Sept. 6, 2000
Volleyball Team Up To 20th In Rankings; Opens MIAA Play On Friday
THE MATCH: Truman State University Bulldogs (Mid-America Intercollegiate
Athletics Association/NCAA Division II) vs. Emporia State University Hornets
(Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association/NCAA Division II)
DATE: Friday, Sept. 8
TIME: 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Emporia, Kan.
ARENA: William L. White Auditorium (3,500)
THE MATCH: Truman State University Bulldogs (Mid-America Intercollegiate
Athletics Association/NCAA Division II) vs. Washburn University Lady Blues
(Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association/NCAA Division II)
DATE: Saturday, Sept. 9
TIME: 12 p.m.
LOCATION: Topeka, Kan.
ARENA: Lee Arena (4,298)
TRUMAN: The Bulldogs moved into the top 20 in this week's AVCA Coaches Top 25 and are coming off another stellar weekend tournament. This past Friday and Saturday, Truman posted a 4-0 mark at the Rockhurst Invitational, with 3-0 sweeps over Texas Wesleyan and Midwestern State (Texas) and 3-1 victories over North Dakota and No. 22 Rockhurst. Three Truman players were named to the invitational's six-player all-tournament team, including junior middle hitters Cassy Felkerson (Salem, Mo.) and Eliza Hoerner (Augusta, Mo./Washington/Univ. of Colorado-Colorado Springs) and sophomore setter Monica Marlowe (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora). The team was forced to play in the invitational without the services of senior middle/outside hitter Janelle Zehr (Deer Creek, Ill./Mackinaw), who is nursing an ankle injury.
This week's matches, at Emporia State (Kan.) and Washburn (Kan.), mark Truman's initial games of the 2000 MIAA season.
TRUMAN AT THE ROCKHURST INVITATIONAL: In their opening game of the tournament, versus Texas Wesleyan, the 'Dogs got 14 kills from Felkerson and another eight from Hoerner in posting a sweep of the Rams. Marlowe charted 33 assists, 13 digs and four service aces as the 'Dogs won their third straight. Felkerson had a .407 hitting percentage (14 kills, 3 errors, 27 attempts) for the match.
Behind 16 kills from Felkerson and 14 from Hoerner, Truman won its second and final match on Friday, versus North Dakota. Jenny Glenn (Granby, Colo./Middle Park) finished with 10 kills and four service aces, while Marlowe had 47 assists and 19 digs. Hoerner also had four solo blocks with six block assists.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs faced one of their toughest tests of the season, but they outdueled 22nd-ranked Rockhurst for a 3-1 win. Marlowe recorded 74 assists, just four shy of her Truman single-match record. Hoerner finished with 24 kills and three service aces, while Felkerson and Glenn had 19 and 18 kills, respectively. Glenn had a .548 hitting percentage (18 kills, 1 error, 31 attempts) in the match, and Brenda Ippensen (Quincy, Ill.) added three service aces and 21 digs.
In their final match of the invitational, the 'Dogs made quick work of Midwestern State (Texas) with a 3-0 victory. Truman dominated the match, as the Lady Indians never scored more than three points in any game. Felkerson led the charge with 11 kills and a .667 hitting percentage (11 kills, 1 error, 15 attempts). Freshman setter Rachael Shedd (Omaha, Neb./Westside) recorded 32 assists as Marlowe took a breather.
EMPORIA STATE: Emporia State enters its match tonight at Northwest Missouri on a four-match winning streak and is 6-1 on the year. The Hornets posted their latest four wins, all of the sweep variety, at the University of West Georgia Lady Braves Invitational, in which junior Sarah Collins was named tournament MVP. ESU defeated Francis Marion (S.C.) and West Alabama in matches on Friday, before knocking off West Georgia and USC-Spartanburg on Saturday.
Junior April Martin currently leads the team in kills, averaging 4.32 per game. Freshman Maggy Harris has the Hornets' top hitting percentage of .346, while also averaging 1.32 blocks per game.
Freshman Erin Bishop, who was also named to the all-tournament team at West Georgia, averages 1.57 service aces per game. Senior Jayme Adams is the team's leader in assists (12.48 p/g).
WASHBURN: Washburn opened its season last weekend by winning three of four matches at the St. Ambrose (Iowa) Classic. The Lady Blues defeated Illinois-Springfield 3-1 before falling 3-1 to Olivet Nazarene (Mich.). In two Saturday matches, WU won 3-0 over Clarke (Iowa) and College of the Ozarks. Junior Jill Gassen was named to the all-tournament team at St. Ambrose and has opened the season with a team-high .386 hitting percentage.
Gassen is tied with senior Becky Hanish for the team lead in kills (3.50 p/g). Gassen is also averaging 1.86 blocks, while Hanish is second on the team in digs (3.58 p/g). Junior Jennifer Domzalski leads the squad with 4.08 digs per game, and sophomore Lindsey Kersting averages 11 assists.
Washburn has two matches scheduled before taking on the Bulldogs. The Lady Blues face Missouri Western tonight and Southwest Baptist on Friday.
SERIES RECORDS: The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 13-8 over Emporia State and 20-3 over Washburn and have won three straight matches over each of this weekend's opponents. Last year, the 'Dogs won 3-1 at both Emporia and Washburn and swept the two teams at Pershing Arena.
COACH BECKY EGGERING: Becky Eggering is in her fourth year at the helm of the Bulldogs and has a 73-38 career record for a winning percentage of .658 the best among all volleyball coaches in school history. She is five wins away from tying Barb Mayhew for second place on the Bulldog volleyball career wins list.
FAST START: At 7-1 overall, the Bulldogs are off to their best start since 1994, when the squad not only began the year with seven wins in eight matches, but won 12 of its first 13.
MIAA ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Marlowe was named MIAA Setter of the Week on Tuesday after averaging 14 assists and 5.75 digs per game in three matches at the Rockhurst Invitational. She also averaged 0.75 service aces per game, recording four in the 'Dogs' win over Texas Wesleyan. She had 19 digs and four kills with 47 assists in Truman's win over North Dakota, but had her most impressive performance in the team's win over 22nd-ranked Rockhurst. In that match, Marlowe charted 74 assists, just four shy of her own school single-match record, and added 14 digs.
BULLDOGS CLIMBING CAREER LISTS: Felkerson, with 184 career total blocks, has jumped two spots to sixth place on that Bulldog career list. Ippensen, who now has 744 career kills, is up to eighth on that career list. While remaining Truman's career leader in assists per game (12.47), Marlowe has also moved among the career leaders for digs average (2.84, sixth place). Zehr is still the Bulldogs' career leader in kills per game (3.89) and is up to fifth in career digs, with 1,071.
NATIONAL POLL: Truman has moved up to No. 20 in the latest AVCA Coaches Top 25. Central Missouri State is the only other MIAA foe to be ranked, remaining 16th. Here is the complete poll, with Truman's 2000 opponents in italics:
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