KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Off to its best eight-game start in eight years and riding a six-match winning streak, the Truman State University volleyball team will open up Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) play on the road for the third-straight season. The Bulldogs will play at No. 5 Lewis on Friday (7 p.m.) followed by a showdown with Indianapolis the following Saturday with first serve set for 2 p.m. On the line for the Purple and White are their first 8-1 start since 2008 and first 9-1 start since 2006.
National Spotlight
One week after receiving 59 votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association's week one poll, which was good for 30th, Truman stayed put at No. 30 for week two, but upped its vote total by 24 to 83. The Bulldogs defeated a pair of ranked teams in the opening week in No. 4 Florida Southern and No. 14 Arkansas Tech, which hadn't been done since 2014. The Purple and White will face a ranked opponent for a fourth time already this season when they face No. 5 Lewis on Friday.
Scouting the Flyers
Lewis is coming off a 2017 campaign in which it lost just three matches (33-3, 17-1 GLVC) and made it all the way to the NCAA Midwest Regional championship game against fellow GLVC foe, Rockhurst. Heading into this season, the Flyers were ranked No. 6 and bumped up to No. 3 with two first-place votes after a 4-0 start in which they didn't lose a set. However, this past week, they went 2-2 in four five-set thrillers including losses against Central Missouri (Truman's only loss) and Texas A&M - Commerce. Offensively, Lewis is led by hitters, Elizabeth Hyland, Alexandra Preuss and Morgan Goodman, and setter, Abby Becker. Hyland (93) and Preuss (92) lead the way in kills and Becker has 303 of the team's 388 assists while Goodman and Preuss have accounted for 12 service aces and 10 service aces, respectively. Defensively, Ronni Katarzynski is on top of digs with 134 and Caroline Stefanon has racked up 44 total blocks.
Scouting the Greyhounds
Indianapolis has had an up-and-down start to the season so far in 2018. The Greyhounds went 3-1 in their first weekend before a 2-2 stretch this past week just like Lewis. With that being said, UIndy is coming off a 3-2 win over No. 17 Colorado School of Mines and will host Quincy to open league play before facing Truman on Saturday. Sophomore, Katie Furlong, has been far and way the best offensive player for the Greyhounds with a team-leading 144 kills, which is 52 more than her next-closest teammate. The offense runs through Alyssa Spears' 371 assists while both Furlong and Taylor Jacquay have sent home eight service aces apiece. On the defensive end, Olivia Martin is on top of digs with 179 and Katie Voelz has 17 total blocks.
Offensive Explosion
Among the conference's best offensive attacks, Truman is first in kills per set (14.71), second in hitting percentage (.263), second in assists per set (13.29), and second in service aces per set (1.93). The Bulldogs are also holding their own in the digs department with 17.64 per set, which is good for fourth in the league. Individually, three different Bulldogs are among the top 10 in hitting percentage including
Jocelynn Livingston (sixth - .371),
Natalie Brimeyer (seventh - .344) and
Holly Hildebrand (ninth - .319).
Savvy Hughes is second in assists per set (11.04) and
Ellie Kaat is 10th in kills per set (3.33) while Kaat (0.44),
Lauren Wacker (0.43) and Hughes (0.39) rank fourth, fifth and eighth, respectively, in aces per set.
Up Next
Next up, Truman will make its home debut on Tuesday, Sept. 11 against William Jewell with first serve set for 7 p.m. on ROTC Night inside Pershing Arena. The Bulldogs will then be home again on the following Saturday vs. rival Quincy and that match is set to begin at 3 p.m.
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