Women's Volleyball | 9/26/2012 4:39:00 PM
SHOWDOWN WITH THE BEST
The Emporia State volleyball team travels west for a pair of MIAA matches versus top-ranked Nebraska-Kearney on Friday and Fort Hays State on Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT
Emporia State swept its fourth straight volleyball match with a 25-14, 25-20, 25-20 victory over Newman in Wichita, Kan. Katie Deutschmann posted a double-double with 12 kills and 21 assists. Brianna Kaiser added 10 kills and seven digs. Meg Schwartz led the Hornets in digs with nine, while Sydney Hartman assisted on 23 kills. As a team, Emporia State hit .473 for the match, while holding Newman to a .138 hitting percentage.
LAST MEETINGS VS. OPPONENTS
Emporia State lost to #14 Nebraska-Kearney 30-19, 30-23, 30-15 in the last meeting on Aug. 30, 2003 in Fargo, N.D. Jessica Stambaugh led the Hornets with eight kills while Kim Edwards added 20 assists.
Katie Deutschmann (11 kills, 19 assists) and Paige Vanderpool (11 kills, 13 digs) posted double-doubles in Emporia State’s last meeting with Fort Hays State on Nov. 11 in Emporia. The Hornets had to battle back from set points in the second and third set to win the match 25-20, 26-24, 26-24.
SERIES RECORD
Nebraska-Kearney leads the all-time series over Emporia State 23-10. Emporia State leads Fort Hays State 49-25 all-time and have won the last 13 matches in the series.
THE?COACHES
Bing Xu is 182-67 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.
Rick Squiers is in his 14th season as head coach of Nebraska-Kearney with an overall record of 429-58.
Kurt Kohler is in his fourth season with Fort Hays State with an overall record of 43-73.
SCOUTING?THE OPPONENTS
Nebraska-Kearney beat Doane College, the #14 team in the NAIA, on Tuesday 25-18, 26-24, 25-19 in Kearney. Entering this week, Nebraska- Kearney was leading the MIAA in kills, digs, and assists. Katie Sokolowski was hitting .419 to lead the MIAA entering the week, one of four UNK players ranked in the top ten for hitting percentage. Setter Jenna Rouzee leads the conference with 11.09 assists per set, and libero Kaleigh Anderson leads the MIAA in digs, averaging 5.33 per set. The Lopers have only dropped three sets all season.
Fort Hays State played in the Johnson and Wales tournament in Denver, Colo. last weekend and won all four of its matches. Entering the week, FHSU was third in the MIAA in blocks, averaging 2.12 per set. Jenna Ulrich leads the Tigers averaging 2.55 kills per set, 1.13 blocks per set, and is hitting .324. Setter Kayla Zoglman was fifth in the MIAA averaging 9.24 assists per set.
STIFLING DEFENSE
Emporia State possesses one of the top defenses in the conference. Entering this week, the Hornets lead the MIAA in blocks, averaging 2.24 per set, rank second in digs (16.34 per set) and have held opponents to a .128 hitting percentage, ranking third. Individually, sophomore Courtney Haring entered the week as the conference leader in blocks with 1.24 per game and Meg Schwartz ranks fourth in the conference in digs, averaging 5.07 per set.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE STREAK
In the past four matches, the Hornets have not dropped a set and have had a player earn a double-double in each match. Katie Deutschmann has two double-doubles, recording 11 kills and 27 assists at Missouri Western and 12 kills 21 assists at Newman. Paige Vanderpool scored 10 kills and 13 digs in the home opener vs. Central Oklahoma and Sydney Hartman posted 19 assists and 13 digs in the win over Pittsburg State. Emporia State players have 11 double-doubles this season, led by Brianna Kaiser with four.
UP?NEXT
Emporia State plays Southeastern Okla. St., East Central, Southern Nazarene, and Southwestern Okla. St. at the Lady Blues Fall Classic at Lee Arena in Topeka, Kan. Oct. 5-6. The Hornets open with SE Okla. St. at 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 5.
