Oct. 11, 2000
No. 18 Truman Hosts Quincy In Friday Volleyball Matchup
THE MATCH: Truman State University Bulldogs (Mid-America Intercollegiate
Athletics Association/NCAA Division II) vs. Quincy University Lady Hawks
(Great Lakes Valley Conference/NCAA Division II)
DATE: Fri., Oct. 13
TIME: 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Kirksville, Mo.
ARENA (CAPACITY): Pershing Arena (3,000)
BROADCASTS: KIRK 99.9 FM, Moberly, Mo. KRES will broadcast the Oct. 18 date with Central Missouri, the Oct. 25 date with Northwest Missouri and the Nov. 4 meeting with Missouri Western. Chad Speakar handles the play-by-play.
ON THE WEB: Information on Bulldog Athletics, including daily scores, can be found at www2.truman.edu/athletics.
TRUMAN'S RECORD: 21-2, 9-0 MIAA
QUINCY'S RECORD: 10-11, 4-4 GLVC *
* Pending Wednesday night's result
TRUMAN: The Bulldogs have moved up to No. 18 in the latest AVCA Division II Top 25 and have secured their 11th straight 20-win season. Truman has reached the 20-win plateau faster than any club in program history.
The Bulldogs have also established several records already this campaign. They broke the school record with 20 consecutive wins before seeing that streak end on Sunday versus North Alabama. With two wins over the weekend, versus Washburn (Kan.) and Emporia State (Kan.), the 'Dogs ran their conference winning streak to 20 matches, a streak that remains alive. Truman is currently sitting atop the MIAA, along with Central Missouri State, and is in search of its first-ever conference championship in volleyball.
Balanced play has been key for the Bulldogs this season, as virtually any player could step forward and lead the team in any given match. Currently, junior Eliza Hoerner (Augusta, Mo./Washington-Univ. of Colorado-Colorado Springs) leads the team in kills and hitting percentage, averaging 3.76 kills with a .323 hitting percentage. She has 13 double-figure kills matches and five with 20 or more kills.
Junior Cassy Felkerson (Salem, Mo.) is close behind, averaging 3.08 kills with a .319 hitting percentage. Felkerson, who has 15 matches with double-digit kills, is also the team leader in blocks (1.01 p/g).
Sophomore Monica Marlowe (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) leads the team with 11.03 assists and 2.96 digs per game.
Juniors Jenny Glenn (Granby, Colo./Middle Park) and Brenda Ippensen (Quincy, Ill.) along with senior Janelle Zehr (Deer Creek, Ill./Mackinaw), sophomore Jackie Knight (Chesterfield, Mo./Lafayette) and freshman Jenna Buckner (Quincy, Ill.) provide solid depth behind the two leaders. Each averages nearly two kills per game and all are close to, if not above, .200 in hitting.
TRUMAN'S HOME WEEKEND ON OCT. 6-8: The Bulldogs played three tough matches in three days, going 2-1 with the only loss coming against then No. 19 North Alabama. The 'Dogs collected MIAA wins over Washburn and Emporia State, running their conference winning streak to 20 straight matches.
On Friday, Truman met Washburn in an MIAA contest and, after dropping the opening game 15-8, rallied for a 3-1 win over the Lady Blues. Hoerner hit .432 and charted her fifth 20-kill match of the season, while Felkerson added 13 kills. Knight and Brenda Ippensen each finished with 10 kills.
Saturday's action saw Truman earn a 3-0 victory over Emporia State, behind a team-leading 11 kills and 14 digs from Buckner, who hit .526. Felkerson added 10 kills and six blocks as the 'Dogs won for the fifth straight time over the Hornets.
On Sunday, Truman met North Alabama, a team that came in ranked No. 19 and riding a 17-match win streak. The Bulldogs took the first game 15-11, but suffered narrow losses in the other three, falling 15-9, 15-11 and 15-8. Felkerson and Hoerner had 16 and 17 kills, respectively.
