Kangaroos Close Out Home Schedule With Two Matches This Weekend
10/29/2007 5:15:00 PM | Volleyball
This Week - The UMKC volleyball team will close out the home portion of its schedule with a pair of matches this weekend at the Swinney Recreation Center. The Kangaroos open play on Friday against South Dakota State at 7 p.m. before facing North Dakota State on Saturday for senior night beginning at 7 p.m.
Listen To The ?Roos Online - This season every UMKC volleyball match will be available to listen to online at www.umkckangaroos.com. T.J. Jackson is in his second year as the “Voice of the Kangaroos”. This season, he will be joined on the broadcast by junior Jacqui Wood, who is sidelined with a knee injury.
Last Matches - The Kangaroos finished with an 0-2 record in a pair of road matches last weekend at Oral Roberts and Centenary. UMKC fell in three games to the Golden Eagles on Friday night by the scores of 16-30, 22-30 and 27-30. A day later, the Kangaroos lost for the first time in 10 meetings against the Ladies, falling by the scores of 23-30, 23-30 and 22-30.
Senior Night - Prior to Saturday's match against NDSU, UMKC will hold a senior night ceremony for Sarah Johnson, Lauren Starks and Kylee Stephenson. All three student-athletes will leave the program as four-year letterwinners for the Kangaroos.
Summit League Race Heats Up - With four matches remaining in the regular season, The Summit League race has heated up. Five teams - South Dakota State, North Dakota State, IPFW, Oral Roberts and Western Illinois - are all tied for first place in the standings with 9-3 overall records. The top-four teams in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season will advance to the Summit League Championships.
Tipton Moves Into Third Place; Approaching Second In Single Season Digs - Junior Mandy Tipton moved into third place in UMKC history for single season digs with her 34-dig dig total in matches at Oral Roberts and Centenary last weekend. The Blue Springs, Mo., native now has a total of 441 digs (4.50 p/game) on the year, which ranks fifth in The Summit League. Tipton needs 33 digs to move into second place all-time in the recordbooks, and 59 digs to become just the second Kangaroo player to surpass 500 digs in a single season.
Tipton has been in double-figures in 23-of-28 matches on the season, which includes nine matches with 20 or more digs. Her 28 digs against Western Illinois on Sept. 22 is a season and team individual match high this season.
Injury Bug Keeps Hurting Kangaroos - The Kangaroos have been hit hard with the injury bug this season. Junior Jacqui Wood has not played in a single match due to a knee injury, while senior Kylee Stephenson has missed the last eight matches due to a medical condition. Junior Liz Pollock, meanwhile, has missed the last four matches after injuring her knee in the match at Western Illinois on Oct. 19.
Starks Finishes In Double Digits In Kills - Senior Lauren Starks finished with 11 kills to lead the Kangaroos in Saturday's match at Centenary. It was the first time since Aug. 31 that the senior has finished with 10 or more kills in a match.
On the year, the Olathe, Kan., has a total of 124 kills, and she's been in double figures in four matches.
Sperry Settling In To Setting - Since moving into the setters role on Oct. 6, junior Danni Sperry has tallied 106 assists, which includes a career-high 19 assists on Oct. 13 against Oakland. Sperry moved into the role after senior Kylee Stephenson was sidelined with a medical condition.
Gettinger Leads Team With Six Double-Doubles - Sophomore Kelly Gettinger tallied her team-leading sixth double-double against Central Arkansas on Oct. 10. The Overland Park, Kan., native finished the match with 10 kills and 11 digs.
On the year, Gettinger is second on the team in digs (294) and third on the squad in service aces (24) and kills (223). The Overland Park, Kan., native has 10 matches on the year with 10 or more kills and 16 matches with 10 or more digs.
Johnson Tops On Team In Kills - Senior Sarah Johnson is leading UMKC with 253 kills or 2.61 per game this season. The Sioux Falls, S.D., native has 10 matches with 10 or more kills, which includes a career-best 17 kills against Cleveland State on Sept. 8.
