Weekly Schedule:
Wednesday, Nov. 2 – at #7 Central Missouri; 7:00 pm, Warrensburg, Mo.
Friday, Nov. 4 – vs. Northwest Missouri; 7:00 pm, KIRKSVILLE (Senior Night)
Saturday, Nov. 5 – at Missouri Western; 7:00 pm, St. Joseph, Mo.
FULL NOTES (PDF)
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - Three long-time in-state rivals sit on this week's schedule for the Truman volleyball team, as the Bulldogs look for additional ways to improve upon their post-season résumé with just two weeks to play in the regular season.
Truman (17-11, 6-6 MIAA) will open the week with a chance for a gold star quality win when the squad travels to No. 7 Central Missouri on Wednesday (Nov. 2) night at 7:00 pm. From there, the Bulldogs will celebrate Senior Night on Friday (Nov. 4) evening in Pershing Arena at 7:00 pm against Northwest Missouri before traveling to St. Joseph on Saturday (Nov. 5) night for a date with Missouri Western.
The Bulldogs are coming off a 1-2 week of play, having been swept by both Emporia State and No. 5 Washburn last Wednesday and Friday before coming through with a five-set thrilling victory on Saturday against Fort Hays State. The week kept the Bulldogs alone in fourth in the MIAA at 6-6 but just one game ahead of MWSU and two games up on Southwest Baptist and NWMSU. Truman is now three games back of ESU for third.
The individual highlight of the week came via junior Megan Sharpe's inclusion in Truman's 1,000-kill club, achieved on Saturday in the third set against FHSU. Sharpe, a two-time all-American from Edwardsville, Ill., became just the 13th player in Bulldog history to reach the milestone and only the fifth to have paired her 1,000 kills with more than 300 blocks. On the season, Sharpe is averaging 2.99 kills and 1.15 blocks per set, while also hitting .336. All three marks put her in the MIAA's top-ten.
Sharpe, freshman Allie Brak (2.57 k/s, 3.23 d/s) and senior Molly Sinclair (2.26 k/s, 2.97 d/s) have helped the Bulldogs average nearly 13 kills/set on the season as a team and a .201 hitting percentage, while freshman Abby Moser (5.51 d/s) has helped pace the MIAA's second-best back line at 18.27 digs/set. Truman remains the league's best serving team with 1.35 aces/set and is one of the MIAA's best blocking units at 2.16/set.
Bulldogs Debut Seventh in Regional Poll:
The Bulldogs were ranked seventh in the first official NCAA South Central regional poll of the 2011 season last Wednesday, landing between two Arkansas programs, UA-Fort Smith at No. 6 and Arkansas Tech at No. 8. MIAA programs Washburn and Central Missouri held the top two spots. The Bulldogs have played all but two of the other teams in the top ten.
The top eight teams are granted berths into the NCAA tournament, with the top seed hosting regional action from Nov. 17-19. This week's poll will be released on Wednesday afternoon.
Following the Bulldogs:
Full coverage of Truman volleyball is available online at TrumanBulldogs.com, including results, upcoming game information and weekly updates.
When available, links to free online live stats are added to the Bulldog volleyball schedule page as well as the top of each weekly update.
Keep up with the Bulldogs by tracking in-game updates (when available). Follow Truman Athletics on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TrumanAthletics. Also be sure to sign up for TextCaster updates on the Bulldog homepage.
Checking Out the Competition:
Central Missouri “Jennies” (21-4, 11-1 MIAA)
The 7th-ranked Jennies have won three straight following a mid-October road setback at Washburn, putting UCM second in the MIAA behind the Lady Blues. Having gone 9-1 at home so far this season, the Jennies are hitting .315 as a team overall behind seniors Allie Huffman (4.04 k/s, .349%) and Paula Harris (3.60 k/s, .405%).
Earlier this season, UCM downed Truman 3-0 in Pershing Arena. Allie Brak led Truman with five kills as the Bulldogs hit just .033, while UCM was led by 13 kills from Huffman and 12 kills from Taylor Goodness.
