Sept. 25, 2000
Bulldog Volleyball Looks for Record 15th Consecutive Win, Hosts William Woods
THE MATCH: Truman State University Bulldogs (Mid-America Intercollegiate
Athletics Association/NCAA Division II) vs. William Woods University Owls
(American Midwest Conference/NAIA)
DATE: Tue., Sept. 26
TIME: 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Kirksville, Mo.
ARENA (CAPACITY): Pershing Arena (3,000)
BROADCASTS: KRES, 104.7 FM, Moberly, Mo. KRES will broadcast the Oct. 18 date with Central Missouri and the Oct. 25 date with Northwest Missouri. Other broadcasts throughout the volleyball season are tentatively planned.
ON THE WEB: Information on Bulldog Athletics, including daily scores, can be found at www2.truman.edu/athletics.
TRUMAN'S RECORD: 15-1, 4-0 MIAA
WILLIAM WOODS' RECORD: 11-5
TRUMAN: The Bulldogs are off to the best start in school history having won 15 of their first 16 matches. The team has tied the school record for consecutive wins (14) and is on pace to rewrite the record book in most all victory categories.
The latest in the Bulldogs' string of wins was a 3-2 home-opening decision over previously undefeated Columbia College (Mo.) on Friday. The win not only allowed Truman to tie the program record for consecutive victories, but snapped the Cougars 102-match winning streak. Columbia was ranked No. 1 in the latest NAIA poll.
Truman is ranked 21st in the latest AVCA Division II top 25 and is currently tied with Central Missouri for the top spot in the MIAA. The 'Dogs have won 15 consecutive MIAA matches dating to last year, surpassing the old mark of 14 straight league wins set in 1993.
Truman is getting balanced play in 2000, led by junior Eliza Hoerner (Augusta, Mo./Washington-Univ. of Colorado-Colorado Springs), who is averaging a team high 3.82 kills and 1.00 blocks per game. She also has a .331 hitting percentage.
Juniors Cassy Felkerson (Salem, Mo.) and Jenny Glenn (Granby, Colo./Middle Park) rank second and third, respectively, on the team in kills (3.10 and 2.51 per game) and hitting (.325 and .272). Glenn also leads in service aces (0.37 p/g). Senior Janelle Zehr (Deer Creek, Ill./Mackinaw) leads the team in digs (3.18 p/g) and is fourth in kills (2.45 p/g). Sophomore Monica Marlowe (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) averages 11.19 assists and 3.04 digs.
TRUMAN VS. COLUMBIA COLLEGE: On Friday, the Bulldogs tied the school record for consecutive wins with a 3-2 victory over Columbia College, which came in on a 102-match winning streak.
Glenn came up big in the Bulldog victory posting her team-leading sixth double-double of the season (team-high 20 kills with 10 digs), while hitting .263. Felkerson charted 16 finishes and nine blocks with hit .294 hitting percentage. Hoerner also hit .294 with 15 kills and 10 digs. Zehr added 13 digs and Marlowe 52 assists.
It was a match in which each game's winning team dominated. Truman was a 15-7 winner in the opening game, but the Cougars rallied for a 15-9 win in game 2. The 'Dogs bounced back for a 15-3 win in the third but fell in the fourth game 15-7. In the fifth match, Truman trailed early but rallied for a 15-13 win.
WILLIAM WOODS: William Woods currently stands at 11-5 on the year but has dropped four of its last six matches. Over the weekend, the Owls split four games in the Peru State College Volleyball Fall Classic. They opened with a 3-1 win over Mid-America Nazarene before falling the Peru State (Neb.) 3-0. WWU then played William Jewell (Mo.) on Saturday and fell 3-2, before winning the final match of the tournament by a 3-0 count over Haskell Indian Nations University. Senior middle hitter Stephanie Sebacher was named to the all-tournament team.
Sebacher leads the Owls with her .381 hitting percentage and 4.31 kills per game average. She's also tops on the team in blocks (1.08 per game) and in service aces (0.71 p/g).
