Women's Volleyball 9/16/2013 3:56:00 PM Tyler Madsen, AMR Assistant Director

Weekly Notes: #14 Volleyball Opens GLVC Action

(#14 AVCA) Truman Volleyball Weekly Notes (Matches 9-10)
Full Notes (PDF)

Match #9:
#14 Truman (5-3, 0-0 GLVC) at Lewis (Ill.) (4-4, 0-0 GLVC)
Date: Saturday, September 21 (5:00 p.m.)
Live Stats: http://sidearmstats.com/lewisu/wvball/
Series Record: Lewis leads, 2-0.
Last Meeting: September 4, 1999 – Lewis won, 3-2 at UW-Parkside Tournament.

Match #10:
#14 Truman at Wisconsin-Parkside (5-3, 0-0 GLVC)
Date: Sunday, September 22 (1:00 p.m.)
Live Stats: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/108369106/vb13/XLIVE.HTM
Series Record: Truman leads, 4-0.
Last Meeting: October 3, 1999 – Truman won 3-1 in Kirksville.

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

Opening Serve:
Great Lakes Valley Conference play has finally arrived for the No. 14 Truman volleyball team, as the Bulldogs open conference action in their new league this Saturday and Sunday at Lewis (Ill.) and Wisconsin-Parkside.

The Bulldogs (5-3, 0-0 GLVC) are coming off arguably the most difficult two weekends to start the season in program history, playing four of its eight matches against nationally-ranked squads – including three in the top-six of the AVCA coaches' poll. Truman, however, held its own, beating all four squads that were not nationally-ranked, while also picking up a win against then-No. 21 Regis (Colo.) to cap off the Colorado Premier Challenge last weekend.

Now, Truman takes its last long road trip for the next month in heading northeast to face Lewis (Ill.) on Saturday evening at 5:00 p.m. before closing the trek with a bout against UW-Parkside on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. All 16 GLVC programs get the conference season underway this week, with Truman and Quincy serving as travel partners throughout the league slate.

Last weekend, Truman took home a third-place finish in the "Silver" bracket of the Colorado Premier, going 1-1 in pool play with a five-set win against Florida Southern before falling in three sets to then-No. 4 Concordia-St. Paul on Sept. 13. Then on day two, the Bulldogs dropped a 3-0 decision to then-No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney before holding off co-host Regis in five sets in the finale on Sept. 14.

On the season, the Bulldogs are hitting .201 as a squad and averaging 12.2 kills per set. Junior OH Allie Brak leads Truman with 123 total kills (3.84/set) and is hitting .254 overall with a team-best 10 aces. Sophomore OPP Abby Heise (2.27 kills/set) and sophomore MH Emilee Walters (2.06 kills/set) rank second and third on the squad in offense, with both Walters and fellow sophomore MH Ali Patterson each totaling a team-best 30 blocks (0.94/set).

Junior setter Meghan Zimmerman is averaging 10.22 assists and 2.03 digs per set, while junior libero Abby Moser leads Truman with 102 digs (3.78/set).

Head coach Ben Briney reached the 100-win mark for his career in Truman's five-set win against FSC last weekend, bringing his career record to 101-45 (.692) in four-plus seasons at the helm.

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.

Strange Statistics:
The Bulldogs have gotten to 5-3 a bit uniquely in looking at just the sheer numbers of this season, as Truman has actually posted just a .469 set winning percentage (15-of-32). That statistic has been fueled by both the team's record in three-set matches (1-3) as well as in five-set showdowns (4-0).

In addition, the Bulldogs have yet to out-dig an opponent this season, posting a 4-2 record in matches in which the squad is out-dug and a 1-1 record in matches when teams share the same number of digs.

Bulldogs Up One in Top-25:
For the second straight week, the Bulldogs climbed one slot in the AVCA top-25 coaches' poll, landing at No. 14 with 537 total points in this week's listing.

Truman is the top-ranked team out of the GLVC and the Midwest region through the first two weeks of the season, as only Indianapolis (No. 20) and Grand Valley State (No. 21) find themselves also in the top-25 as Midwest region representatives. Northern Michigan, Findlay (Ohio), and Rockhurst are all receiving votes and were listed on two or more ballots this week but did not crack the top-25.

The Bulldogs have now been in the top-25 165 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.

Five-Set Rally:
The Bulldogs have posted a 4-0 record in five-set matches this season, and won their first match since Sept. 25, 2010, after trailing two sets to none when the team rebounded against Florida Southern last Friday at the Colorado Premier.

Walters Records Strong Weekend at Premier:
Emilee Walters was Truman's nominee for the Great Lakes Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week after playing in all 16 sets and averaging 2.31 kills and 1.12 blocks per set last weekend at the Colorado Premier.

Walters hit .341 for the weekend, including a mark of .321 or better in all four matches. She set a new career-high with six blocks against then-No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney and tied a previous career-best with five block assists against both UNK and then-No. 21 Regis.

She recorded a key block-kill sequence to kick-start a match-ending 4-0 run in the fifth set against FSC. Truman trailed 14-12 when Walters blocked an FSC attack, then the sophomore recorded a kill to even the score.

She also had four kills and a block in the decisive fifth set against Regis.

Checking the Career Charts:
Junior setter Meghan Zimmerman continues her move up the all-time assist charts in her second full season as Truman's primary setter, as her 2,266 career assists places her just 176 behind Rachael Shedd (2000-03) for seventh all-time at Truman. Sixth-place is just 28 assists beyond that, as Nancy Hoerner holds that slot at 2,470 from 1987-1990.

Meanwhile, fellow junior specialist Abby Moser passed two alumni last weekend at the Colorado Premier, moving into ninth all-time with 1,347 career digs. She bumped Janelle Zehr from the top-10, while also dropping Ashley Petak (2007-10) into the No. 10 slot with her career mark of 1,336. Moser needs just 63 more digs to tie Kirsten Bernthal for eighth all-time on the career digs chart.

Moser is already the program leader in matches with 20 or more digs (30), is tied for the program-high with 30 or more digs in a match (3), and sits atop the digs per set category at 4.73.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will finally leave the travel bags in the closet for a week, as Truman hosts three matches within the friendly confines of Pershing Arena next Wednesday through Sunday. The Bulldogs welcome long-time in-state rival Central Missouri on Wednesday, Sept. 25, at 7:00 p.m.

From there, the Bulldogs will face Illinois Springfield at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 27, before bringing in McKendree (Ill.) on Sunday, Sept. 29, at 1:00 p.m.

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