Purdue Fort Wayne
South Dakota State
Women's Volleyball to Host Key Summit League Matches
9/27/2012 11:03:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The IPFW women's volleyball team will host South Dakota State at the Gates Sports Center on Friday night, followed by a 7 p.m. match against North Dakota State on Saturday.
ABOUT IPFW
The Mastodons are on a four-game winning streak and currently sit in second place in the Summit League standings after defeating IUPUI, South Dakota, and Kansas City. Emily Spencer recorded her eighth double-double of the season and the 29th of her career to help the 'Dons defeat South Dakota on the road 3-1. Spencer ended the night with 20 kills and 12 digs. She was recognized by her peers for her outstanding efforts and she claimed Summit League Offensive Player of the Week honors for the first time in her young career.
Tessa McGill made headlines last week by moving to fifth all-time in Summit League history with 1,912 career digs. McGill leads the team, Summit League, and is fourth in the NCAA in digs per set (6.02). Megan Steenhuysen also moved up in the record books by passing Kris Wilder for fifth place all-time in IPFW history with 3,914 career assists. Steenhuysen has led the team in the assist category in each match this season. She leads the Summit League with 11.84 assists per set, a mark that places her 9th in the nation.
SCOUTING THE JACKRABBITS
South Dakota State is now 11-4 overall after defeating the Valparaiso Crusaders (3-1) on Wednesday night. The Jackrabbits had three players reach a double figure kill total, and four student-athletes recorded ten or more digs. Kelly Herrmann ended the night with a double-double performance by recording 11 kills and 11 digs. South Dakota State got revenge against Valparaiso as the Crusaders won the first matchup of the year 3-2. The only other losses on SDSU's schedule came against Iowa, Bradley, and IUPUI.
SDSU is currently tied with IPFW holding a 3-1 record in the Summit League standings. Only IUPUI has more league wins (4), yet the Mastodons defeated IUPUI on Sept. 18 (3-1) while the Jackrabbits lost on Sept. 21 (2-3). League wins for SDSU came against Omaha (3-0), North Dakota State (3-1), and Western Illinois (3-1).
Kelli Fiegen is a high impact player for the Jackrabbits. Fiegen took Offensive Player of the Week honors after opening weekend and showed her athleticism by earning Defensive Player of the Week honors the week after. Fiegen is the team leader in kills (182), attack percentage (.362), and blocks (89). Another all-around contributor to the SDSU lineup is Kaitlin Klingemann. Klingemann is second on the team with 161 kills, but she leads the group with 18 service aces.
SCOUTING THE BISON
The 2012 women's volleyball season has not started well for the North Dakota State Bison. The preseason favorites to win the Summit League, after claiming a 2011 championship, have only won four games this season and are currently holding onto a 1-3 record in league play. The Bison will face the Golden Grizzlies in Oakland before visiting the Gates Sports Center on Saturday night. NDSU will look to gain momentum as they swept the series against Oakland a year ago.
After losing to No. 10 Minnesota, the Bison earned their first league win of the season by defeating Omaha on the road 3-0. The team hit a rough patch soon after as they are currently on a three-game losing streak after falling to South Dakota State (1-3), Western Illinois (2-3), and IUPUI (1-3).
Brynn Joki and Megan Lambertson are the two main threats to score points for the Bison. Joki leads the team with 186 kills (3.5 per set), while Lambertson is a close second with 140. Lambertson has the highest attack percentage on the team and she is also tied for the team lead in service aces with eight. Catherine Yager is responsible for setting up the duo of Joki and Lambertson. Yager is averaging just over seven assists per set, giving her 344 on the year. The team's dig leader is Andrea Henning who has 245 digs to go along with eight service aces.
ALL-TIME SERIES
The Mastodons have dominated the all-time series against South Dakota State as they hold a 13-3 advantage over the Jackrabbits. IPFW has won the last nine meetings, winning six of those matches by a 3-0 margin. South Dakota State first beat IPFW during the 2005 season. The Jackrabbits won two of the three meetings between the two programs back in the 2007 season.
IPFW will look to tie the all-time series with North Dakota State as the Bison currently lead by a one game margin (12-11). The Mastodons have won four of the last six matches, but NDSU walked away victorious in the last meeting 3-1.
SUMMIT LEAGUE OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Emily Spencer has been recognized as the Summit League Offensive Player of the Week for her outstanding performances from Sept. 17-23. Spencer helped IPFW win three Summit League matches last week, improving their league record to 3-1.
Spencer garners her first career Offensive Player of the Week award for IPFW, as the league award for Defensive Player of the Week was given to Bridget Murphy of Western Illinois.
The talented sophomore led IPFW with 14 kills in a win over IUPUI on Tuesday night, just missing out on a double-double performance as she also chipped in with nine digs. Spencer played her best match of the week on Friday night by recording a team-high 20 kills at South Dakota. The outside hitter scored 23 points for IPFW as she filled up the box score with 12 digs, four blocks and a service ace. Spencer ended the week with 13 kills and nine digs against UMKC.
For the week, Spencer recorded 47 kills at a .349 clip, averaging 4.27 kills per set, with 30 digs (2.73 per set), 10 blocks (0.91 per set), two service aces and 54 points (4.9 per set).
SUMMIT LEAGUE LEADER
Megan Steenhuysen leads the Summit League in assists per set with an average of 11.84. She has led the team in assists during every match this season which has her ranked 9th in the NCAA in assists per set. Steenhuysen's season-high assist total of 57 was set against IUPUI.
QUICK HITTERS
• The Mastodons are on a four-game winning streak, and hold a 9-2 record during the month of September.
• IPFW is 13-3 against SDSU under head coach Kelley Hartley Hutton, they are 11-8 against NDSU under her guidance.
• Emily Spencer earned Summit League Offensive Player of the Week honors for the week Sept. 17-24.
• IPFW leads the Summit League in assists per set, kills per set, hitting percentage, and winning percentage.
• Megan Steenhuysen's career-high kill total of 10 came against SDSU during the 2010 season. She also set her career-high assist total against the Jackrabbits with 76 in 2011.
• Emily Spencer leads the team with eight double-doubles in 2012. She will attempt to record her 30th career double-double this weekend as the 29th came in a win over South Dakota (20 kills, 12 digs).
• Tessa McGill moved to fifth place all-time in Summit League history with 1,912 career digs, passing Sara Silcox of Valparaiso (1,887). McGill is now chasing fourth place which is held by Erin Jones of IUPUI (2,067).
• Senior Jessie Manwaring continued her streak over the weekend and now has a solo block in eight straight matches.
• Megan Steenhuysen led IPFW to victory over IUPUI by recording a season-high 57 assists, and a career-high four service aces against the Jaguars. Steenhuysen has now moved into fifth all-time at IPFW with 3,914 career assists.
• Jessie Manwaring set new career-high totals in kills (18), blocks (9), and attack points (23) against the Georgia Bulldogs. Nine blocks in a single match moved her into a tie for fifth-place all-time at IPFW.