Junior Alicia Hutchinson averages 2.85 kills and has a .281 hitting percentage, while junior Jennifer Curry is hitting .255 and averaging 2.51 kills. Senior Brooke Harmon leads the squad in digs (2.73 p/g) and freshman setter Alana Groom averages 12.06 assists.
SERIES RECORD: Truman leads 11-5 ... The two teams met last year in Fulton, Mo., with Truman coming away a 3-0 victor. The series dates back to 1978, when WWU won 2-0 over the Bulldogs.
COACH BECKY EGGERING: Becky Eggering is in her fourth year at the helm of the Bulldogs and has an 81-38 career record for a winning percentage of .681 -- the best among all volleyball coaches in school history. With three wins at the Emporia State (Kan.) Invitational on Sept. 15-16, Eggering passed former coach Barb Mayhew for second on the Bulldogs all-time wins list.
BULLDOGS IN MIAA STATISTICS (SEPT. 18 REPORT): The Bulldogs rank in the top three in five of the six MIAA statistical categories this week, including in kills where Truman was leading the conference (15.49 per game). The 'Dogs were also second in hitting (.264), digs (18.20 p/g) and aces (2.10 p/g). The team was third in assists with a mark of 13.43 per game.
Individually, Hoerner was second in the MIAA in kills (3.74), fourth in hitting (.327), sixth in service aces (0.39) and eighth in blocks (1.13). Felkerson ranked fourth in hitting (.351) and eighth in kills (3.15). Marlowe stood third in assists (11.36) and 10th in digs (3.20), while Glenn was eighth in service aces (0.38) and ninth in hitting (.273).
HOERNER, MARLOWE NAMED MIAA ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Last week, for the third time in as many weeks, the Bulldogs had an MIAA Athlete of the Week. Truman swept the honors for hitter and setter on Sept. 19 as Hoerner earned hitter of the week honors. The junior posted a .385 hitting percentage (49 kills, 7 errors, 109 attempts), and averaged 3.77 kills and 1.08 blocks in 13 games last week. Among her top performances was a .480 hitting percentage (26-2-50) with nine blocks (four solo) in Truman's 3-2 win at Northwest Missouri on Sept.13.
Also on Sept. 19, Marlowe captured her second MIAA Setter of the Week honor of the season. She averaged 10.38 assists, 2.69 digs and 0.54 blocks in 13 games over four matches last week. She hit .632 (13-1-19) for the week, and had 56 assists in the win over Northwest Missouri.
Other Bulldog MIAA Athletes of the Week: Marlowe (Sept. 5), Felkerson (Sept. 12).
BULLDOGS CLIMBING CAREER LISTS: Felkerson has moved into second in career hitting percentage (.256) and Glenn is up to fifth in that category with a .232 mark. Zehr is sixth in career hitting percentage (.229) and remains the Bulldogs career leader in kills per game (3.76). She also ranks fourth in career kills (1,517), digs (1,135), attempts (3,928) and blocks (290). Felkerson has moved into 10th on the career kills list, and now has 603 career finishes. While remaining Truman's career leader in assists per game (12.07), Marlowe has also moved among the career leaders for digs average (2.77, seventh place). Zehr is sixth in digs average (2.81) and has moved into a tie for ninth in career service aces (109). Her 144 career block assists ranks her sixth.
BULLDOGS CLIMBING SINGLE SEASON LISTS: Hoerner's fourth match with 20 or more kills has her tied for 10th on the single season list for matches with 20-plus kills. She's also tied for seventh on the single-season chart for blocks per game (1.00) and seventh on the list for kills per game (3.982). Marlowe's current assist average of 11.17 ranks her third on the single season list after she set the record last year (12.50). Felkerson is tied for ninth in blocks average (0.91). Hoerner and Felkerson rank fifth and seventh, respectively, in single-season hitting at .331 and .325.
NATIONAL POLL: The Bulldogs remained ranked 21st in last week's AVCA Top 25. For the complete poll, click here.