Women's Volleyball | 9/15/2022 4:58:00 PM
Game 12
Emporia State Hornets (3-8, 1-2 MIAA)
vs. #13 Northwest Missouri Bearcats (7-3, 1-1 MIAA)
Friday, Sep. 16 • 6:00 p.m. • White Auditorium • Emporia, Kan.
Series Record: ESU leads 43-21
Last Meeting: NWMSU 3, ESU 0 (11/12/21)
Live Stream:
The MIAA Network
Live Stats •
Ticket Info •
Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: at William Jewell
Tuesday, Sept. 20 • 6:00 p.m. • Mabee Center • Liberty, Mo.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Emporia State concludes their MIAA opening homestand against #13 Northwest Missouri. The Hornets' matchup against the Bearcats will be the third ranked opponent for Emporia State in the last four matches.
LAST TIME OUT
The Hornets played host to the second ranked Washburn Ichabods in a midweek matchup. Emporia State took an early lead on Washburn in the first set forcing an Ichabod timeout. The Hornets competed through the remainder of the set and the match but were unable to hold off the Ichabods as Washburn took the match 3-0.
THE COACHES
Bing Xu is in his 17th season as head coach for Emporia State. He holds a record of 296-221 and has led the Hornets to five NCAA Tournament appearances. He is 17-10 against Northwest Missouri.
Amy Woerth is 168-118 in her tenth season at Northwest Missouri. She is 10-4 against Emporia State.
SCOUTING THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 3-8 this season and 1-2 in the MIAA. In attack, the Hornets have a trio of players averaging above two kills per set.
Leah Mach leads the way with 103 kills and is averaging 2.58 per set.
Orianna Clements is close behind Mach with 97 kills. Clements is hitting .206 on the season and is tied for the team lead amongst hitters.
Shelby Ebert has recorded 84 kills of her own at 2.10 per set. Ebert also plays a large role in defense for the Hornets as she ranks third in digs with 100 and 2.50 per set. At setter,
Riley Bernskoetter and
Ainslee Stepp combine for over eight assists per set with 174 and 146 on the season respectively. In addition, a pair of newcomers have made an impact for the Hornets in
Caydence Doebele and
Zuzanna Buchnajzer. Doebele has impacted Emporia State through the middle as she is tied for the team high in blocks with 20 on the season. Buchnajzer has recorded 57 kills on the outside while adding 13 blocks of her own.
SCOUTING NORTHWEST MISSOURI
The Bearcats are 7-3 this season and are 1-1 in the MIAA with their lone loss coming against #16 Central Missouri in five sets. Northwest Missouri uses a balanced attack as four Bearcat players average more than 2.20 kills per set. The leader of these four is Jaden Ferguson who leads the team with 93 kills and is second at 2.51 kills per set. Ferguson has also played in all 37 sets for the Bearcats this season. Payton Kirchhoefer leads the time with 2.69 kills per set and has 78 total in 29 sets played. At setter, the Bearcats are led by Alyssa Rezac who has tallied 329 assists this season. Rezac averages 8.89 assists per set which ranks fifth in the MIAA and she has posted multiple matches with 48 or more assists this season. In defense, Abby Brunssen leads the team with 43 blocks which ranks second in the MIAA.
SERIES HISTORY
Emporia State leads the all-time series 43-21 over Northwest Missouri.
LAST TIME VS. THE BEARCATS
Last season, the Hornets took on the Bearcats over the final weekend of the season in a home match from White Auditorium when the Bearcats were ranked fifth in the nation. Emporia State was unable to limit the efficient attack of the Bearcats as Northwest Missouri recording a hitting percentage above .400 for the match. The Hornets fell in the first two sets and kept it close in the third before the Bearcats pulled away to take the match 3-0.
Shelby Ebert and
Leah Mach led the way with seven kills each and Ebert hit .238 on the evening.
UP NEXT
Emporia State will hit the road next week as they travel to Liberty, Missouri for a non-conference matchup with William Jewell. The Hornets will then travel south on I-35 for a pair of MIAA matches against Central Oklahoma and Newman.
EBERT EXPERIENCE
Shelby Ebert (Sr./Topeka, Kan.) has led the Hornets in sets played in the last two full seasons and is continuing the trend as she has played in all 40 sets for the Hornets. So far this season, Ebert ranks third in kills with 84 at 2.10 per set and is second in total points with 110.5. In addition to her presence in attack, she is third on the Hornets in both digs and blocks with 100 digs and 17 blocks. Â
READY ORI NOT
Orianna Clements (Sr./Stillwater, Okla.) led the Hornets in kills during the 2021 season and ranks second through the first ten games this season for Emporia State with 97 kills. She also ranks second with 2.50 kills per set and is tied for the team high among Emporia State hitters with a .206 hitting percentage.
MACH SPEED
Leah Mach (So./Lincoln, Neb.) was third on the Hornets in kills during the 2021 season and is currently leading the way this seaon with 103 kills and is averaging 2.58 per set. Mach is pacing the Hornets with 117 points and nearly three per set at 2.93. She posted a career-high 18 kills in the Emporia State four set victory over Southeastern Oklahoma before tying that number in Emporia State's five-set victory over Fort Hays State. On the defensive side, Mach is second on the team with 102 digs and has added six blocks.
FINDING DORI
Dorianne Lebron (Gr./Guayama, Puerto Rico) has been the primary piece for the Hornets through the middle as she has played in 38 of 40 sets this season for Emporia State. Lebron has tallied 39 kills in the middle with a .164 hitting percentage. The true impact is felt on the defensive side as she is tied for the team high on the Hornets with 20 blocks this season after leading the way with 64 total blocks in 2021.
Â
POLISH PRESENCE
Zuzanna Buchnajzer (So./Lodz, Poland) has made her presence felt as a rotation player on the outside for the Hornets. Buchnajzer has appeared in 33 of 40 sets for Emporia State and has tallied 57 kills with 1.73 per set and has added 13 blocks on the season as she ranks fourth in all three categories for Emporia State.
WINNING HARRIS
Winny Harris (Jr./Atchison, Kan.) had eight kills on .636 hitting against Washburn. She is averaging 1.11 kills per set in 18 sets on the season.
NEW STRAWN NEWCOMER
Caydence Doebele (Fr./New Strawn, Kan.) has started eight matches for the Hornets and has appeared in 27 sets on the season. Doebele has recorded 28 kills for the Hornets and is hitting .134. Her impact has also been felt through the middle on defense as she is tied with
Dorianne Lebron for most blocks on the Hornets.
TOUGH TEST
Emporia State is concluding a four-game stretch to begin MIAA action that includes three teams ranked in the top 13 in the nation. The Hornets took on #8 Neb.-Kearney and Fort Hays State before taking on #2 Washburn in a midweek match-up leading up to the match against the Bearcats.
MIAA MAGNITUDE
Four MIAA teams are currently ranked in the top 25 with one team receiving votes in the latest poll. This total is only topped by the Northern Sun who have six teams currently ranked inside the top 25. Despite having 40% of this week's Top 25, the Central Region can only have eight teams make the 64 team NCAA Tournament.
IN THE CLASSROOM
Last year, and for the 11th straight year, the Hornet Volleyball team earned the USMC/
AVCA Academic Honor which honors schools with that maintain a team GPA above 3.30. In addition to this, five returning members were named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll.
Â
