Women's Volleyball 11/12/2012 3:08:00 PM Tyler Madsen, Truman Athletics

Volleyball Week 12 Notes: MIAA Tournament

Weekly Schedule:
Tuesday, Nov. 13 – vs. Emporia State – Kirksville, Mo. – 7:00 pm
Live Stats | Live Video

Friday/Saturday – TBD based on Tuesday results

PDF Notes
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TrumanVB

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - After 11 weeks of regular season play, the 2012 volleyball postseason has finally arrived, as the 13^th-ranked Truman volleyball team opens up MIAA tournament play this Tuesday night by hosting Emporia State. The Bulldogs and Hornets represent the 4/5 matchup on the eight-team bracket.

Truman (27-5, 15-3 MIAA) will face Emporia for the second time in five days, as the Hornets were the first of two teams dispatched in five sets by the Bulldogs on the road last weekend. The 'Dogs followed similar scripts throughout both matches until the fifth sets, winning both the first and third while losing the second and fourth. However, on Friday night, Truman used a 3-0 spurt to break a 12-all tie at ESU and win 15-12 before jumping all over Northwest 10-1 on Saturday night en route to a 15-5 decision.

On the season, Truman is hitting a collective .243 as a team, third-best in the MIAA, while averaging 13.5 kills per set. Headlining those numbers are a pair of the conference's elite attackers in sophomore OH Allie Brak and senior MH Megan Sharpe. Brak leads the MIAA at 3.77 kills per set, while Sharpe ranks third in hitting (.343), seventh in kills (3.12/set) and second in blocks (1.25/set).

Freshman OPP Abby Heise continues to build her case for MIAA Freshman of the Year, ranking ninth in the powerful league in hitting percentage (.296), including a 2.62 kills/set and .355% mark in conference play. Fellow freshman OH Ali Patterson sits third on the team in total kills (243) and is averaging 2.17 per set.

Sophomore S Meghan Zimmerman has piloted the attack behind 10.57 assists per set, while also ranking third on the squad at 2.74 digs per frame. Controlling the back line is fellow freshman Abby Moser, whose 4.31 digs per set leads the purple and white. Senior MH Emily Briseno checks in at 1.57 kills and 0.81 blocks per set, putting her above the two points per set mark.

The Bulldogs are coached by Ben Briney, who, in his fourth season at the helm, has compiled an overall record of 96-40.

Weekly Recap with Coach Briney:
To watch this week's weekly recap with coach Ben Briney, click the video link below. If the video is not appearing, please access the full weekly notes at TrumanBulldogs.com.

Following the Bulldogs:
Full coverage of Truman volleyball is available online at TrumanBulldogs.com, including results, upcoming match 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-match updates (when available). Follow Truman Athletics on Twitter (@TrumanAthletics). Also be sure to sign up for Text Caster and Newsletter updates on the TrumanBulldogs.com homepage.

MIAA Tournament History & Notes:
After being put in place from 2003-2007, the MIAA tournament makes a return in 2012, much to the delight of the Truman volleyball program. The Bulldogs won every conference tournament during the five-year stretch, posting a 12-0 cumulative record. In that stretch, the Bulldogs defeated Emporia State three times (2003, 2006, 2007).

This year's tournament will feature Truman hosting ESU, #1 Nebraska-Kearney hosting #8 Central Oklahoma, #2 Washburn hosting #7 Fort Hays and #3 Central Missouri hosting #6 Northwest Missouri in Tuesday night quarterfinal action. The four winning teams will re-convene at the site of the top remaining seed for semifinal and championship action this Friday/Saturday.

The winner of the eight-team tournament will be assured of an NCAA tournament berth, as the MIAA conference champion receives an automatic bid into the 2012 national tournament.

Bulldogs Hold Steady in Regional Poll:
The final regional ranking will be unveiled this week, with Truman sitting 6^th once again in last week's Central regional poll. Eight teams (two automatic bids, six at-large bids) from the region will be selected for the national tournament.

Five-time defending national champion Concordia-St. Paul holds the top spot, followed by Central Missouri, Southwest Minnesota, Minnesota-Duluth and Washburn in the top-5. Truman leads the next set of five, followed by Wayne (Neb.) State, Nebraska-Kearney, Augustana (S.D.), and Winona (Minn.) State.

The MIAA and Northern Sun conference receive automatic bids for their respective league champions, with the Great American Conference not earning an auto-bid until next season.

A Sharpe Quest for 500:
With 494 career blocks, Megan Sharpe needs just six to become the fourth player in program history to reach the 500 career block mark. Depending on how many more matches she gets to play, Sharpe could pass two players, including Allie Cherven (505 blocks; 2006-08) and Gretchen Bouton (515 blocks; 1994-97). Christie Hackmann holds the all-time top mark of 665, accomplished from 1992-95.

Lucky #13:
For the second straight week, Truman volleyball held onto the No. 13 spot in the AVCA top-25 coaches' poll. Truman has been listed in the top-25 161 times since the 2000 season, one of the highest totals in Division II.

Truman is one of four MIAA teams in the poll, joining No. 2 Nebraska-Kearney, No. 4 Washburn and No. 8 Central Missouri. No other league has as many programs in the top-15 as the MIAA.

Also joining the top-25 from the Central region is top-ranked Concordia-St. Paul, No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State, No. 5 Minnesota-Duluth, No. 16 Wayne (Neb.) State and No. 24 Minnesota State. With the Central region selecting only eight teams, it's highly probable that a Central region school currently ranked in the top-25 in the nation will not qualify for the national tournament.

The AVCA poll is not used in selection criteria for the national tournament.

Checking Out the Competition:
Emporia State “Hornets” (19-11, 9-8 MIAA)
For the second time in five days, Emporia and Truman will square off – this time with a spot in the MIAA semifinals on the line. The Bulldogs defeated ESU 3-2 (-20, 27-29, -14, 18-25, 15-12) in Emporia on Friday, Nov. 9 behind 21 kills by Allie Brak and 18 kills and 12 blocks by Megan Sharpe. Truman sided-out at a 64% clip in the match, including 73% or higher in all three winning sets.

On the other side, Paige Vanderpool led ESU with 20 kills and hit .348, while Raney Okeson and Brianna Kiser added a dozen kills apiece. The MIAA block leader, Courtney Haring, led all Hornets with six, while libero Meg Schwartz maintained her robust home numbers with 32 digs. ESU then went on to defeat Lindenwood on Saturday behind 14 kills apiece for Vanderpool and Carly Spicer.

Truman is 35-14 all-time against ESU. Bing Xu is in his 7^th season at the helm in Emporia, having a career record of 171-64.

Up Next:
Tuesday night's result will put one of two sets of wheels in motion for the Bulldogs. Should Truman advance, they would move on to the MIAA semifinals this Friday night against the winner of the UNK/UCO match. If the Bulldogs lose Tuesday, then they will await word this weekend regarding a potential at-large berth into the 2012 NCAA tournament.

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