Purdue Fort Wayne
Oakland
Friday Night Showdown Features IPFW Hosting Oakland
10/11/2012 9:54:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Match Notes I Live Stats I Radio I Video
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The IPFW women's volleyball team will be looking for revenge on Friday night as they will attempt to defeat the only Summit League team that has recorded a win against them. The Mastodons will host Oakland at the Gates Sports Center on Friday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m.
ABOUT IPFW
IPFW is on top of the Summit League standings with an overall record of 17-3. Now at the midway point of the Summit League schedule, the Mastodons have posted a league record of 7-1. Friday night's opponent, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, beat IPFW in the Summit League opener 3-2 back on Sept. 14. Since that match IPFW has moved on to win eight-straight games. They lead the Summit League in assists per set, kills per set, hitting percentage, and winning percentage.
Emily Spencer has recorded134 kills vs. Summit League opponents. Helping Spencer in that category is the trio of Kendall Wienkes, Jessie Manwaring and Haley Emenhiser who all have recorded more than 80 kills. Megan Steenhuysen leads the team with 413 assists in Summit League games, and Tessa McGill is the defensive leader with 185 digs in 33 sets played.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
Oakland visits the Gates Sports Center with an overall record of 11-9 (4-4 SL) after losing to Bowling Green on Oct. 9 (25-23, 22-25, 17-25, 25-23, 7-15). It has been an up and down season for Oakland in 2012 as the team kicked off the year with a three-game losing streak, yet they came back to win eight of their next nine matches including the Summit League opener over IPFW. After defeating the Mastodons, Oakland lost four of their next five games. In the month of October the Golden Grizzlies are 2-0 with wins over IUPUI (3-0) and Omaha (3-1).
Meghan Bray is one of the top offensive players in the Summit League. She leads Oakland and the Summit League in kills (349) and kills per set (4.36). Joining Bray up front is the duo of Taylor Humm and Brittany Holbrook. Humm is second on the team with 230 kills, while Holbrook serves as the team leader in blocks with 81.
Alli Kirk leads the defensive charge with a team-high 440 digs and the tandem of Ciara Schultz and Alissa Valentine set up the offense with 420 and 409 assists respectively.
ALL-TIME SERIES
IPFW leads the all-time series over Oakland 29-19. The Mastodons built a lead in the series by defeating Oakland in every match from 1994 to 2010, a span of 16 years.
The Mastodons have faced the Golden Grizzlies more than any other opponent in program history. The first match between IPFW and Oakland was in 1981. The Golden Grizzlies won that match along with the next four. IPFW finally recorded their first win over Oakland (3-0) in 1986. Oakland came out on top in the last meeting as the Golden Grizzlies recorded a 3-2 home win on Sept. 14.
LAST MATCH VS OAKLAND
IPFW lost the Summit League opener on the road at Oakland on Sept. 14. The Mastodons have not lost Summit League match since that day as they are currently 7-1 in league play and riding an eight game-winning streak.
The first match between IPFW and Oakland went five sets, 18-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-13, 13-15. Emily Spencer and Kendall Wienkes played outstanding against Oakland in a losing effort as Spencer recorded a double-double with 16 kills and 13 assists. Wienkes recorded her first double-double of the season in the match with 14 kills and 15 digs, she also added six blocks.
Meghan Bray dominated the match for Oakland as the senior recorded 29 kills and 21 digs against the Mastodons. Taylor Humm also impacted the match with 14 kills and a team-high 23 digs. Oakland was aggressive off the serve as Alli Kirk and Mary Grassano each ended the night with three service aces.
2,000 CAREER DIGS
Tessa McGill recorded 24 digs against Western Illinois on Oct. 8 giving her 2,014 in her IPFW career. McGill is only the second women's volleyball player in IPFW history to reach 2,000 career digs.
NINE BLOCK NIGHT
Jessie Manwaring moved into a tie for fifth place all-time for most blocks in a single match by recording nine in a win against the Georgia Bulldogs on Sept. 8. It was a career night for the senior as she also recorded a career-high 18 kills while leading the team with 23 points.
CAN YOU DIG IT?
Tessa McGill is leading the team, Summit League, and is fifth in the NCAA in digs per set (6.01). She set her season-high mark of 29 digs vs. Michigan State and has gone on to tie it three times in matches against IUPUI, North Dakota State and most recently at Omaha. The senior has recorded 20 digs or more in 14 matches and is currently second all-time at IPFW and fifth all-time in the Summit League with 2,014 career digs.
SUMMIT LEAGUE LEADER
Megan Steenhuysen leads the Summit League in assists per set with an average of 12.06. She has led the team in assists during every match this season which has her ranked sixth in the NCAA in assists per set. Steenhuysen's season-high assist total of 65 was set in a five set win over North Dakota State.
SUPER SOPHOMORE
Emily Spencer picked up where she left off a year ago as one of the top offensive weapons on the IPFW roster. Spencer is leading the team in kills (300), points (343.5) and in points per set (4.67). She recorded a season-high 21 kills against Ball State on Aug. 28 and recently tied that mark with 21 against North Dakota State. Spencer is leading the team with 11 double-doubles on the year. She recorded a double-double in every match at the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational and most recently at Omaha with 16 kills and 18 digs.
QUICK HITTERS
• IPFW has not started a season this well since 1997 when the team posted an overall record of 32-5.
• The Mastodons are on an eight-game winning streak, and have not lost a home match since August 25.
• Tessa McGill became only the second player in IPFW history to reach 2,000 career digs. She has 2,014 entering Friday night.
• Megan Steenhuysen is now fourth all-time at IPFW with 4,138 career assists. She passed Amy Luben (4,130) on Monday night.
• IPFW leads the Summit League in assists per set, kills per set, hitting percentage, and winning percentage.
• The Mastodons rank 56th overall in the latest NCAA Women's Volleyball RPI Rankings (Oct. 8).
• Tessa McGill is fifth in the nation in digs per set (6.01) and Megan Steenhuysen is sixth in assists per set (12.06).
• The Mastodons are 15-5 all-time when playing on Oct. 12.
• Oakland is the only Summit League team that has defeated IPFW this season.
• Both Emily Spencer and Kendall Wienkes recorded a double-double against Oakland on Sept. 14.
• Oakland's Meghan Bray recorded 29 kills and 21 digs against the Mastodons in the Summit League opener.
• IPFW defeated Oakland in every match from 1994 to 2010. Only five of the matches went all five sets.
• Sophomore Madison Spence set career-highs in service aces and digs against Western Illinois with two in each category.
• Emily Spencer leads the team with 11 double-doubles in 2012. She recently recorded her 32nd career double-double in a win over Omaha with a season-high 18 digs and 16 kills.
