#15 Volleyball Heads to Regional Crossover

(#15 AVCA) Truman Volleyball Weekly Notes (Matches 22-24)
Full Notes (PDF)

GLVC/GLIAC 2013 Crossover Event (Tournament Website)

Match 22:
Truman (16-5, 10-1 GLVC) vs. #17 Grand Valley (Mich.) State (16-3, 10-1 GLIAC)
Date: Friday, October 25 (2:30 PM)
Location: Aurora, Ill. (Great Lakes Center)
Series Record: Truman leads, 3-1
Last Meeting: August 29, 2008 – Truman won, 3-0 (-22, -18, -16) in Rolla, Mo.

Match 23:
Truman vs. Ashland (Ohio) (14-5, 8-3 GLIAC)
Date: Saturday, October 26 (10:00 AM)
Location: Aurora, Ill. (Great Lakes Center)
Series Record: Truman leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: August 29, 2003 – Truman won, 3-0 (30-20, 30-25, 30-20) in St. Joseph, Mo.

Match 24:
Truman vs. Northern Michigan (16-5, 10-1 GLIAC)
Date: Saturday, October 26 (4:00 PM)
Location: Aurora, Ill. (Great Lakes Center)
Series Record: Truman leads, 2-0
Last Meeting: August 24, 2007 – Truman won, 3-1 (31-29, 30-25, 25-30, 30-14) in St. Paul, Minn.

Social Media: @TrumanAthletics || @TrumanVB || #TSUGameDay

Opening Serve:
A key regional weekend awaits the 15^th-ranked Truman volleyball squad this Friday and Saturday, as the Bulldogs take their 10-match winning streak to Aurora, Ill., for the annual GLVC/GLIAC Crossover event.

Truman (16-5, 10-1 GLVC) will face three of the top five programs out of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – the other league in the Midwest region to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament for its conference champion. The Bulldogs – seeded as the No. 2 team out of the GLVC – will face 17^th-ranked Grand Valley (Mich.) State on Friday (Oct. 25) at 2:30 pm to open the three-match event. Truman will then take on Ashland (Ohio) at 10:00 am on Saturday (Oct. 26) before capping the event later that day against Northern Michigan at 4:00 pm.

All 16 schools from both conferences participate in the annual event, held at the Great Lakes Center in Aurora. Eight courts will play at the same time, with three matches per day scheduled on each court. The top eight schools – seeded by conference record – from each league will compete in one "pool", while the bottom eight schools will compete in a second "pool". Pre-determined opponent matrices were completed before the event, meaning the Bulldogs are set to face the No. 1 (NMU), No. 3 (GVSU), and No. 5 (AU) seeds from the GLIAC. This year marks the sixth straight season of one of the largest in-season tournaments in the nation.

The Bulldogs played just twice last week, picking up a pair of 3-0 home sweeps against GLVC West division mates Missouri S&T and Drury. Truman hit .227 as a team, averaging 13.2 kills, 17.3 digs, and 1.8 blocks per set in the six total sets, while holding the Miners and Panthers to a combined .125 mark with 10.8 kills, 15.7 digs, and 1.3 blocks per set.

Allie Brak led the squad offensively by averaging 4.17 kills per set, hitting .250 and adding 3.33 digs per set. Ali Patterson added 2.83 kills and 1.00 blocks per set, while Abby Heise totaled 17.5 points with 12 kills, three aces and five block assists in the two matches. Meghan Zimmerman handed out 67 assists (11.17/set) and chipped in 2.83 digs per set, with Abby Moser taking home back line honors with 30 digs (5.00/set).

On the season, the Bulldogs are averaging 13.1 kills per set and are hitting .226 as a team, compared to just 12.0 kills per set and a .167 hitting line for their opponents. Truman is also blocking 2.20 attempts per set and has dealt 115 aces to just 77 for opponents.

Ben Briney is in his fifth season as the program's head coach and has a career record of 112-47 (.704).

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.

Opponent Quick Glance:
#17 Grand Valley State
After going 2-2 in its own season-opening tournament (that Truman attended), Grand Valley State has rattled off a 14-1 record to check into the weekend at 16-3 overall (10-1 GLIAC). The Lakers' lone loss since the opening weekend came in five sets at Ferris State on Oct. 1.

GVSU is hitting .224 as a team on the season and is holding its opponents to a .121 attack line. The squad ranks second in digs per set in the GLIAC at 17.0 and is also averaging 2.31 blocks per set. Abby Aiken (3.42) and Betsy Ronda (2.94) are the team's top offensive weapons in kills per set, while Kaleigh Lound is the team's top blocker with 74 in 69 sets (1.07/set).

Deanne Scanlon is in her 19^th season at the helm of the GVSU program and has a 484-146 overall record.

Ashland
The Eagles check into the weekend with a 14-5 overall mark (8-3 GLIAC), having recently split a pair of road matches last weekend. Averaging 13.1 kills per set and hitting .216 as a team, Ashland also ranks second in the GLIAC in blocks per set at 2.41.

