Women's Volleyball to Face Strong Field at Cleveland State Invite

PRE-MATCH NOTES

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The IPFW women's volleyball team travels to Cleveland this weekend to take on a strong field at the Cleveland State Invitational, facing UC Irvine, Cleveland State, and High Point.

Opponent: UC Irvine (3-0)
When: Friday, September 6 | 4:30 p.m.
Where: Cleveland, Ohio | Woodling Gymnasium (1,500)
All-Time Series: First Meeting
Live Stats: Cleveland State Live Stats

Opponent: Cleveland State (3-1)
When: Saturday, September 7 | 12:30 p.m.
Where: Cleveland, Ohio | Woodling Gymnasium (1,500)
All-Time Series: IPFW leads 2-1
Live Stats: Cleveland State Live Stats
Live Video: Horizon League Network

Opponent: High Point Panthers (2-1)
When: Saturday, September 7 | 4:30 p.m.
Where: Cleveland, Ohio | Woodling Gymnasium (1,500)
All-Time Series: First Meeting
Live Stats: Cleveland State Live Stats

QUICK HITTERS
• This tournament provides the first-ever meeting between IPFW and UC Irvine and High Point.
• Emily Spencer and Jen Milligan were named the Summit League Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week
• Emily Spencer was the IPFW Hyatt Invitational Most Valuable Player, while Jen Milligan and Katie Higginbotham were each named to the All-Tournament Team
• Against Southern Illinois, Emily Spencer became the 16th player in program history with 1,000 or more career kills
• Emily Spencer currently leads the Summit League in kills per set and points per set, while setter Madison Spence leads the league in assists per set
• IPFW senior Jen Milligan is currently 19 digs away from joining the 1,000-kill plateau
• IPFW and UC Irvine, while never having faced each other in women's volleyball, faced off in 2007 in the Men's Volleyball National Championship Game (won 3-1 by Irvine)
• Kelley Hartley Hutton has guided the program to 20 wins or more in four-straight seasons
• IPFW defeated Oakland 3-2 and IUPUI 3-0 in Fargo N.D. to claim the 2012 Summit League Tournament Championship
• IPFW ended the 2012 season with a 2-3 loss at No. 18 Iowa State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament
• Jen Milligan is the only senior on the roster. She played in all 124 sets a year ago, starting in 29 of 32 matches
• After hosting the IPFW Invitational, the Mastodons will play their next 14 matches away from the Gates Sports Center
• Junior Emily Spencer is the reigning Summit League Player of the Year, while Hailie Ripley was named to the 2012 Summit League All-Freshman Team
• Jaydn' Pegues is the first player in IPFW women's volleyball history to wear #18
• Kelley Hartley Hutton will serve as the Interim Director of Athletics and Recreation at IPFW until the position is filled

SCOUTING THE ANTEATERS

In a battle of two of the more unique mascots in NCAA Division I, UC Irvine comes into the weekend with a perfect 3-0 record, topping Texas A&M Corpus Christi in four sets, and then needing five sets to defeat Air Force and Denver at the Denver Tournament.

Aly Squires leads the Anteaters with 42 kills (3.00 per set), while Marisa Bubica and Cassidy Pickrell have 36 and 28 kills, respectively. Shannon Fleming leads the team with a .333 attack percentage, while she and Arielle Manz each have 17 blocks to pace the squad.

Mackenzi Campbell and Shelley Anderson have 69 and 59 assists, each, with Bubica leading the team with five aces and 39 digs, as eight different players have double-digit digs on the season.

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS

Cleveland State, the 2012 Horizon League Tournament Champions, are led by Grace Kauth and Maggie Hannon who have 45 and 40 kills, respectively. Hannon is hitting .416 on the year, while Dayna Roberts has dished out 89 assists.

Annie Djukic leads the team with eight service aces, while standing second on the team with 49 assists.

Defensively the team has three players averaging over a block per set, led by Killy Kiger's 15 blocks, while Christian Toth has 14, and Hannon 13. Nikki Holmes leads the team with 72 digs, while Ally Beck sits a close second with 72.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS

High Point heads into the three-game weekend with a 2-1 overall record with wins over Florida International and South Carolina State, and a loss in the Gamecock Invitational finale to South Carolina 3-0.

Chelsea Davis and Kristin Heldt who have 39 and 34 kills, each. Davis leads the pair with a .232 attack percentage, as High Point has a hitting percentage of .199 for the season. Maddie Simpson has dished out 20 assists, while also leading the team with eight service aces.

Defensively four players have double-digit dig totals, including a team-leading 33 from Annemarie Chin, 28 from Davis, 22 from Heldt, and 17 from Simpson. Katie Vincent has a team-best 12 blocks, averaging 1.09 per set.

ALL-TIME SERIES

2013 marks the first time that IPFW has faced UC Irvine and High Point. The Mastodons and Vikings have faced off three previous times, with IPFW winning by 3-1 scores in 2003 and 2011, while falling 3-0 in last years' IPFW Invitational.

IPFW and UC Irvine, while never having faced each other in women's volleyball, faced off in 2007 in the Men's Volleyball National Championship Game (won 3-1 by Irvine)

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

The Mastodons swept the opening week's Summit League Player of the Week honors, with Emily Spencer earning her third career Summit League Offensive Player of the Week honor, and Jen Milligan's first Defensive Player of the Week award.

TOURNAMENT MVP

IPFW junior Emily Spencer, the reigning Summit League Player of the Year, was named the MVP of the IPFW Hyatt Place Invitational, as she had a tournament-high 53 kills on the weekend, hitting .325 with 21 digs and seven blocks.

CLIMBING TO 300

Kelley Hartley Hutton has guided the Mastodons to 20 or more wins in 11 of her 14 seasons as head coach of IPFW. Hartley Hutton is now approaching 300 wins while at IPFW as she now has 299, the most wins in program history.

REACHING FOR ANOTHER MILESTONE

Earlier this year against Southern Illinois, Emily Spencer became the school's 16th member of the 1,000-kill club. Senior Jen Milligan currently stands 19 digs shy of becoming the 16th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career digs, and needs 21 to pass former teammate Megan Steenhuysen for 15th place all-time.

~ Feel the Rumble ~

Purdue University Fort Wayne Athletics

Women's Volleyball to Face Strong Field at Cleveland State Invite

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