KIRKSVILLE, Mo.—The Truman Volleyball team hosts its first tri-match of the season this Sunday as they take on #2 Lewis at 10 a.m. and #16 Drury at 6 p.m. (time could be moved up pending the results of earlier matches). 

Last week the Bulldogs won two matches at Illinois Springfield, downing Missouri S&T 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-15, 25-17) and UIS 3-1 (25-19, 18-25, 25-21, 25-17).  

Truman is among the leaders in the GLVC in blocks per set with 2.18, with Heise and Berthold ranked second and tied for fifth in blocks per set with 1.17 and 1.00, respectively. With 4.60 digs per set, Lindsay Woltering is fifth in the conference. Ellie Kaat leads with 52 kills and 2.48 kills per set. 

Kaat and Berthold are nearly neck and neck in points per set, with Kaat leading just slightly at 2.67 to Berthold's 2.60. Ainsley Heise leads the team with five aces and Rachel DeFries leads with 106 assists. Newcomer Katy Motz is second with 79 assists. As a team Truman is averaging 2.08 blocks per set, sixth best in GLVC, and fourth in digs per set with 16.72.

Scouting Reports 

Lewis enters the weekend ranked #2 in the AVCA poll. They have started the season 5-0 and swept top ten Missouri-St. Louis last weekend. Jamie Poppen is one of the top players in the GLVC, having won three straight defensive player of the week awards. She leads the GLVC with 6.47 digs per set. As a team, Lewis is second in the GLVC with a .246 hitting percentage and are limiting opponents to just .095 on attacks this season.

Drury is ranked 16th in the AVCA poll this week, dropping seven spots from their previous ranking of ninth. They split their two matches in the tri-match in Inidianapolis, losing to UIndy 3-0 and then beating Maryville 3-0. They are 4-2 on the season, and led by a potent attack that is hitting .261 this season, highest in the GLVC. Chloe Rear leads their attack with 76 kills this season, fourth in the GLVC at 3.8 kills per set.

Coming Up   

On the 6th the Bulldogs will compete in their third tri-match of the season as they head to Liberty, Mo. to take on William Jewell and Indianapolis.