Purdue Fort Wayne
Western Illinois
Women's Volleyball Ends Regular Season on the Road
11/8/2012 11:31:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Match Notes I Live Stats at WIU I Video at WIU I Listen to WIU I Live Stats at IUPUI I Listen to IUPUI
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- A regular season league championship is on the line as the final weekend of the women's volleyball season showcases IPFW playing road matches against Western Illinois and IUPUI. Friday's match against Western Illinois will begin at 8 p.m. and the regular season finale against the Jaguars will start at 5 p.m.
ABOUT IPFW
The Mastodons clinched a playoff spot in the 2012 Summit League Championship Tournament last weekend by defeating Omaha at the Gates Sports Center 3-0. IPFW used a total team effort on Senior night to defeat the Mavericks as seven different players recorded a kill. Emily Spencer recorded her 17th double-double of the season with 15 kills and 11 digs.
Under the direction of head coach Kelley Hartley Hutton, the Mastodons are 11-2 against Western Illinois and 12-6 against IUPUI. IPFW defeated both of these teams earlier in the season helping them post an overall record of 22-5.
Spencer leads the team in kills with 426 on the year, but IPFW brings a balanced attack at opponents as four other student-athletes have recorded over 200 kills on the year. Senior Jessie Manwaring is second on the team with 268 and fellow senior Haley Emenhiser is fourth on the team with 230. Sophomore Kendall Wienkes has 248 kills on the year and redshirt freshman Hailie Ripley rounds out the group with 216.
Tessa McGill and Megan Steenhuysen have played extremely well for IPFW during their senior seasons. Steenhuysen leads the team in assists with 1,253 and McGill is the defensive leader with 643 digs.
SCOUTING THE LEATHERNECKS
The Leathernecks defeated Chicago State on Tuesday afternoon to improve their overall record to 11-15. They hold a 4-10 mark in Summit League play, picking up victories over Oakland, North Dakota State, South Dakota, and most recently Omaha. The unique, common factor in all four wins for the Leathernecks is that they won on the road. The team is 1-6 at home this season with their lone win coming out of Summit League play against Chicago State on Sept. 11.
Samantha Fournier is the team leader in kills with 374 (3.63 per set). She is a complete player that also has 270 digs, 19 service aces, 51 blocks, and 35 assists on the year. Katie Hosteng is another impact player at the net for the Leathernecks. She has recorded 286 kills, 75 blocks, 57 digs, and a team-high 25 service aces this season. Additional players expected to impact the match include Sarah Fetter, the teams assist leader (1,061) and Bridget Murphy who leads the team in digs with 477.
LAST MATCH VS WESTERN ILLINOIS
IPFW defeated Western Illinois 3-1 (27-25, 18-25, 25-15, 25-22) at the Gates Sports Center on Oct. 8. Tessa McGill made IPFW history that night by becoming just the second player in IPFW history to reach 2,000 career digs. McGill ended the game with a match-high 24 digs against the Leathernecks as Emily Spencer paced the team on offense by recording a match-high 20 kills.
The duo of Ann Miller and Samantha Fournier played well for Western Illinois in the first matchup of the season. Miller posted 15 kills, seven digs and two blocks against IPFW while Sournier chipped in with 13 kills, 12 digs, six blocks and two service aces.
ALL-TIME SERIES
IPFW holds an 11-2 edge over Western Illinois in the all-time series. The first match between the two programs was played on Sept. 21, 2002. IPFW won the game 3-0 and would go on to win the first six matches between the two schools. Western Illinois recorded their first win over IPFW in 2009. They came back and took another win over the 'Dons in the 2010 season. IPFW has defeated Western Illinois in each of the last four meetings.
SCOUTING THE JAGUARS
The Jungle is the place to be this weekend as the Jaguars host Oakland on Friday night before matching up with IPFW on Saturday. Entering the weekend IUPUI is tied with IPFW at the top of the Summit League standings with a league record of 11-3. IPFW (3-1), Oakland (3-0), and Kansas City (3-1) have all defeated IUPUI this year, and all of those teams have a realistic chance to reach the league tournament coming up next weekend.
