EMPORIA STATE VOLLEYBALL GOES TO KC FOR MIDWEEK GAME WITH #25 ROCKHURST

Emporia State Hornets (11-14, 3-9 MIAA) vs.
#25 Rockhurst University Hawks (19-4, 10-1 GLVC)
Tuesday, Oct. 25 • 6:00 p.m. • Kansas City, Mo. • Mason-Halpin Field House
Series Record: ESU leads 12-9 Last Meeting: RU 3, at ESU 1 (Oct. 20, 2015)
Up Next: #17 Northwest Missouri • Saturday, Oct. 29 • 7:00 p.m. • Emporia, Kan. • William L. White Auditorium

MID-WEEK, NON-CONFERENCE
Emporia State will travel to Kansas City, Mo. to face #25 Rockhurst on Tuesday. It will be the seventh time in the last 14 matches that the Hornets have taken on a nationally ranked team.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Emporia State dropped two road games, falling in three sets (17-25, 19-25, 20-25) to #11 Central Oklahoma and losing a five set match (25-15, 21-25, 23-25, 25-16, 4-15) to Pittsburg State.
Playing their sixth nationally ranked team in the last 12 matches, Emporia State was held to a .132 hitting percentage. Taylor Otting led with ten kills on a .421 hitting percentage. Allie Maloney had 14 digs against the Bronchos. Danika Burton had four blocks.
Josie Williams had a double-double against the Gorillas with 17 kills and 11 digs on a .234 hitting percentage. Otting followed with nine kills. Kimberly Bell led the Hornets 19 assists. Maloney had 14 digs, Kelly Holden adding 11 digs. Emporia State had a .173 hitting percentage compared to Pittsburg State's .135 hitting percentage. Burton led all players with four blocks.
 
THE COACHES
Bing Xu is 248-130 (.656) in his 12th year as the head coach at Emporia State and 126-79 (.615) in MIAA play. He has led the Hornets to five NCAA Tournaments and one MIAA Championship. Xu is 3-4 against the Hawks.
Tracy Rietzke is 981-199 (.829) in his 29th season with Rockhurst. He is currently ranked second among all-time NCAA Division II women's volleyball coaches in total victories and fifth among all three NCAA levels.
 
SCOUTING THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 11-14, 3-9 in the MIAA. The Hornets are third in the MIAA averaging 2.15 blocks per set. Emporia State is fifth in the conference averaging 16.66 digs per set. Burton is second in the MIAA with 1.18 blocks per set. Maloney is second in the league at 5.01 digs per set. Williams comes in at tenth averaging 2.91 kills per set. The Hornets 107 digs against Washburn are the most in an MIAA match this season.
 
ABOUT ## ROCKHURST
Rockhurst is ranked ## in Division II with a 19-4 record. The Hawks lead the West with a 10-1 in the GLVC. Rockhurst is fifth in the nation with 1,574 digs. The Hawks lead the GLVC in assists per set (12.64) and digs per set (18.47) and are second with a .241 hitting percentage and 13.57 kills per set.
Morgan Rietzke is third in the conference with 3.37 kills per set while Mattie Gray is ninth with a .288 hitting percentage and tenth with 3.04 kills per set.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
This will be the 22nd meeting between Emporia State and Rockhurst. The Hornets lead the all-time series 12-9.
 
LAST TIME AGAINST THE HAWKS
Emporia State took #9 Rockhurst to four sets (25-23, 15-25, 23-25, 14-25) last season. Tatum Graves earned a career high 15 kills on a .379 hitting percentage to lead the Hornets. Williams added another 11 kills. Holden had a match high 24 digs.
 
NEXT SERVE
Emporia State will return home for a pair of MIAA matches beginning with a 7:00 p.m. game against ## Northwest Missouri on Saturday, Oct. 29. The Hornets will then host Missouri Western at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 30.

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
Setter Kimberly Bell (Sr./Allen, Texas) transferred to Emporia State after her freshman year at Texas Woman's University where she played in 33 matches, had 605 assists and 244 digs as a freshman. Bell had a season high 27 assists in a five set loss to #17 Washburn. She earned a career high 17 digs in a four set match win against Dallas Baptist at the MIAA-GAC Challenge. She tied her career high 17 digs against Newman on Oct. 18 at home. Bell had a career high four kills against Southern Nazarene at the MIAA-GAC Challenge, also earning a career high four aces against East Central at the same tournament. Bell has a .413 hitting percentage with 36 kills on 75 attempts and only five errors. She has eight double-doubles (assists/digs) on the season.
 
BURNIN' UP
Middle hitter Danika Burton (Sr./Coffeyville, Kan.) is in her second year with the Hornets after transferring from Coffeyville Community College. Burton is second in the MIAA with 1.18 blocks per set, trailing Callie Christenson of Fort Hays in first with 1.19 blocks per set. She had a season high 12 kills on a .435 hitting percentage against Dallas Baptist. Burton earned a season high nine total blocks versus St. Edward's and a career high two solo blocks against Fort Lewis. Burton also had nine block assists in a five set loss to #17 Washburn. She also had two solo blocks at #11 Central Oklahoma. Against Missouri Southern, she had a season high .500 hitting percentage on eight kills and only one error. She also had a career high eight digs against Southwest Baptist on Oct. 1. While at Coffeyville Community College, Burton was named All-Jayhawk Conference Honorable Mention.
 
