Weekly Schedule:
Wednesday, Nov. 9 – vs. Southwest Baptist; 7:00 pm, KIRKSVILLE
Friday, Nov. 11 – at Missouri Southern; 7:00 pm, Joplin, Mo.
Saturday, Nov. 12 – at Pittsburg State; 6:00 pm, Pittsburg, Kan.
FULL NOTES (PDF)
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - The 2011 regular season draws to a close for the Truman volleyball team this week, with the Bulldogs hosting Southwest Baptist for Military Appreciation Night on Wednesday to kick off the three-match week.
The Bulldogs (18-13, 7-8 MIAA) will go for season sweeps against all three opponents this week, with Truman welcoming SBU on Wednesday at 7:00 pm, then traveling to Missouri Southern on Friday at 7:00 pm and Pittsburg State on Saturday at 6:00 pm. Truman picked up 3-0 sweeps of both SBU and PSU sandwiched around a four-set win against MSSU in mid-October.
Since then, the Bulldogs have gone 2-4 on their second go-around of MIAA play, including a 1-2 week last week. Truman lost in three at 7th-ranked Central Missouri last Wednesday, picked up a four-set home win on Senior Night against Northwest Missouri on Friday and fell in five-sets at Missouri Western on Saturday. Freshman Allie Brak posted a pair of double-doubles on the week, bringing her to a team-best 12 on the season, while junior Megan Sharpe averaged 2.83 kills and 0.92 blocks per set on a .364 attack rate.
Truman currently still sits in fourth place in the MIAA, a game ahead of MWSU and two games ahead of both Fort Hays and NWMSU.
On the year, Sharpe remains the team-leader in kills/set (2.97), attack percentage (.339) and blocks/set (1.13). Brak is second in kills/set (2.67) and digs/set (3.18), and senior Molly Sinclair is third on the team in kills/set (2.20). The team, hitting .199 on the year, continues to be led setting by senior Kylie Easlon (5.55 assists/set), with freshman Abby Moser racking up 638 total digs (5.41/set) on the back row.
Bulldogs Sit Ninth in Regional Poll:
Coming into this week's action (not counting any of last week's three match results), the Bulldogs sat ninth in the NCAA South Central region, with the top eight squads earning NCAA tournament bids next Sunday when brackets are released.
Truman trailed Arkansas Tech (7th) and Emporia State (8th) for the final two spots entering last week, with Abilene Christian (10th) sitting right behind them. Washburn and Central Missouri lead the region at 1-2, with West Texas A&M (3rd), Angelo State (4th), St. Edward's (5th) and Arkansas-Fort Smith (6th) rounding out the top-ten teams.
This week's poll will be released on Wednesday afternoon. The other three conferences in the region – the Lone Star, Heartland and Great American conferences – are all in conference tournament play this week. The MIAA does not sponsor a post-season tournament.
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:
Southwest Baptist “Bearcats” (11-19, 4-11 MIAA)
Southwest Baptist visits Kirksville having gone 4-6 in its last ten, including three losses last week to Emporia State, Washburn and Fort Hays. Hitting .164 as a team, the Bearcats are led offensively by Britni Reed's 2.85 kills/set and another 2.29 kills/set from Kylie Heim.
Earlier this season, the Bulldogs hit .351 and needed just more than an hour to dispatch the Bearcats 3-0 in Bolivar. Megan Sharpe hit .647 with 12 kills, while Emily Briseno added eight kills on nine swings.
Kelly Richardson is in her fifth season as the SBU head coach and has a 55-108 overall record. Truman has a 50-6 lead in the all-time series.
Missouri Southern “Lions” (5-22, 3-12 MIAA)
Like SBU, Missouri Southern comes into the week off three losses last week, coming at the hands of WU, FHSU and ESU. The Lions are 1-9 in their last ten, with the lone win coming as a five-set home victory against Pittsburg State. MSSU is hitting .151 as a team and are led offensively by Rachel Olinyk's 3.19 kills/set and .242 hitting percentage. Casey Ball is also above three kills/set at 3.07.
Earlier this season, Truman defeated the Lions at home in four sets behind 13 kills apiece from Megan Sharpe and Allie Brak. Emily Briseno and Heather Hargadine added nine kills each, and Abby Moser tacked on 26 digs.
Trish Knight is in her first season at MSSU. Truman has a 33-16 lead in the all-time series.
Pittsburg State “Gorillas” (7-21, 4-11 MIAA)
Pitt State enters the week having dropped six straight dating back to Oct. 14, when they swept SBU 3-0 at home. Last week, the Gorillas lost in four sets at both ESU and WU. PSU is hitting .164 as a team and have been led by Morgan Voorhes (2.78 kills/set) and Lauren Brentlinger (2.23 kills/set) this season.
Earlier this year, Truman swept PSU in Pershing Arena, getting 10 kills from Molly Sinclair as the 'Dogs hit .369 as a unit. Megan Sharpe and Allie Brak added nine kills each, with Abby Moser digging 16 Gorilla attacks.
Ibraheem Suberu is in his 13th season at Pitt State, with an overall record of 229-207. Truman holds a 43-5 lead in the all-time series.
Bulldogs Making Waves on Season Lists:
Four different Bulldogs are in positions to etch their names into Truman all-time single-season lists, as Megan Sharpe, Allie Brak, Abby Moser and Kylie Easlon all have a chance to crack – at minimum – the top-ten of different lists.
- Sharpe: 345 kills (rally-scoring top mark: 398, Eli Medina-2008)
- Sharpe: 2.97 kills/set (rally-scoring top mark: 3.00, Sharpe-2009)
- Easlon: 41 aces (previous rally-scoring top mark: 39, Easlon-2010)
- Brak: 12 double-doubles (rally-scoring top mark: 14, Allison Barker-2010)
- Moser: 638 digs (top TSU single-season mark: 653, Whitney Boehler-2008)
- Moser: 5.41 digs/set (top TSU single-season mark: 4.84, Boehler-2007)
- Moser: 17 20+ dig matches (top TSU single-season mark: 15, Casey Bruno-2010)
Sharpe Continues Climb Up Career Kills Chart:
Megan Sharpe moved past Brenda Ippensen into 12th all-time on Truman's career kills mark, now sitting at 1,044. She is just four back of previous Bulldog all-American Allie Cherven's mark of 1,048 for 11th all-time.
Moser Saves Best for the Best:
Freshman libero Abby Moser has raised her performance as the level of opposition has gone up this season, as in 29 games overall, she has a 5.41 digs/set average, which is on pace for a school record. In 14 matches against teams that have been regionally-ranked this year, she has a 5.73 digs/set mark, and in ten matches against teams that have been nationally-ranked, she has a mark of 6.24 digs/set.
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 Bulldogs will await their NCAA tournament fate, as the 64-team bracket will be released on Sunday night.
