Women's Volleyball | 9/22/2015 10:16:00 AM
Match #11: Truman (6-4, 1-1 GLVC West) at Bellarmine (6-5, 1-1 GLVC East)
When: Friday, September 25, 2015 || 6 p.m. (CT)
Where: Louisville, Ky. || Knights Hall
Live Stats: http://sidearmstats.com/bellarmine/wvball/
Live Video: http://athletics.bellarmine.edu/watch/?Live=99
Stats: Truman || GLVC || Bellarmine Match #12: Truman at Southern Indiana (8-2, 1-1 GLVC East)
When: Saturday, September 26, 2015 || 3 p.m. (CT)
Where: Evansville, Ind. || Physical Activities Center
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/usi/wvball/
Live Video: http://gousieagles.com/watch/?Live=133
Stats: Truman || GLVC || Southern Indiana
A First Look:
The first two matches of a four-game Great Lakes Valley Conference road trip will send the Truman volleyball team to a pair of East Division foes this Friday and Saturday, as the Bulldogs pay a visit to both Bellarmine and Southern Indiana.
Last Weekend:
The Bulldogs picked up a split at home to kick-off the 2015 GLVC slate, as Truman fell 3-1 to McKendree in the conference opener on Friday (Sept. 18) night before bouncing back with a 3-0 sweep against Illinois Springfield on Saturday (Sept. 19) afternoon in Pershing Arena. Truman hit .238 for the weekend, helping to raise the season total to .175, while also averaging just shy of 19 digs per set and 2.50 blocks per set against the Bearcats and Prairie Stars.
Junior OH Kayla Bastian was Truman's nominee for Offensive Player of the Week, as the Wisconsin-native averaged 4.14 kills and 5.50 points per set. She hit .284 overall and added 3.43 digs and 0.57 blocks per set while also dealing seven of the team's 17 service aces. Sophomore OH Jasmine Brown put away 15 kills and added seven blocks, while senior OPP Abby Heise hit .344 with 2.0 kills and 4.0 digs per set.
About the Bulldogs:
Now more than one-third of the way through the 2015 campaign, the Bulldogs continue to try and find their footing within the GLVC and the NCAA-II Midwest region, as Truman looks to stockpile key conference and regional wins. As a team, the purple and white are hitting .175 with 11.3 kills per set on the offensive side, while the team is limiting opposition to just a .136 hitting percentage – good for second in the conference.
Truman ranks third in the GLVC in total blocking at 2.55 per set and is second in digs with 17.85 per frame. Individually, senior MH Ali Patterson ranks fifth in the GLVC in blocking (1.27/set) and eighth in hitting percentage (.311), while freshman S Matti Mason is ninth in assists at 8.22 per set.
The Bulldogs sit as one of five GLVC West division teams to have split the opening weekend, as only Rockhurst (11-1, 2-0 GLVC West) went perfect last Friday and Saturday, dispatching both BU and USI in Kansas City in straight sets.
Head coach Ben Briney is back for his seventh season at the helm, as the former Truman assistant-turned-head coach ranks No. 2 on the program's victories chart with a 154-62 (.713) overall record.
Bulldog Tweet-ables (140 characters or less):- #VBHistory: This year is the 42nd season of volleyball at Truman. The program's all-time record is 924-492-14 (.651).
- #GLVCStrong: After posting a .712 win% in 30 yrs of MIAA play, the 'Dogs are 32-6 (.842) in two-plus seasons of GLVC action.
- #MakingItEasy: Truman finally picked up its first three-set win of the last against UIS. The 'Dogs are 4-3 in 4-set and 1-0 in 5-setters.
- #DoubDoubMachines: Matti Mason (6) and Kayla Bastian (5) have accounted for 11 of the team's 15 double-doubles.
- #HeptaDecagons: The Bulldogs' 17-player roster features five SRs, four JRs, one SO, three redshirt-FRs, and four true FRs.
