool had a team-high 20 digs to go with seven kills. Courtney Haring led with nine total blocks, two solo and seven block assists. Meg Schwartz tallied 13 digs.
LAST MEETINGS VS. OPPONENTS
Emporia State beat Pittsburg State on Nov. 4 3-1 in Emporia. The Hornets compiled 88 digs, led by Meg Schwartz’s 32. Katie Deutschmann (14 kills, 19 assists) and Brianna Kaiser (14 kills, 19 digs) posted double-doubles. The Hornets held the Gorillas to a .060 hitting percentage.
Emporia State and Central Oklahoma last met on Sept. 5, 2009. The fourth-ranked Hornets won the match in four sets 25-18, 15-25, 25-13, 25-12 and moved to 8-0 on the season.
SERIES RECORD
Emporia State leads the all-time series with Pittsburg State 65-20, and have won
three straight. Emporia State leads the all-time series with Central Oklahoma 7-3. The last meeting was in 2009.
THE?COACHES
Bing Xu is 179-67 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.
Edgar Miraku is in his first season as head coach of Central Oklahoma and has a career record of 4-8.
Ibraheem Suberu is in his 14th season as head coach of Pittsburg State. His career record is 210-202.
SCOUTING?THE OPPONENTS
Central Oklahoma is coming off a 3-0 loss to Arkansas- Fort Smith on Monday. Heading into this week, the Bronchos were leading the conference in blocks with 2.25 per game. In addition, Morgan Roy was leading the MIAA in kills per game with 3.89 and Tate Hardaker was ranked third with 5.18 digs per game.
Pittsburg State played Missouri Southern in a non-conference match Wednesday and won 3-0. The Gorillas’ primary hitters are freshman Crystal Whitten, senior Brooke Fay, and senior Leah Flynn. Pittsburg State is ranked second in the MIAA in kills per game (14.26), second in digs per game (16.39) and third in assists per game (13.08).
BLOCK PARTY
White Auditorium will host the three top blocking teams in the MIAA this weekend. Emporia State ranked second in the MIAA with 2.23 blocks per game entering the weekend. Courtney Haring is the Hornets’ leading blocker averaging 1.24 per game, also second in the conference. Central Oklahoma leads the MIAA with 2.25 blocks per game, Pittsburg State ranks third with 2.21.
BALANCED ATTACK
Through 10 matches this season, five different Emporia State hitters have led or tied for the team lead in kills. Brianna Kaiser has led the Hornets in kills four times, while Katie Deutschmann, Carly Spicer, and Morgan Buckner have each led the team in kills twice. Paige Vanderpool led the team in kills once, in the 3-1 win over Harding. Buckner has led the Hornets in kills in the past two matches.
I CAN DIG IT
Friday’s match with Central Oklahoma will feature two of the MIAA’s best liberos. Meg Schwartz is averaging 5.17 digs per game for the Hornets, and was ranked fourth in the conference entering this weekend. Her opposite number, Tate Hardaker, is averaging 5.18 digs per game for the Bronchos, and was ranked third. Schwartz posted excellent numbers against Saturday’s opponent, Pittsburg State, with 57 digs in two matches last season, including 32 in the match at White Auditorium.
UP?NEXT
The Hornets take a break from MIAA play and travel to Wichita, Kan. to take on Newman. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
