Nov. 14, 2000
Bulldog Volleyball Travels to Alabama for First Postseason Trip Since 1994
THE SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL MATCH: Truman State University Bulldogs (Mid-America
Intercollegiate Athletics Association/NCAA Division II) vs. Missouri Western
State College Griffons (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association/NCAA
Division II)
DATE: Thurs., Nov. 16
TIME: 4 p.m.
LOCATION: Florence, Ala.
ARENA (CAPACITY): Flowers Hall (3,800)
ON THE WEB: Information on Bulldog Athletics, including daily scores, can be found at www2.truman.edu/athletics.
THE SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL: With each regional tournament having expanded this year to include six teams, the South Central Regional field is set with three teams from the MIAA and three others from the Gulf South Conference.
North Alabama, the GSC champion and a winner of 36 straight matches, is the top seed in the tournament, followed by Central Missouri State. Truman is the No. 3 seed, followed by Arkansas Tech, Montevallo (Ala.) and Missouri Western.
The tournament, at Florence, Ala., begins on Thursday with the Bulldogs' 4 p.m. match with Missouri Western. Arkansas Tech and Montevallo will duel at 6 p.m. The Truman-MWSC winner will face Central Missouri State at 3 p.m. on Friday and either Arkansas Tech or Montevallo will battle North Alabama in Friday's 5 p.m. match.
The championship will be played on Saturday at 2 p.m. with the winner advancing, along with seven other regional champions, to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight on Nov. 30-Dec. 2 at an on-campus site to be determined.
TRUMAN (28-5): The Bulldogs are making their first NCAA Division II postseason appearance since 1994 and will travel to Florence to take on conference foe Missouri Western in the first round of the South Central Regional.
The 'Dogs will be looking for their first NCAA postseason victory in the regional, which begins at 4 p.m. Thursday and concludes with the championship match at 2 p.m. Saturday. Truman has won four straight matches over MWSC.
The Bulldogs have already had a record-breaking season, establishing school records with 20 consecutive wins and 26 consecutive MIAA victories. With a 15-1 conference record, the 2000 squad won a piece of its first-ever conference championship. The team's 28 wins is tied for the second-most in school history and is just five short of tying the program record for victories in a season.
The Bulldogs were ranked 19th in last week's AVCA Division II Top 25.
TRUMAN VS. CENTRAL MISSOURI (NOV. 8): Truman managed to capture a share of the MIAA title on Wednesday despite a 3-0 loss at Central Missouri State University. The 'Dogs had won the last two matches over the Jennies, but hit a season-low .090 in the 5-15, 11-15, 11-15 defeat.
After a slow start, the Bulldogs began to come back and hit .143 in the third and final game, but couldn't hold on to the momentum to force the match past a third game.
Junior Cassy Felkerson (Salem, Mo.) hit .300 for the 'Dogs with a team-high 11 kills. Sophomore Jackie Knight (Chesterfield, Mo./Lafayette) finished with six kills and a team-leading 11 digs, while junior Brenda Ippensen (Quincy, Ill.) also charted six finishes.
A win over Missouri Western on Thursday would give Truman another shot at the Jennies.
MISSOURI WESTERN (20-10): The Griffons, winners of four of their last five matches, went 12-4 in the MIAA race this season to secure a third-place finish. MWSC enters the tournament with an 18-8 record against South Central Region opponents, good enough for a No. 6 seed in this week's tourney.
The Griffons' only losses in conference play came at the hands of Truman and Central Missouri. In regional play, Missouri Western's losses were all against teams seeded higher in the tournament. The Griffons went 0-7 versus the 2000 South Central Regional tournament field.
Sophomore Lindsay Palaia is Missouri Western's top hitter, standing third in the MIAA at .300. She's also second in the conference and 14th in the nation in blocks (1.43 per game). In the Nov. 4 match with Truman, Palaia hit .375 and notched the only recorded triple-double of the season in the MIAA, finishing with 20 kills, 11 digs and 10 blocks.
Senior Sarah Ekdahl is third in the MIAA in digs (3.98 p/g) and fifth in both kills (3.46) and service aces (0.36). Ekdahl had 13 kills and 20 digs in the Griffons' 3-2 loss at Truman on Nov. 8.
