Bulldogs Sweep Two to Cap 4-0 Classic

TSU-SWOSU Box Score
TSU-SEOSU Box Score
Season Stats

TOPEKA, Kan. - - The Truman volleyball team needed just two hours of court time to sweep aside Southwestern Oklahoma State and Southeastern Oklahoma State on Day Two of the 2012 Washburn Lady Blues Fall Classic. Truman ended the event with a perfect 4-0 record and moved to 16-4 overall on the season.

In the opening match, the Bulldogs hit .424 for the match, marking the highest hitting percentage by any Truman squad since Oct. 4, 2008 – a .427 outing against East Central, also at the WU Crossover. The 'Dogs started with a .452 mark in set one, winning 25-17, before hitting .355 in set two in a 25-16 victory. Truman then closed the match with a blazing .478 hitting percentage, stifling the SWOSU Bulldogs (5-14) to a 25-11 final set decision.

Sophomore Allie Brak (The Colony, Texas, The Colony) led all players with 13 kills and hit .407, while senior Megan Sharpe (Edwardsville, Ill., Edwardsville) needed only 14 total attacks to put away 11 kills and hit .714. Eight other Bulldogs tallied at least a kill, as Truman served five aces and out-dug SWOSU 41-25.

Sophomore Abby Moser (Wildwood, Mo., Lafayette) recorded her 1,000^th career dig in the match, reaching 1,003 total with her team-best nine dig effort.

Then, in the nightcap, the Bulldogs blazed their way to a .414 hitting line in routing SEOSU 3-0 (-15, -15, -16). Brak capped her tournament with a 15-kill, .500%, eight dig and five ace effort for 20 total points, while Sharpe hit .444 with nine kills and three blocks. Emily Briseno (Lee's Summit, Mo., Lee's Summit West) added six kills and six digs, with sophomore Meghan Zimmerman (Papillion, Neb., Gross Catholic) distributing 33 assists and recording seven digs. Moser and freshman Kassi Schroeder (Stanford, Ill., Stanford Olympia) shared the match-high with nine digs apiece as the 'Dogs never hit below .400 in a single set.

The Bulldogs put up stellar numbers during the weekend, hitting .337 as a team, led by Brak's 4.36 kills/set, .363% and 2.43 digs/set marks. Sharpe hit .553 for the weekend, committing just five total errors in 76 attempts (3.92 kills/set), and led all Bulldogs with 1.17 blocks/set. Five other Bulldogs topped the .300 line, with Zimmerman averaging 11.8 assists/set, hitting .400 and adding 2.50 digs/set. Moser's 3.93 digs/set for the weekend paced the 'Dog squad.

Truman returns to action with a two-match road trip next Friday and Saturday, visiting No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney at 6:00 pm on Friday before stopping at Fort Hays State for a 3:00 pm match on Saturday afternoon.

Friday Recap
TSU-ECU Box Score
TSU-HU Box Score
Season Stats

TOPEKA, Kan. - - The Truman volleyball team earned a pair of 3-1 wins on day one of the 2012 Washburn Lady Blues Fall Classic, defeating Great American Conference programs East Central (Okla.) and Harding (Ark.) to move to 14-4 overall on the season.

In Friday's first match, the Bulldogs hit .312 and got double-digit kill efforts from sophomore Allie Brak (The Colony, Texas, The Colony) and senior Megan Sharpe (Edwardsville, Ill., Edwardsville) to open the Classic with a four-set (-9, -17, 24-26, -20) win against ECU. The Bulldogs cruised to a wins in the first two sets before appearing to have the match in the bag by leading 24-19 in the third set. However, the Tigers (5-13) rebounded to score seven straight and force a fourth set. After the squads played to a 16-16 draw in the fourth, Truman pulled away with three straight points and eventually eight of 10 to lead 24-18. Following a pair of ECU kills, the Bulldogs closed out the match on a Tiger attack error.

Brak led all players with 15 kills on a .361 hitting line, with Sharpe hitting .524 with 12 kills and three blocks. Freshman Abby Heise (Jacksonville, Ill., Springfield Lutheran) added seven kills, while a pair of redshirted freshmen – Taylor Mirka (Ames, Iowa, Gilbert) and Emilee Walters (Milton, Wis., Milton) – added five kills apiece with just two combined errors off the bench. Sophomore Meghan Zimmerman (Papillion, Neb., Gross Catholic) totaled 42 assists and was one of three Bulldogs with a pair of aces, as she added a team-high 13 digs for a double-double.

Truman held ECU to just a .140 hitting line and out-dug the Tigers by eight.

Then, in the nightcap, the Bulldogs faced a stout Harding squad that had swept Missouri Western earlier in the day to open their weekend at the Classic. The two squads played four tight sets, but it was Truman that prevailed by scores of 26-24, 25-22, 26-28, and 25-21.

The 'Dogs averaged more than 16 kills per set, as Brak once again led all Bulldogs with 18 kills – adding 16 digs for a double-double. Sharpe hit .565 with 15 kills on just 23 swings, and fellow senior Emily Briseno (Lee's Summit, Mo., Lee's Summit West) notched a season-best 10 kills on a .304 hitting line. Zimmerman logged a career-best 51 assists and moved into 10^th all-time on Truman's career assist charts, while Heise closed her day with a nine-kill, eight-dig and three-ace evening – the final two numbers marking career-highs.

Freshman Ali Patterson (Lee's Summit, Mo., Lee's Summit) put down nine kills and added four blocks, with sophomore Abby Moser (Wildwood, Mo., Lafayette) leading all players with 25 digs – her 24^th 20+ dig match of her career. She is just six digs shy of 1,000 entering tomorrow's action.

Truman hit .269 for the match, including a set-high .375 in the second frame, and sided-out at a 61% rate. Both teams dealt eight aces, with Harding being led on both sides of the net by Mollie Arnold's 21-kill, 19-dig effort.

The Bulldogs return to action with a pair of matches on Saturday, taking on Southwestern Oklahoma State at 11:00 am and Southeastern Oklahoma State at 3:30 pm.

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