Full Notes (PDF)

 

(KIRKSVILLE) – Coming off a week which featured a second win this season against a top-5 opponent, the 13^th -ranked Truman volleyball squad will play three more MIAA matches this week, starting at home on Wednesday night against Southwest Baptist at 7 pm.

 

Truman jumped three spots in this week's AVCA Top-25 Coaches' Poll, fueled by its four-set win against then-No. 3 Washburn on Friday (Sept. 17) night.

 

From there, the Bulldogs will head to Missouri Southern on Friday night at 7 pm before closing out a quick trip to the southern end of the MIAA at 4 pm on Saturday at Pittsburg State.

 

The Bulldogs (9-2, 2-1 MIAA) will try to maintain its place amongst the top-4 of the conference heading into next weekend's regional crossover at Washburn University. The first task at hand will be against an upstart SBU (6-4, 1-1 MIAA) squad that picked up its first sweep of an MIAA school since 2007 on Saturday at home against Nebraska-Omaha.

 

Then, two more squads looking to get on track in MIAA play will host the 'Dogs over the weekend, as MSSU (7-3, 0-1 MIAA) will be playing just its second conference match on Friday night. The Bulldogs wrap up with Pittsburg State (4-6, 1-2 MIAA), a squad whose record has been greatly influenced by its tough start of the season, as the Gorillas have played five matches already against teams in the top-25.

 

The weekend couldn't have gone much better for the Bulldogs, as the purple and white picked up a four-set home victory against No. 3 Washburn on Friday night before sweeping Fort Hays State on Saturday afternoon.

 

After falling behind, 1-0, to WU, the Bulldogs rebounded with three straight wins to earn the 3-1 victory. Rallies to come from behind in both the third and fourth sets helped give Truman its first MIAA win of the season while also notching a quality win on its resume early in the season.

 

Truman then avoided a let-down on Saturday, picking up a 3-0 win against Fort Hays State to close out the weekend in Pershing Arena.

 

 

Free live stats for all home matches in 2010 will be available through Truman's sports Information office, while live video will be hosted by B2 Networks.  

 

Attendance at Truman home volleyball matches is free for all spectators.

Ben Briney in is his second season as the head coach of the Truman volleyball program and is now in his sixth season overall at the University after serving as the program's top assistant from 2005-2008. He is the ninth head coach in program history and has a 33-15 career record.

 

In his first season as head coach, the Bulldogs maintained a top-25 ranking throughout the season, extending the consecutive-week streak to 140 for the program. The squad won 24 games and reached the NCAA tournament for the tenth time in program history. He had five players named all-MIAA, headlined by freshman Megan Sharpe, who garnered National Freshman of the Year accolades as well as first-team all-region status.

During his tenure as an assistant, the Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA Division II tournament in all four seasons, won two South Central regional championships and advanced to the national semifinals one time (2008). He helped coach six different players to 11 combined AVCA all-American awards, saw two players win the MIAA's MVP award and led the team to its first No. 1 ranking in the AVCA top-25 coaches poll in school history.

 

He is assisted by Megan Wargo, who is also in her second season at Truman after spending four years as the assistant coach at Lees-McRae (N.C.).

 

- The Bulldogs were selected to the AVCA coaches' top-25 poll for the 144^th straight week, dating back to 2000, when they came in at No. 13 in this week's poll. The next poll comes out on Monday, Sept. 27.

 

- The Bulldogs have had success this season when heading to “overtime” in a set, as Truman is 4-1 in sets that go beyond 25 points (ex: 26-24).

 

- The Bulldogs were picked to finish fifth in the MIAA this season, as selected by the coaches in the annual preseason poll. Defending MIAA champions, the University of Central Missouri, were picked to repeat, followed by Washburn, Emporia State, Pittsburg State and Truman.

 

- Truman has nine matches this season against teams ranked in the preseason top-25, with eight coming in MIAA play. Last season, Truman went 4-9 in top-25 showdowns, but the 'Dogs are 2-1 in 2010 in such matches.

- Team Offense: 13.32 kills/set; .225 atk pct; 1.80 aces/set

- Team Defense: 16.45 digs/set; 2.45 blocks/set

 

- Top Offense: Molly Sinclair (3.39 kills/set, .242 atk pct); Megan Sharpe (3.03 k/s, .385 atk pct)

- Top Setter: Ashley Petak (246 assists, 6.15/set); Kylie Easlon (178 assists, 4.45/set)

- Top Defense: Casey Bruno (159 digs, 4.42/set); Sharpe (45 blocks, 1.15/set)

 

- Team Offense: 11.92 kills/set; .204 atk pct; 1.15 aces/set

- Team Defense: 14.59 digs/set; 1.63 blocks/set

 

- Top Offense: Ashley Jurgensmeyer (3.54 kills/set, .360 atk pct); Joanna Gransow (1.95 k/s, .230 atk pct)

- Top Setter: Brianna Wallace (368 assists, 9.44/set)

- Top Defense: Marcy Greenwade (146 digs, 3.64/set); Jurgensmeyer (32 blocks, 0.82/set)

- Head Coach: Kelly Richardson (4^th season at SBU; 39-72 record)

 

- Team Offense: 13.17 kills/set; .263 atk pct; 1.34 aces/set

- Team Defense: 16.14 digs/set; 1.96 blocks/set

 

- Top Offense: Ashlee Russell (2.91 kills/set, .292 atk pct); Rachel Olinyk (2.77 k/s, .360 atk pct)

- Top Setter: Elin Skei (341 assist, 9.74/set)

- Top Defense: Shakila Blakhi (144 digs, 4.24/set); Olinyk (31 blocks; 0.89/set)

- Head Coach: Chris Willis (7^th season at MSSU; 93-115 record at school … 8^th season overall; 107-141 record)

 

- Team Offense: 11.63 kills/set; .159 atk pct; 0.92 aces/set

- Team Defense: 17.53 digs/set; 1.61 blocks/set

 

- Top Offense: Corrinne Stringer (3.03 kills/set, .232 atk pct); Molly Bergkamp (2.34 k/s; .129 atk pct)

- Top Setter: Becca Pearson (166 assists, 4.37/set); Katie Wright (126 assists, 3.32/set)

- Top Defense: Cassie Wilson (358 digs, 5.50/set); Lauren Brentlinger (28 blocks, 0.76/set)

- Head Coach: Ibraheem Suberu (12^th season at PSU, 212-174 record at school … 14^th season overall, 242-209 record)

 

Truman vs. Southwest Baptist (Truman leads all-time series, 47-6).

2009: Truman won, 3-2, on Sept. 22, in Bolivar; Truman won, 3-0, on Oct. 28, in Kirksville.

Last SBU win: Nov. 12, 1988, in Cape Girardeau, Mo. (42 straight Truman wins)

 

Truman vs. Missouri Southern (Truman leads all-time series, 31-15).

2009: MSSU won, 3-2, on Sept. 25, in Kirksville; Truman won, 3-0, on Oct. 30, in Joplin.

 

Truman vs. Pittsburg State (Truman leads all-time series, 40-5).

2009: Truman won, 3-1, on Sept. 26, in Kirksville; PSU won, 3-0, on Oct. 31, in Pittsburg.

 

Truman will take its last break from MIAA play until the postseason when the Bulldogs head to Topeka, Kan., for the MIAA/LSC crossover tournament at Washburn University. The Bulldogs will face Angelo (Texas) State and Tarleton (Texas) State on Fri., Oct. 1, before taking on St. Edward's (Texas) and Abilene Christian (Texas) on Sat., Oct. 2.