Division II NCAA Tournament Bracket
Midwest Regional Tournament Central
Ticket Information
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The next step of the postseason journey is here for the 2016 Truman volleyball team and it comes in the form of the NCAA Division II Tournament and the field of 64. Truman is one of eight teams competing in the Midwest Regional and will do so as the eight seed taking on the host and one-seeded Ferris State. Truman and Ferris State are playing in the third of four quarterfinal matches on Thursday, Dec. 1 with first serve set for 5 p.m. eastern time at Jim Wink Arena in Big Rapids, Mich.
Truman is currently riding a three-match winning streak and at 18-16 overall, is two games above the .500 mark for the first time all season. The Purple and White ended the 2016 regular season by winning 10 of a possible 12 matches including a 5-0 mark inside Pershing Arena and obviously that hot play couldn't have come at a better time. During that 12-match stretch, Truman hit .235 (38 points higher than season average) to just .154 by its opponents (17 points lower than season average). The two losses that the Purple and White did suffer in that span came against a couple of ranked opponents in Lewis (3-0) and Rockhurst (3-1), who were ranked 18th and 23rd, respectively.
The final three matches amongst those 12 were, without a doubt, the most important contests of the year as they came in the GLVC Tournament. In those three matches, Truman defeated Drury (3-1), then-No. 15 Lewis (3-2) and McKendree (3-0) for the second GLVC title in program history. In those three wins, the Purple and White hit .235 to just .150 by the opposition.
Last Time Out - Truman
As mentioned above, the last time Truman was on the court, it was winning a GLVC Championship against McKendree in straight sets. McKendree was riding a nine-match winning streak entering the title bout and during that stretch, had only lost two sets (27-2). In fact, including the finals showdown, the Bearcats were only on the wrong end of a sweep TWICE in 33 matches all season.
Truman hit an absurd .302, its highest clip in a victory since Oct. 7 at Maryville (16 matches), thanks to 41 kills and only 12 errors on 96 total attacks. On the other side, the Bearcats managed to hit just .125, their worst output since Sept. 10 against Ferris State (25 matches). Individually, Truman was led by
Kayla Bastian (10 kills and two service aces),
Natalie Brimeyer (nine blocks),
Savvy Hughes (36 assists), and
Lauren Wacker (13 digs).
Last Time Out - Ferris State
Ferris State's last match was also on Nov. 20 when it won its third consecutive GLIAC Championship with a 3-0 decision over Ashland. That victory pushed the Crimson and Gold's winning streak to 24 matches as they hit a blistering .292 to just .176 by the Eagles. Senior setter, Stephanie Sikorski, who was chosen as the Most Valuable Player of the GLIAC Tournament, finished an impressive weekend with 40 assists, 11 digs, three service aces, two kills, and a block assist in the championship match. Ferris State's other leaders included Allyson Cappel (17 kills), Lauren Reminga (16 digs) and Maria Kronner (three blocks)
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Scouting the Opposition
Among GLIAC foes, Ferris State is second in digs (2,107), third in kills (1,575), third in assists (1,478), fourth in total blocks (250), fourth in assists per set (12.21), fourth in hitting percentage (.211), fourth in service aces (171), and fifth in kills per set (13.02). In the Crimson and Gold's five losses, they were only shutout twice and four of those five matches came against ranked opponents. Recently, Tia Brandel-Wilhelm was named AVCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year, Sikorski and Cappel first team and Ayanna Buckley honorable mention.
Déjà Vu
Thursday will not be the first time these two teams have met each other this season. They faced each other back on Friday, Oct. 14 in the first match of the crossover and then-No. 24 Ferris State won that match in straight sets with scores of 25-23, 25-16 and 25-16. Truman was led by Bastian (seven kills),
Meghan Gasper (15 assists), Brimeyer (two blocks), and Wacker (15 digs). On the other side, Ferris State was paced by Kronner (10 kills and two blocks), Katie Placek (10 kills and two service aces), Sikorski (34 assists), and Reminga (14 digs). That match halted Truman's winning streak at four and pushed Ferris State's to 10.
Senior Sensation
Some of
Kayla Bastian's best play of her senior season came in the GLVC Tournament's three matches. In that stretch, the Second-Team All-GLVC pick hit an absurd .303 with 46 kills (10 more than the next-closest Bulldog) and only nine errors on 122 total attacks. Her kill totals for each match went like this: 17, 19 and 10. In the championship match against McKendree, Bastian had one of the most efficient matches of her career as she only had one error with those 10 kills on 21 chances for a ridiculous .429 hitting percentage. That was her highest clip with at least 10 kills since the Maryville match on Oct. 7 when she had the exact same attacking numbers.
What Can Brown Do for You?
Jasmine Brown probably didn't have the start to her junior season that she had envisioned during preseason. In her first 19 matches of the year, the outside hitter sent home at least 10 kills just twice and during that span, hit just .102. However, she did more than turn it around in her next 12 matches as she had at least 10 kills in nine of them while hitting .256 with a team high 144 kills. That second-half effort earned her Second-Team All-GLVC honors alongside Bastian.
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