A pair of freshmen OH's – Alli Cudworth (3.61) and Casey Clark (2.60) – lead the Eagles in kills per set, while sophomore MB Samantha Zuber is the team leader in blocks with 63. Senior libero Marci Zegarac paces all players with 337 digs (4.81/set).

Ashland also received five votes in this week's AVCA top-25 coaches' poll.

Cass Dixon is in her third season at the Ashland helm, having compiled a 53-27 record at the school.

Northern Michigan
Winners of four straight entering the weekend, Northern Michigan will be the second 10-win GLIAC squad Truman faces at the Crossover, with the Wildcats posting a 16-5 overall (10-1 GLIAC) record through 21 matches. NMU has played four GLVC schools already this season – beating both USI and QU while falling to both S&T and UWP.

The Wildcats have one of the most potent offenses in the GLIAC, leading the conference in kills per set (13.5), service aces (1.88) and total points (17.3) per set. Two senior OH's – Lina Lopes (3.41) and Kalli Herron (3.03) – lead NMU in kills per set, while a third senior – MH Sarah Hamilton – checks in right behind at 2.73/set. Sophomore libero Alex Berger has totaled 259 digs (3.39/set) to lead the team on the back line, with both Hamilton and freshman Bridget Bussell topping 50 blocks for the season.

Dominic Yoder is in his seventh season at the Northern Michigan helm, posting a record of 132-74 at the school.

Ms. 1,000 – Brak Reaches Milestone:
Junior Allie Brak became just the 14^th player in Truman history to reach 1,000 career kills, and it was her 15 on Saturday night that led all Bulldogs in a 3-0 sweep of Drury in Pershing Arena.

Brak – who needed 14 kills to reach 1,000 coming into the match – etched her name into Truman history with the 23^rd point of the third set, as she hammered home a Meghan Zimmerman set to hit the mark. On the night, the native of The Colony, Texas, hit .282 with 15 kills and eight digs, while also adding a service ace for 16 total points.

Patterson Pacing GLVC:
Sophomore MH Ali Patterson's .411 hitting percentage in GLVC-only matches tops the league chart for the second time in as many weeks. In 35 conference sets, Patterson has put down 90 kills with just 16 errors on 180 total attacks. She is also fifth in blocks with 1.23 per set.

Zimmerman, Moser Continue Upward Climbs:
Junior specialists Meghan Zimmerman and Abby Moser continue to move up the Truman all-time career charts with their play through the first two-plus seasons in a Bulldog uniform.

Zimmerman ranks sixth all-time in career assists at 2,785, as the Nebraska-native inches closer to both fifth-place Kelly Mangels (2,828) and fourth-place Christine Wagener (2,847). She is also up to an 8.19 assists per set mark and trails Theresa Huff's (1992) average of 9.02 per set for third place.

Moser, meanwhile, sits seventh on the all-time digs chart with 1,541 entering the week, trailing Satoko Miyamae by 44 (1990-1993) for sixth all-time.

The previously-all-MIAA libero still holds the top spots in the digs/set (4.64), 20+ dig matches (34), and 30+ dig matches (3) categories. She is just three behind Marlowe's career total of 80 for sixth place in the 10+ dig matches category.

'Dogs Jump Two Spots to No. 15:
The Oct. 21 version of the AVCA top-25 coaches' poll moved the Bulldogs up two spots to No. 15 after the squad's 2-0 record in matches last week. Truman gained 90 points to move past Wayne (Neb.) State and Angelo (Texas) State into 15^th, as the 'Dogs are still holding off No. 16 Colorado School of Mines.

Truman continues to be the top-ranked team out of the GLVC and is once again the coaches' choice as the top Midwest region team. Grand Valley State (No. 17) and Ferris State (No. 22) also represent the Midwest region in the poll.

Overall, the Bulldogs have 10 opponents on their 2013 schedule who are listed either in the top-25 or are receiving votes in this week's poll.

As a program, Truman has now been in the top-25 170 total times, good for 17^th-most all-time in NCAA Division II history. The Bulldogs are closing in on Northern Colorado's mark of 172 for 16^th place.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs return to Pershing Arena for a pair of cross-divisional matches, hosting Southern Indiana (16-4, 9-2 GLVC) on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 5:00 pm and Bellarmine (10-7, 6-5 GLVC) on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 1:00 pm. Truman will celebrate the accomplishments of seniors Heather Hargadine and Lauren Radix prior to the match against BU on Senior Day.

Want to stay up-to-date with what's going on with the Bulldogs? Follow @TrumanAthletics on Twitter,become a fan of Truman Athletics on Facebook, subscribe to your favorite team's newsletters/releases, and receive text alerts of scores and big news to interact with all of Truman's 20 athletic programs. For more information, visit our website – TrumanBulldogs.com.

Print Friendly Version