Junior setter Katie Schiesl is third in the MIAA in assists, averaging 11.39 a game.
OTHER SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL TEAMS:
NORTH ALABAMA (37-2): UNA has won 36 straight matches and has taken 30 of the wins by 3-0 scores. The Lions won their fifth straight GSC championship last weekend at home, where they have won 27 straight matches. Junior Nesrin Seckin averages 4.36 kills, while freshman setter Ashley Moffit ranks fourth in Division II with 13.23 assists. Senior Gretchen Midkiff leads the team with 0.77 service aces per game (seventh in Division II), and junior Yolanda Hagar is the top blocker (1.07 per game). UNA ranks third in the nation in hitting, lead by junior Saunda Alexander, Division II's top hitter at .458.
CENTRAL MISSOURI (26-7): CMSU split the MIAA championship with Truman by virtue of their 3-0 win last week in the regular season finale. Junior setter Robyn Griffin averages a conference-best 12.26 assists, while freshman Trudy Carter leads the team in kills (3.48 p/g). Junior Janell Mohme is fourth in the MIAA in hitting (.297) and leads the league in blocking (1.60 per game, fourth in Division II). CMSU ranks sixth in the nation in blocking.
ARKANSAS TECH (37-4): The Suns won the Western Division championship in the GSC and lost in the conference tournament championship last weekend to North Alabama by a 3-0 margin. Senior Bridget Pyles leads ATU in virtually all categories. She averages 3.94 kills, 0.47 aces, 2.58 digs and 0.85 blocks, while hitting .427, the third best mark in Division II. Senior Kristen Scroggins averages a team-high 10.30 assists. Arkansas Tech ranks fourth in the nation in kills.
MONTEVALLO (30-8): The Falcons finished the season in second place in the GSC East Division and are led by juniors Christy Omiecinski and Jennifer Fry, who average 3.62 and 3.51 kills per game. Omiecinski leads the team in hitting (.374). Freshman Gabi Raposo averages 0.71 aces per game for 11th in Division II, while sophomore setter Erika Van Arsdale averages 0.64 aces (17th in DII) and 13.04 assists (10th in DII). Junior Leah Horan paces the team in blocks, averaging 0.92 per game.
SERIES RECORD & RECAP: Versus Missouri Western, Truman leads 22-19 with four straight wins. The 'Dogs swept the season series from the Griffons the last two years. Against CMSU, Truman is 8-49-3 all time. The 'Dogs had won two in a row over the Jennies before falling last week in Warrensburg. Truman is 1-6 all-time against North Alabama, 3-0 against Arkansas Tech and has never met Montevallo (Ala.).
COACH BECKY EGGERING: Becky Eggering is in her fourth year at the helm of the Bulldogs and needs just six more wins to become just the second coach in Truman volleyball history to reach the 100-win plateau. She currently has 94-42 career record for a winning percentage of .691 -- the best among all volleyball coaches in school history.
BULLDOGS IN MIAA STATISTICS (NOV. 13 REPORT): The Bulldogs finished the regular season ranked second in three MIAA statistical categories. The team is No. 2 in the league in hitting percentage (.240), kills (15.38) and service aces (1.90). Truman ranks third in the conference in assists (13.48), fifth in digs (17.65) and eighth in blocks (2.19).
Individually, junior Eliza Hoerner (Augusta, Mo./Univ. of Colorado-Colorado Springs) ranks second in the conference in hitting with a mark of .316. She's tied, with MWSC's Ekdahl, for fifth in kills per game at 3.46.
Truman has two of the top six hitters in the conference, as Felkerson is sixth with her .289 percentage. She's currently seventh in blocks (1.03).
Sophomore Monica Marlowe (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) ranks fourth in assists (10.71), while freshman Jenna Buckner (Quincy, Ill.) and junior Jenny Glenn (Granby, Colo./Middle Park) are sixth and ninth, respectively, in service aces. Buckner averages 0.35 and Glenn 0.33.
BULLDOGS IN NCAA STATISTICS (Through matches of Oct. 29): Truman ranked 18th in NCAA Division II in winning percentage in the latest statistics report. At the time, the 'Dogs were 26-4 for a mark of .867.