Moriah Fair and Kaitlyn Hickey have each recorded over 300 kills this season and Kelsey Hoefer is close behind with 294. IUPUI has two players with high assist totals in Alexis Meeks and Ellyn Jones. Meeks, Jones, and Hickey double up as players that also lead the team in service aces. Bethany Fogler is another multi-talented player that has 220 kills to go along with a team-high 135 blocks.
LAST MATCH VS IUPUI
IPFW hosted IUPUI at the Gates Sports Center on Sept. 18, a match that served as the Summit League home opener for the Mastodons. IPFW recorded a 3-1 victory that night (21-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-21) thanks to the strong play of Megan Steenhuysen and Kendall Wienkes. Steenhuysen posted 57 assists and 10 digs against the Jags while Wienkes chipped in with 14 digs and 13 kills. Emily Spencer just missed out on a double-double as she ended the contest with 14 kills and nine digs.
IUPUI had four impact players on the court against IPFW as Kelsey Hoefer and Kaitlyn Hickey each ended the game with a double digit kill total. Bethany Fogler recorded eight kills and six blocks and Alexis Meeks set up the offense with 32 assists.
ALL-TIME SERIES
IPFW leads IUPUI in the all-time series 23-13. The 'Dons have won the last six meetings and are 12-6 against the Jaguars under head coach Kelley Hartley Hutton. The first meeting between IPFW and IUPUI was played on Oct. 26, 1978 as the Mastodons recorded a 2-0 win 15-8, 15-9. IUPUI recorded their first win in the series during the 1980 season, claiming a 2-1 victory.
SUMMIT LEAGUE STANDINGS
| IPFW | 11-3 SL, 22-5 Overall |
| IUPUI | 11-3 SL, 19-9 Overall |
| Oakland | 8-6 SL, 15-11 Overall |
| Kansas City | 8-7 SL, 16-12 Overall |
| South Dakota State | 8-7 SL, 16-12 Overall |
| South Dakota | 7-8 SL, 13-14 Overall |
| North Dakota State | 7-8 SL, 11-16 Overall |
| Western Illinois | 4-10 SL, 11-15 Overall |
| Omaha | 1-13 SL, 6-20 Overall |
SUMMIT LEAGUE COMPOSITE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Nov. 8
Kansas City at Omaha
Friday, Nov. 9
South Dakota State at North Dakota State
Oakland at IUPUI
Kansas City at Omaha
IPFW at Western Illinois
Saturday, Nov. 10
South Dakota at Omaha
IPFW at IUPUI
Oakland at Western Illinois
TOURNAMENT PICTURE
IPFW, IUPUI and Kansas City have all clinched spots in the league tournament which leaves Oakland, South Dakota State, South Dakota, and North Dakota State battling for the final spot. Oakland has two matches remaining on their schedule compared to just one for South Dakota State, South Dakota and North Dakota State. The four teams participating in the tournament could be decided on Friday night, but seeding for the tournament will have to be sorted out on Saturday.
QUICK HITTERS
• IPFW and IUPUI have both clinched spots in the 2012 Summit League Volleyball Championship Tournament.
• Tessa McGill has recorded 2,212 digs in her career at IPFW which ranks her second all-time in IPFW history and third in Summit League history. She is now only 41 digs behind Peachy Jankowski who is the record holder with 2,253.
• Megan Steenhuysen moved up to third place all-time in IPFW history with 4,492 career assists. She is currently ranked fifth in the NCAA in assists per set (12.17).
• Emily Spencer tied her career-high kill total with 29 against SDSU. She set new career marks in attempts with 91 and in points with 34.5. 91 attempts in a single match is the second most ever in IPFW and Summit League history.
• With 18 digs on Senior night, defensive specialist Tessa McGill moved to third all-time in school history with 643 digs in a single-season. She is only 10 digs away from second place, a position she already holds by recording 653 digs in 2011.
• IPFW is 8-1 all-time when playing on Nov. 9 and 12-2 when playing matches on Nov. 10.
• IUPUI plays great defense as the team is ranked ninth in the country with a digs per set average of 18.04.
• Western Illinois has a better record on the road than at home as they enter the weekend 1-6 at Western Hall.
• IUPUI is undefeated at home in league play, posting a record of 6-0.