- #LandOfLincoln: Of Truman's 17 players on the opening day roster, six hail from the state of Illinois. IA, MO, OR, TX, WI also repped.
- #AlphabetSoup: Nine players return as previous letterwinners for the Bulldogs in 2015.
Scouting the Opponents:
Bellarmine "Knights" – Friday at 6 p.m. (CT) in Louisville, Ky. (Knights Hall)- The Knights are coming off a 1-2 weekend in Kansas City, having earned a 3-0 sweep at William Jewell on Sept. 18 before losing a pair of three-set matches to Rockhurst and Southwest Baptist on Sept. 19.
- BU is hitting .200 as a club this season and allowing a .170 attack line on the defensive side.
- Freshman OH Aurryella Mason leads the squad with 95 kills (2.58/set), whie sophomore MB Margaret Horihan is BU's leader in points per set at 3.13.
- This will be the second straight season Truman has to go to BU, with the Bulldogs picking up a 3-1 win last season in Louisville. Bastian went for 15 kills and 22 digs, while Heise hit .357 with 12 kills, six assists, five digs, and four blocks.
- Truman is 3-0 all-time against the Knights, having earned 3-0 (home, 2013) and 3-1 (road, 2014) wins since joining the GLVC.
- Jenni Grzebin is in her third season at the helm of the BU program.
Southern Indiana "Screaming Eagles" – Saturday at 3 p.m. (CT) in Evansville, Ind. (PAC)- USI checks into the weekend at 8-2 overall, having gone 7-1 during the first two weekends of non-conference play before a split in Kansas City (3-0 loss at RU; 3-0 win at WJC) to open GLVC play.
- The Screaming Eagles are hitting .257 as a team and blocking 2.6 attempts per set, as three different players – senior MH Abbey Winter, senior OPP Erica Oberbroeckling, and sophomore OH Shelbi Morris – averaging better than three kills per set.
- Truman swept USI twice last season – once coming in Evansville on Oct. 26, 2014 and the second time in the GLVC tournament opening round in East Peoria, Ill., on Nov. 13. Kayla Bastian averaged 2.67 kills and 2.67 digs per set last season against USI, while seniors Abby Heise, Ali Patterson, and Emilee Walters have each hit better than .250.
- The Bulldogs are 8-1 all-time against USI, including a 3-1 mark since joining the GLVC in 2013.
- Leah Mercer is in her 11th season as the head coach of the USI program.
Bulldogs Picked Second in GLVC West Preseason Poll:
The reigning Great Lakes Valley Conference champion Truman volleyball squad will start the 2015 season as hunters once again following a second-place prediction in the West division by league coaches in the annual preseason poll.
The Bulldogs garnered six first-place votes and 110 total points to come in five points back of West division preseason-favorite Rockhurst. The Hawks received 10 first-place votes and 115 total points to lead all 16 schools in both categories.
Missouri S&T (89), Missouri-St. Louis (77), Drury (60), Quincy (55), Maryville (38), and William Jewell (25) rounded out the West division, while three teams split the 16 possible first-place votes in the East. Indianapolis picked up seven first-place votes and 110 total points to narrowly edge Lewis' five first-place votes and 109 total points for the top spot. Truman's opponent in the GLVC championship match and first-round NCAA tournament foe McKendree picked up the remaining four first-place votes and sat third in the East with 97 total points.
Southern Indiana (78), UW-Parkside (64), Bellarmine (50), Saint Joseph's (32), and Illinois Springfield (28) closed out the East division.
The top eight teams will qualify for the 2015 post-season tournament, to be held Nov. 20-22 at the East Side Centre in Peoria, Ill.
Up Next:
The Bulldogs will conclude a four-match road trip by going from the league's eastern-most schools to the conference's western-most programs next Friday and Saturday. Truman battles West division leader Rockhurst at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 2 and William Jewell at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3.