MIAA ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: The Bulldogs have had at least one player named MIAA Hitter or Setter of the Week on six different occasions this season. Marlowe has been named MIAA Setter of the Week four times this season. In the hitters' category, Felkerson is the only multiple winner, having captured the honor twice. Hoerner and Glenn also have MIAA Hitter of the Week accolades to their credit this season.
ZEHR GOES THE BULLDOGS LONE SENIOR: When Truman's season comes to a close, the team will bid a fond farewell to its lone senior, a three-time all-MIAA choice, Janelle Zehr (Deer Creek, Ill./Mackinaw). Currently fourth all-time at Truman in kills with 1635, Zehr ranks in the top four on 12 Bulldog career lists, including a second-place standing in kills per game (3.58). She is also fourth in career attempts (4,256), digs (1,271), solo blocks (82), block assists (233) and total blocks (315). In 1999, Zehr finished second in the conference in kills (4.02) and tied for fifth in hitting percentage en route to earning first-team all-MIAA honors for the first time. She was also named an all-region performer for the first time in her career. In 1998, Zehr averaged 4.13 kills while playing in every game as a second-team all-conference pick. She was an honorable mention all-league pick as a freshman. Zehr has 81 career matches with double-figure kills, 62 with double-digit digs and 45 double-doubles in kills and digs. Prior to this season, she was named to the All-American Farm Team, sponsored by Dodge Trucks and Successful Farming magazine and was selected to the Nebraska-Omaha all-tournament team in the first tourney of the year.
BULLDOGS AMONG SINGLE-SEASON LEADERS: Hoerner's current hitting percentage of .316 is sixth on the single season list, while Felkerson is eighth at .289. In assists categories, Marlowe ranks fifth in single-season assist average (10.71) after setting the season record last year. She's 10th on the single-season list this year in assists (1,200). In block assists, Felkerson is seventh with 99 and is ninth in total blocks (119). In blocks average, Felkerson is sixth (1.03). Hoerner is tied for ninth in matches with 20 or more kills (5).
OTHER BULLDOGS ON CAREER LISTS: Marlowe has moved into third on the Bulldogs career assists list with 2,588 and she remains the program's career leader in assists per game (11.61). Marlowe is also sixth in career digs average (2.79) and 10th in block assists (99) ... Felkerson is now tied for fourth in solo blocks (82), fifth in total blocks (283) and in block assists (201). In blocks per game, Felkerson ranks second with a mark of 0.95. She is also second in career hitting percentage (.255), and ninth in both kills (760) and kills per game (2.55) ... Brenda Ippensen ranks eighth in kills (904), seventh in kills per game (2.75) and attempts (2,677). She's also fifth in digs (1,093), fourth in digs average (3.32) ... After collecting her 1,000th career attempt (the minimum to rank among career hitting leaders), Knight has moved into fifth place in career hitting (.233), followed by Glenn in eighth (.222) ... Glenn also ranks eighth in assists (263) and 10th in assists average (0.95) ... A pair of freshmen have also broken into the career top 10s. Rachael Shedd (Omaha, Neb./Westside) is ninth in assists (230) and eighth in assists average (3.77). Buckner is 10th in career blocks average (0.53).
REGIONAL POLL (Nov. 8): The fourth and final South Central Region poll of the season came out last Wednesday before postseason tournament selections were made on Sunday. In Wednesday's poll, the 'Dogs stayed put at No. 2 behind top seed North Alabama. CMSU was third, followed by Arkansas Tech, Montevallo and Missouri Western. Sunday's selections saw the same six teams picked for the tournament in almost the same order. However, Truman and CMSU swapped positions, with the 'Dogs slipping to No. 3 while CMSU took over No. 2.
NATIONAL POLL: Last week's AVCA Division II Top 25 saw the Bulldogs move back into the top 20 after slipping to No. 21 for a week. Truman, which has been as high as No. 17 in the poll this year, has played five nationally ranked teams and is 3-4 against them this year. The 'Dogs have victories over No. 13 North Dakota State, No. 20 Rockhurst and No. 22 Central Missouri this season, but have suffered setbacks to No. 11 North Alabama, No. 22 Central Missouri and another to No. 5 Nebraska-Omaha. Truman has been ranked in the top 25 for 11 straight weeks after receiving votes in the preseason poll.