Notes: #18 'Dogs Carry Win Streak into October

(#18 AVCA) Truman Volleyball Weekly Notes (Matches 14-16)
Full Notes (PDF)

Match 14 (Live Stats):
Truman (8-5, 3-1 GLVC) at Missouri Western (5-8, 3-2 MIAA)
Date: Wednesday, October 2 (7:00 PM)
Series Record: Truman leads, 45-21.
Last Meeting: October 30, 2012 – Truman won 3-1 (-22, 19-25, -22, -15) in St. Joseph, Mo.

Match 15 (Live Stats):
Truman vs. Missouri-St. Louis (8-5, 4-1 GLVC)
Date: Friday, October 4 (7:30 PM)
Series Record: Truman leads, 29-26.
Last Meeting: September 1, 2012 – Truman won 3-1 (-18, 20-25, -21, 27-25) in Kirksville.

Match 16 (Live Stats):
Truman vs. Maryville (6-9, 1-4 GLVC)
Date: Saturday, October 5 (3:00 PM)
Series Record: Truman leads, 1-0.
Last Meeting: September 7, 2012 – Truman won 3-0 (-11, -16, -18) in Kearney, Neb.

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

Opening Serve:
The 18^th-ranked Truman volleyball team kicks off a new month with three contests this week, traveling to Missouri Western on Wednesday before returning home for matches against Missouri-St. Louis and Maryville this Friday and Saturday.

The Bulldogs (8-5, 3-1 GLVC) are coming off a 2-1 week of play that saw the squad drop a five-set thriller to then-No. 5 Central Missouri in its home opener on Wednesday night. Truman followed that match up with two league wins on Friday and Sunday, sweeping Illinois Springfield before dispatching McKendree in four sets.

For the week, Truman hit .256 as a team while holding the three opponents to a collective .088 mark. The Bulldogs averaged 13.50 kills, 1.50 aces, 17.50 digs and 2.00 blocks per set – outpacing its opposition in all four categories.

Three players stole the show offensively, with junior Allie Brak leading all players with 36 total kills (3.00/set), while adding 38 digs (3.17/set) and a pair of service aces. The Bulldogs also got nearly identical offensive lines out of a pair of sophomores – Ali Patterson and Abby Heise – with both putting down 33 kills (2.75/set), hitting in the .400's, and totaling 10 blocks (0.83/set) apiece. Patterson added an extra service ace, while Heise averaged 1.50 digs per set.

Junior setter Meghan Zimmerman directed the Bulldog attack to a tune of 11.25 assists/set, while junior libero Abby Moser controlled the back line by averaging 4.25 digs/set.

Ben Briney is in his fifth season as the program's head coach and has a career record of 104-47 (.689).

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.

Dig Pink on Friday Night:
The Bulldogs will be hosting their annual "Dig Pink" for breast cancer awareness night on Friday, with all fans being admitted free by wearing pink. Different promotional events will take place throughout the night, including the accepting of donations for the "Dig for a Cure" foundation.

Fans are encouraged to note the start time for Friday night's match has been pushed back to a 7:30 pm start time, to accommodate fans attending the afternoon home soccer matches.

Opponent Quick Glance:
Missouri Western comes into Wednesday night's match with a 5-8 overall record, having split a pair of results at UCM (L 0-3) and Lindenwood (W 3-2) this past weekend. The Griffons are 1-0 at home this year, and are 1-1 against GLVC teams with a three-set loss to Rockhurst in the season-opener before downing Quincy in four sets at the same tournament. Erica Rottinghaus (3.02 kills/set) and Amanda Boender (1.10 blocks/set) pace the Griffons individually.

Missouri-St. Louis currently sits in the West Division driver's seat at 4-1, a half-game ahead of both Truman and Rockhurst. The Tritons are coming off a 1-1 weekend at home, in which they defeated UW-Parkside in five before being swept by Lewis. Chelsea Burkle is one of the league-leaders in kills per set at 3.60, as the Tritons are hitting .189 as a unit.

Maryville – at 6-9 overall and 1-4 in the GLVC – will travel to Quincy on Friday night before visiting Kirksville on Saturday afternoon. The Saints are also coming off a 1-1 weekend at home after being swept by Lewis before taking it to UW-Parkside in three sets. No Saints regular is hitting better than .200 on the year, with Laura Weiling averaging the top kills mark at 2.27/set.

Win, and Leave No Doubt:
The Bulldogs are 10-4 in individual sets through their first four GLVC matches, en route to a 3-1 overall conference mark. In those 10 set wins, Truman has yet to allow an opponent to score more than 20 points and has racked up five set wins by a 10+ point margin (25-15 or better).

In league-only play, the Bulldogs are hitting .218 as a team, compared to just a .103 line for its opponents and are averaging three more kills per set.

Sophomore Sensations:
Through four GLVC matches, sophomores Abby Heise and Ali Patterson have been nearly unstoppable on both sides of the net.

Heise – 3.00 kills/set, .412 attack pct, 1.50 digs/set, 1.14 blocks/set
Patterson – 2.64 kills/set, .465 attack pct, 1.07 digs/set, 1.07 blocks/set

Brak Rises to Competition:
The Bulldogs have played five matches this season against teams ranked in the top-25 at the time of the match, and junior Allie Brak has put up high-level numbers in the 19 total sets. The two-time all-MIAA player has averaged 4.00 kills per set and hit .291 on the offensive side, while also posting 2.16 digs per set in the team's matches against SW Minnesota, Concordia-St. Paul, Nebraska-Kearney, Regis, and Central Missouri.

Zimmerman, Moser Continue Upward Climbs:
Junior specialist 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 moved past Rachel Shedd and into a tie for sixth-place with Nancy Horner on the all-time assists chart with 2,470. Next in line are a pair sitting close together in fourth and fifth, with Kelly Mangels (1996-98) holding the No. 5 spot at 2,828 and Christine Wagener (2003-06) landing fourth with 2,847. Zimmerman is also up to a 7.92 assists/set mark and trails Theresa Huff's (1992) mark of 9.02/set for third place.

Moser, meanwhile, jumped to eighth all-time in career digs with 1,421, and trails Monica Marlowe (1999-02) by 50 for seventh place. The previously-all-MIAA libero still holds the top spots in the digs/set (4.67), 20+ dig matches (32), and 30+ dig matches (3) categories, and is nine behind Marlowe's career total of 80 for sixth place in the 10+ dig matches category.

'Dogs Hold Firm at No. 18:
The Sept. 30 version of the AVCA top-25 coaches' poll kept the Bulldogs at No. 18 after the squad's 2-1 record in matches last week. Truman lost 10 points, falling from 379 to 369, but still held off Colorado School of Mines by 34 points for the 18^th spot.

Truman continues to be the top-ranked team out of the GLVC but is now the No. 2 team in the Midwest region, flipping spots with Grand Valley State in this week's poll. Ferris State (No. 22) and Indianapolis (No. 24) also represent the Midwest region in the poll.

Overall, the Bulldogs have nine 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-25 167 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:
Truman will hit the road for three GLVC matches next week, beginning on Tuesday night (Oct. 8) at Quincy for a 7:00 pm tilt. The Bulldogs travel to the Kansas City-area over the weekend, visiting Rockhurst in a key league match on Friday (Oct. 11) at 7:00 pm before stopping at William Jewell on Saturday (Oct. 12) for a 5:00 pm match.

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