QUINCY: The Lady Hawks have a 10-11 overall mark and a 4-4 league record, which has them tied for second in the Green Division of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Quincy is tied with Missouri-St. Louis in the conference race, and the Lady Hawks meet UMSL tonight before heading to Truman.
Junior outside hitters Chris Shimkus and Eunique Reaves are the Lady Hawks' top two hitters. Both come in averaging 3.83 kills per game. Shimkus also averages 3.27 digs and has a .206 hitting percentage, second best on the team. Reaves averages a 0.50 blocks and 2.32 digs. The duo also averages 0.44 and 0.45 service aces, respectively. Senior middle hitter Jennifer Peters leads the team in hitting (.224) and blocking (0.61 p/g). Senior setter Brenda Walters averages 12.25 assists.
Quincy got out to a 5-2 start on the season, but lost six in a row from Sept. 2-15. The Lady Hawks have since won five of their last eight, but have dropped two in a row. Their latest match was a 3-0 loss at Lewis (Ill.).
SERIES RECORD WITH QUINCY: Truman leads 31-18 ... The 'Dogs have won five of the last six over QU. Last year, Truman posted a 3-1 victory at Memorial Gymnasium. Janelle Zehr had 16 kills and 13 digs, while Brenda Ippensen logged 15 kills and 15 digs in the victory.
COACH BECKY EGGERING: Becky Eggering is in her fourth year at the helm of the Bulldogs and has an 86-39 career record for a winning percentage of .688 -- the best among all volleyball coaches in school history. She also ranks second in school history for career wins.
BULLDOGS IN MIAA STATISTICS (OCT. 9 REPORT): Truman ranks in the top two in four of the six MIAA statistical categories, including in kills and assists, where the Bulldogs lead the league. Truman averages an MIAA-best 15.54 kills per game and 13.61 assists. The 'Dogs are also second in the conference in hitting (.253) and service aces (1.88 p/g).
Individually, Hoerner is ranked second in the conference in kills (3.76 p/g) and third in hitting percentage (.323). She also ranks 10th in service aces (0.35 p/g).
Felkerson is fourth in the conference in hitting (.319) and ranks ninth in the league in blocking (1.01 p/g).
Marlowe ranks third in the conference in assists (11.03 p/g), and Buckner is sixth in the league in service aces (0.46 p/g).
BULLDOGS IN NCAA STATISTICS (THROUGH MATCHES OF OCT. 1): The lone category where Truman ranked among NCAA leaders was in winning percentage where the Bulldogs stood fifth overall.
FELKERSON & MARLOWE NAMED MIAA ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Felkerson became the first Bulldog hitter to repeat as MIAA Hitter of the Week on Tuesday, Oct. 10. Meanwhile, Marlowe was named MIAA Setter of the Week for the third time this season.
Felkerson hit .344 with 52 kills and 10 errors in 122 attempts. She averaged 3.71 kills and 1.14 blocks and recorded her 15th match with double-figure kills this season as Truman went 3-1.
Marlowe averaged 11.14 assists and 2.64 digs over 14 games last week. She had 48 assists in the Bulldogs' win over Washburn (Kan.) and 44 in the loss to North Alabama.
Bulldog MIAA Athletes of the Week: Marlowe (Sept. 5, Sept. 19, Oct. 10), Felkerson (Sept. 12, Oct. 10), Hoerner (Sept. 19), Glenn (Sept. 26).
REGIONAL POLL: In the second South Central Regional poll of the season, the Bulldogs slipped a spot into second after being ranked in a No. 1 tie in the first poll. North Alabama took over the top spot in the poll. After Truman, Central Missouri, Montevallo (Ala.) and Arkansas Tech were tied for third, followed by Missouri Western in sixth. Emporia State (Kan.) was seventh, Northwest Missouri eighth, Valdosta State (Ala.) ninth and Henderson State (Ark.) rounded out the top 10. The next poll is due out on Oct. 25.
NATIONAL POLL: Losses by several top 20 teams resulted in some reshuffling of the nation's top Division II squads. The Bulldogs moved up to No. 18 in this week's AVCA Division II Top 25.