Flip Piontek is in his third season as the UCM head coach and has a 87-14 record. The Jennies have a 55-30-3 lead in the all-time series.
Northwest Missouri State “Bearcats” (10-15, 4-8 MIAA)
Having dropped four in a row entering this week's action, Northwest Missouri will host Missouri Western before visiting Kirksville on Friday night. The Bearcats are 2-3 on the road this season and are hitting .183 overall as a team. Brooke Bartosh (2.79 k/s, .216%), Abby Graves (2.51 k/s, .115%) and Alex Hanna (2.44, .184%) are the top offensive performers for NWMSU.
Earlier this season, NWMSU rallied from a 2-1 deficit in Maryville to stun the Bulldogs in five sets. Megan Sharpe had a massive performance with 20 kills and a .447 attack mark, while Allie Brak (13) and Emily Briseno (12) also tallied double-figures. Graves (17), Amy Majors (16) and Bartosh (13) led the Bearcats.
Jessica Rinehart is in her second season as the NWMSU head coach and has a record of 25-30 at the school. Truman holds a 55-26-1 lead in the all-time series.
Missouri Western “Griffons” (12-13, 5-7 MIAA)
Having hovered near the .500 mark most of the season, the Griffons enter the week on the negative side after dropping back-to-back home matches to ESU and WU last weekend. MoWest will travel to NWMSU on Tuesday and host UCM on Friday before welcoming Truman on Saturday. The Griffons are 4-2 at home this year and are hitting .164 overall as a team. Tahler Johnston (3.27 k/s, .148%), Alex Behnke (2.67 k/s, .289%) and Shelby Corkill (2.51 k/s, .146%) are the top offensive players for the Griffons.
Earlier this season, the Bulldogs won a back-and-forth five-setter in Pershing Arena behind 20 kills from Molly Sinclair, 17 from Allie Brak and 14 from Megan Sharpe. Abby Moser had 33 digs defensively for the 'Dogs, while MWSU put five players in double-figures, led by Behnke's 15 and Johnston's 14.
Cory Frederick is in his third season at MWSU and has a record of 35-52 at the school. Truman has a 43-20 lead in the all-time series.
Sharpe Reaches Elite Status:
Megan Sharpe added a key milestone to her career accomplishments on Saturday night, becoming just the 13th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills. She is only the sixth middle blocker to reach the mark and sits just 16 back of catching Brenda Ippensen (1998-2001; 1,026 kills) for 12th all-time. The Bulldogs would likely need a deep playoff run for Sharpe to crack the top-ten, as Kelsey Wackerman (2003-2006; 1,128 kills) sits tenth currently.
The Edwardsville, Ill.-native is a two-time all-American, the only player in program history to reach all-American status as both a freshman and sophomore. She was the 2009 national freshman of the year and has already surpassed her total kills and blocks total from a year ago.
Moser Moseys Up Charts:
Freshman libero Abby Moser is poised to ink her name throughout both career and single-season dig charts after just one season at Truman, as the Wildwood, Mo.-native has 584 total digs (5.51/set) through 27 matches played this season.
She already has three matches with 30+ digs, tying her for the most of any player since official records began being kept in 1991, and her 16 matches of 20+ digs is a single-season best by any Bulldog. Moser has moved past Neely Forbes' single-season best of 583 (1994) to be second all-time and trails Whitney Boehler's single-season record of 653 (2008) by just 69 with six guaranteed matches to go.
Continuing the Tradition:
The Bulldogs rank 15th in Div. II history in all-time appearances in the top-25 (156) and are tied for ninth all-time for times ranked in the top-10 (97). Since the year 2000, the 'Dogs have posted eight 30+ win seasons, a postseason appearance each of the past 11 seasons, two trips to the national championship match and seven MIAA championships.
Up Next:
The regular season will draw to a close with three matches next week, starting with a Wednesday (Nov. 9) night home match against Southwest Baptist. Truman then hits the road for its final two, traveling to Missouri Southern on Friday (Nov. 11) and Pittsburg State on Saturday (Nov. 12).
