Volleyball Week 11 Notes: at ESU | at NWMSU

Weekly Schedule:
Friday, Nov. 9 – at Emporia State – Emporia, Kan. – 7:00 pm
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Saturday, Nov. 10 – at Northwest Missouri – Maryville, Mo. – 7:00 pm
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Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TrumanVB

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - One final regular season road trip is in store for the No. 13 Truman volleyball team, as the Bulldogs look to start a new winning streak with a pair of matches this weekend at Emporia State and Northwest Missouri.

The Bulldogs (25-5, 13-3 MIAA) had their 16-match win streak snapped on Saturday afternoon, falling to No. 6 Central Missouri in four sets in Pershing Arena. However, Truman clinched a top-four seed in next week's MIAA tournament with its 3-0 sweep of Missouri Southern on Friday evening.

Truman will be facing Emporia for the first time this season but will be in search of a season sweep of the Bearcats after downing Northwest 3-0 on Sept. 29 in Kirksville. Both matches this weekend could set up a re-match next Tuesday night, as the Hornets and Bearcats are fighting for the fifth and sixth seeds and a potential trip to Kirksville on Tuesday, Nov. 13 for an MIAA quarterfinal contest. The Bulldogs appear locked in to the four-seed, however, could jump one or two spots with a pair of wins and help throughout the league.

Sophomore OH Allie Brak picked up MIAA player of the week honors for the second time this season after averaging 5.3 kills per set last week, including a career-high 25 kills against UCM. She leads the MIAA in kills per set, while senior MH Megan Sharpe is hitting .338 with 3.12 kills/set and 1.21 blocks/set on the year.

Sophomore S Meghan Zimmerman continues to handle the setting duties, pacing the Bulldogs to a .245 team hitting mark and averaging 10.58 assists/set on her own, with fellow sophomore DS/L Abby Moser leads the back row with 4.35 digs/set.

The Bulldogs are coached by Ben Briney, who, in his fourth season at the helm, has compiled an overall record of 94-40.

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.

Bulldogs Land Sixth in First Regional Poll:
With just two weeks to play in the 2012 season, the Bulldogs sit sixth in the NCAA Central region, as announced last Wednesday by the national committee. 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 earned the top spot, followed by Central Missouri, Southwest Minnesota, Washburn and Minnesota-Duluth in the top-5. Truman leads the next set of five, followed by Nebraska-Kearney, Wayne (Neb.) State, Minnesota State and Augustana (S.D.).

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.

Another Week, Another Two Spots:
Despite dropping its first contest in six weeks on Saturday, the Bulldogs moved up two more spots in the AVCA top-25 coaches' poll to No. 13 on Monday afternoon, marking the fourth MIAA program in the top-13. Truman has been listed in the top-25 160 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. 3 Washburn, No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney and No. 6 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 Southwest Minnesota State, No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul, No. 5 Minnesota-Duluth, No. 16 Wayne (Neb.) State and No. 22 Minnesota State. With the Central region selecting only eight teams, it's highly possible 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” (18-10, 8-7 MIAA)
The Hornets punched their ticket to the 2012 MIAA tournament with a 3-0 win against Fort Hays State on Tuesday night, kicking off a three-match homestand to close the regular season. ESU has been up and down as of late, going 3-4 in its last seven matches.

ESU is hitting .210 on the season, led by Paige Vanderpool's 2.62 kills per set. Courtney Haring is one of the MIAA's top blockers at 1.26 per set for a Hornet squad that holds opponents to .146 hitting.

Truman is 34-14 all-time against ESU, with the teams splitting a pair of matches last season. Bing Xu is in his 7^th season at the helm in Emporia, having a career record of 170-63.

Northwest Missouri “Bearcats” (15-15, 9-8 MIAA)
The Bearcats will celebrate Senior Night in their final 2012 regular season match on Saturday evening, as Northwest earned a 3-2 road win at Southwest Baptist on Tuesday night in its only other action this week. NWMSU has gone 4-2 since a 3-9 stretch running from Sept. 25-Oct.20 and is 5-4 at home this year.

Northwest is hitting just .159 as a team (opponents at .170) and is led by Brooke Bartosh's 3.09 kills/set and .217 hitting line. Abby Graves comes in second at 2.98 kills/set while adding 2.17 digs/set. Tori Beckman is one of the league front-runners for libero of the year, averaging just shy of six digs/set.

Earlier this season, it took Truman just 72 minutes to dispatch NW in three sets (-12, -12, -16) in Pershing Arena. The Bulldogs hit .260 and sided-out at a 69% clip against head coach Amy Phelps' squad. Phelps is in her first season as the head coach in Maryville, with Truman holding a 57-26-1 all-time series lead.

Up Next:
The MIAA tournament is next on tap, with the Bulldogs scheduled to host an MIAA quarterfinal contest on Tuesday, Nov. 13, at 7:00 pm in Pershing Arena. Should Truman advance, the squad would continue to the MIAA semifinals/championship, held at the site of the highest remaining seed next Friday (Nov. 16) and Saturday (Nov. 17).

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