CAUGHT RED-HANDED
Middle hitter Shayla Cotman (Sr./Wichita, Kan.) leads Emporia State with 15 solo blocks on the season. At home against #17 Washburn, Cotman had a season high 14 kills on a .407 hitting percentage. Against Dallas Baptist, she tied her career high of seven block assists. Cotman has hit five for nine two times this season, for season highs .556 hitting percentages. She has been named to both the Wasburn Invitational and the MSU Hampton Inn-Vitational All-Tournament teams. She was named to the All-MIAA Second Team during her junior (2015) season.
 
GOTTA KNOW WHEN TO HOLD 'EM
Defensive specialist Kelly Holden (Sr./Allen, Texas) will be a key part of Emporia State's defense in her senior season with the Hornets. Holden had a season high 20 digs against #17 Washburn in a five set loss at home. She tied a career high four assists against Drury University at the Washburn Invitational. For the fifth time in her career, Holden tied a career high three service aces against Cameron University. In her junior season (2015), Holden had 13 matches with 20 or more digs.
 
WHERE THERE'S A WILL THERE'S A WAY
Outside hitter Josie Williams (Sr./Hutchinson, Kan.) leads the Hornets with 2.91 kills per set, good enough for tenth in the MIAA. After tying her career high 19 kills against Southern Nazarene at the MIAA-GAC Challenge, a record dating back to her freshman year in 2013, Williams beat her own record the next day against Southwestern Oklahoma with 20 kills. She had a .393 hitting percentage against Missouri Southern for a season high. Williams tied her career high five block assists (and total blocks) against #17 Washburn. She leads the Hornets with ten double-doubles (kills/digs) on the season. Williams had 13 matches with ten or more kills during the 2015 season and seven matches with ten or more digs. Williams was named MIAA Honorable Mention as an outside hitter during her junior (2015) season.
 
TOMORROW
Middle hitter Logan Morrow (Jr./El Dorado, Kan.) will play in her first season with the Hornets after transferring from Cowley County Community College. Morrow had a season high six kills against Midwestern State at the Washburn Invitational Tournament on Sept. 3. Morrow has had three games this season with two block assists. During her sophomore season at Cowley County, Morrow led the Tigers to a sixth place finish nationally with a 26-10 record. She had 276 kills with a .251 hitting percentage. She also totaled 78 blocks over the 2015 season.
 
TOO TALL TATUM
Middle hitter Tatum Graves (So./Shawnee, Kan.) is in her second season as both an Emporia state volleyball player and a Lady Hornet basketball player. Graves had a career high .625 hitting percentage against University of Mary at the Washburn Invitational. She tied a career high six block assists against Midwestern State, having a career high eight total blocks against them. Graves tied a career high two aces against Midwestern State at the Washburn Invitational. At Oklahoma Baptist, Graves earned a career high seven digs. She had a season high ten kills against Southwest Baptist on a .370 hitting percentage.

OMAHA!
Outside hitter Jamie Hauptman (So./Omaha, Neb.) will be a strong right side in her sophomore season with Emporia State. Hauptman had a career high 15 kills in a five set win against Fort Lewis at the MSU Hampton Inn-Vitational, tying that career high at Oklahoma Baptist at the MIAA-GAC Challenge. At the same tournament, she had a career high five block assists (and total blocks) in a win against Dallas Baptist. Hauptman tied a career high .500 hitting percentage against Missouri Southern on Sept. 30.
 
JULIE AND JULIA
Outside hitter Julia Joseph (So./Wichita, Kan.) will help lead the Hornets in her sophomore season. Joseph recorded a career high ten kills in a win against Fort Lewis at the MSU Hampton Inn-Vitational. She had a season high nine digs at Fort Hays on Sept. 23. Joseph had a season high .263 hitting percentage at Pittsburg State. Also against Dallas Baptist, Joseph tied a career high, for the fourth time, 3 block assists (and total blocks).
 
THE HEART OF DIXIE
Setter Emma Dixon (Fr./Wichita, Kan.) is a 5-9 freshman for Emporia State during the 2016 season running a 6-2 offense with senior setter Kimberly Bell. Dixon had a monster night against #17 Washburn on Oct. 4, earning season highs with both 31 assists and three aces, also tying her season high ten digs. She also had ten digs against Cameron University, Oklahoma Baptist and Newman University. Dixon was homeschooled and played for the Wichita Volleyball Academy club team. She qualified for the Juniors National Tournament in 2016.
 
MORE MALONEY
Libero Allie Maloney (Fr./Winfield, Ill.) is a 5-6 freshman for the Hornets, currently in second in the MIAA with 5.01 digs per set. Maloney had 27 digs in a three set home win against Missouri Southern on Sept. 30 to average 9.00 digs per set. She then beat her season high with 38 digs in a five set loss to #17 Washburn on Oct. 4, a few days later. Maloney nearly missed a double-double at Pittsburg State in a five set loss with 14 digs and a season high nine assists. Against Southwest Baptist at home on Oct. 1, Maloney had a season high three aces. She leads the Hornets with 20 aces on the season, averaging 0.22 aces per set. In 2014, Maloney was named to the AVCA Phenom List while playing for the club team Sports Performance.
 
SWIFTLY
Outside hitter Taylor Otting (Fr./Topeka, Kan.) is a 5-9 freshman from Hayden high school. She had a season high ten kills in a five set win against Missouri Western. She tied that season high at #11 Central Oklahoma with ten kills. Also against #11 Central Oklahoma, Otting had a season high .421 hitting percentage. Otting earned a season high ten digs against Midwestern State. Otting had a season high three blocks at Washburn. She led Hayden high school to a state championship title in 2015 and was named to Kansas Volleyball Association's 4A-Div. II First Team All-State.