Purdue Fort Wayne
UMKC
Volleyball to Host Kansas City and South Dakota this Weekend
10/18/2012 9:51:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Match Notes I Live Stats I Video I Radio
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The IPFW women's volleyball team will host a pair of Summit League matches this weekend as the Kansas City Kangaroos visit the Gates Sports Center on Friday night and the South Dakota Coyotes follow up with a Saturday night contest. Each match will begin at 7 p.m.
The IPFW Athletic Department will take a moment to recognize Audrey Moore on breast cancer awareness night. Moore came to IPFW nearly 12 years ago as the Director of Student Life and is currently in an ongoing battle with the disease.
ABOUT IPFW
The Mastodons hold the best record in the Summit League as the team enters the weekend with home matches on the schedule against Kansas City and South Dakota. The 'Dons defeated both the Kangaroos and the Coyotes earlier in the season which helped them get to a 7-2 record in the Summit League.
Emily Spencer leads the team in kills with 333 while the duo of Jessie Manwaring and Kendall Wienkes have also chipped in with over 200 kills on the year. Setting up the IPFW hitters is senior Megan Steenhuysen. Steenhuysen is sixth in the country is assists per set, averaging 12.17. She has recorded 998 on the season.
Tessa McGill has put together a standout senior season by leading the team in digs with 493. McGill became only the second player in IPFW history to reach 2,000 career digs. She is currently second all-time at IPFW and fifth all-time in the Summit League with 2,062 career digs.
SCOUTING THE KANGAROOS
Kansas City is near the top of the Summit League standings with a record of 7-3. They enter the weekend on a two-game winning streak after defeating IUPUI 3-1 and Western Illinois 3-0. The Kangaroos are 4-1 at home, but only 4-5 on the road. They dropped league matches on the road to IUPUI on Sept. 14 and to North Dakota State on Oct. 6. IPFW is the only team that has been able to knock off the Kangaroos in the Swinney Recreation Center (Sept. 23).
Emily Lucas is the top offensive threat for Kansas City as she leads the team with 309 kills on the season. Lucas is a well-rounded player that also has 24 service aces and 220 digs in 2012. Setting up the offense will be the duo of Nicole Wemhoff and Ella Meier. Wemhoff is the team leader in the assist category with 519. Meier has also been consistent when setting up her teammates as she enters Friday with 399 assists.
SCOUTING THE COYOTES
South Dakota holds an overall record of 8-13, but they are near the bottom of the Summit League standings with a mark of 2-7. The Coyotes recently upset South Dakota State in Brookings (Oct. 6) to snap a six-game losing streak, but they still enter the weekend on a two game skid.
Kendall Kritenbrink is a high impact player for the Coyotes as she leads the team in kills with 271. Setting up Kritenbrink and the Coyotes is setter Tori Kroll. Kroll has 738 assists on the year, giving her an average of nine per set. Defensively, South Dakota uses Kroll and Riley Haug to build the defense. Haug has a team-high 243 digs on the year as Kroll is close behind at 212.
ALL-TIME SERIES
IPFW leads the all-time series over Kansas City 8-3. The Mastodons won the first five meetings (2007-09), but the Kangaroos responded by splitting the season series in each of the last three seasons. Both IPFW and Kansas City used home court advantage in 2011, but that factor has not always worked out. The visiting team came out victorious in both 2009 and 2010 making Friday night's matchup even more interesting.
The all-time series between IPFW and South Dakota does not have much history as these two programs recently started to face each other on a regular basis. The 'Dons hold a 3-0 edge having swept the Coyotes in 2011, and most recently defeating South Dakota 3-1 on Sept. 21.
LAST MATCH VS KANSAS CITY
IPFW took care of business at Kansas City earlier this season by defeating the Kangaroos 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-15). Emily Spencer and Kendall Wienkes led the offensive charge for IPFW posting attack percentages over .400. Spencer ended the night with 13 kills, nine digs, and four blocks while Wienkes chipped in with 11 kills, seven digs and three blocks.
Emily Lucas was the top player for Kansas City in the first meeting. Lucas recorded a match-high 14 kills to go along with five digs. Ella Meier and Nicole Wemhoff did their best to set up the offense by recording 15 assists each.
LAST MATCH VS SOUTH DAKOTA
IPFW defeated South Dakota 3-1 on Sept. 21 (25-17, 19-25, 25-14, 25-23). Emily Spencer was the player of the game for IPFW as she ended the match with 20 kills, 12 digs, four blocks, and one service ace. Other Mastodons that delivered the first time around included Megan Steenhuysen and Tessa McGill. Steenhuysen got the offense rolling with 44 assists while also pitching in with eight digs. McGill led all players with a match-high 20 digs.
Kendall Kritenbrink was the bright spot for South Dakota. She recorded a match-high 22 kills for the Coyotes while Tori Kroll ended the night with a match-high 49 assists.
SUMMIT LEAGUE OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The Summit League office announced that Megan Steenhuysen was named Offensive Player of the Week for her performances Oct. 8-14.
Steenhuysen collects her fifth career Offensive Player of the Week award and her second of the season after averaging 13.12 assists per set for the week. The senior setter posted back-to-back matches of 50-plus assists. She opened the week with 55 assists in a four-set win over Western Illinois and tallied 50 against Oakland.
On the week, Steenhuysen recorded 105 assists, averaging 13.12 per set, 21 digs (2.62 per set), five kills, three service aces and one block. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native leads the league in assists, averaging 12.17 per set on the season.
QUICK HITTERS
• Tessa McGill will attempt to move up in the Summit League record book as her career dig total moves closer to fourth place all-time (#4 Erin Jones, IUPUI - 2,067 / #5 Tessa McGill, IPFW - 2,062).
• Megan Steenhuysen is in range to pass Jill Lyon for third place all-time in IPFW history in the career assists categorY (#3 Jill Lyon, 4,268 / #4 Megan Steenhuysen, 4,237).
• The Mastodons rank 62nd overall in the latest NCAA Women's Volleyball RPI Rankings (Oct. 15).
• Megan Steenhuysen was named Summit League Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season (Oct. 8-14).
• IPFW has split the season series vs. Kansas City in each of the last three seasons.
• Tessa McGill became only the second player in IPFW history to reach 2,000 career digs. She has recorded 24 digs in three-straight matches.
• IPFW is the only team that has knocked off Kansas City in the Swinney Recreation Center (Sept. 23).
• Tessa McGill is fourth in the nation in digs per set (6.01) and Megan Steenhuysen is sixth in assists per set (12.17).
• Emily Spencer leads the team with 12 double-doubles in 2012. She recently recorded her 33rd career double-double against Oakland with 18 digs and 14 kills.