Johnson is also pacing the Kangaroos in league only matches with 111 kills or 2.71 per game. Sophomore Jamie Hagerman is second on the squad in league only matches with 108 kills.
Sperry Notches Her First Double-Double Of The Season - Junior Danni Sperry became the fourth UMKC player to post a double-double this season on Oct. 19 at Western Illinois. The Fairway, Kan., native finished the match with 14 assists and 13 digs against the Westerwinds. It was Sperry's second career double-double, as she finished with 14 kills and 18 digs against Cal State-Fullerton on Sept. 3, 2005, during her freshman season.
Blocks Away - Sophomore Jamie Hagerman and senior Sarah Johnson are one-two on the team in blocks this season. Hagerman is pacing the team with 81 blocks (.88 p/game), while Johnson is second with 73 blocks (.77 p/game) on the year. Against Oral Roberts on Oct. 26, Hagerman finished with a career-high three solo blocks against the Golden Eagles.
Tipton Approaching 1,000-Dig Plateau - Redshirt junior Mandy Tipton moved into fifth place on the career digs chart with her 34 digs in the two matches at Oral Roberts and Centenary last weekend. The Blue Springs, Mo., native currently has 990 career digs in Bule and Gold. She needs just 10 digs to become the fifth player in UMKC history to surpass the 1,000-dig mark for her career.
Starks In The All-Time Recordbooks - Senior Lauren Starks currently ranks 10th all-time in the UMKC record books with 958 career kills. She also ranks fifth all-time in career service aces with 108.
Koenig Moves Into Third In Career Assists In UMKC History - Redshirt sophomore Caitlin Koenig moved into sole possession of third place in the UMKC record books with her 21 assists against Central Arkansas on Oct.10. The redshirt sophomore now has 1,647 assists in a Kangaroo uniform.
Koenig Doubles/Triples Them Up - Redshirt sophomore Caitlin Koenig has tallied two double-doubles and two triple-doubles for the Kangaroos this season. The Cary, Ill., native posted her second double-double with a career-high 14 kills and 47 assists against Cleveland State on Sept. 8. On Sept. 4, the setter tallied her first career double-double at Kansas with 19 assists and a career-high 12 digs.
Over the first five matches of the season, Koenig recorded a pair of triple doubles for UMKC. She finished with 40 assists, 10 digs and 10 kills in the second match on the year against Delaware State. She then one-upped herself when she had 41 assists, 12 kills and 11 digs against Drake on Aug. 28.
A UMKC Rarity - By forcing a fifth game against Oral Roberts on Oct. 6, the Kangaroos accomplished something that hadn't been done in 14 years. The last time that a UMKC team played a five-game match against the Golden Eagles came on Sept. 18, 1993, which happens to be the last victory for the Kangaroos in the all-time series.
Top-10 Crowd Watches UMKC Top Oakland - The UMKC volleyball team had 413 fans in attendance for its Oct. 13 match against Oakland. The total is the eighth biggest crowd to watch a Kangaroo volleyball match in school history.
UMKC all-Tournament Honorees - Redshirt sophomore Caitlin Koenig was named to the seven-player all-tournament team at the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn/T.J. Sales Invitational on Aug. 24-25 in Springfield, Mo. The Cary, Ill., native led the team in hitting percentage (.265) and finished with 132 assists, 24 kills and 23 digs in the four matches in Springfield, Mo.
Sophomore Jamie Hagerman was selected to the all-tournament team at the Mean Green Volleyball Classic on Sept. 1. Hagerman finished the three matches with 20 kills and eight blocks for the Kangaroos.
Senior Sarah Johnson was named to the all-tournament team at the SIU Saluki Invitational on Sept. 8 in Carbondale, Ill. The Sioux Falls, S.D., native finished the weekend with 38 kills, six blocks and a .208 hitting percentage for the team.
Frugoli To Represent Summit League On AVCA Awards Committee - Head Coach Geno Frugoli will represent the Summit League on the AVCA Awards Committee for the Central Region. The committee will be responsible for selecting candidates for all-America status, after choosing an all-region team from the Missouri Valley, Big 12, Summit and Southland conferences. IUPUI's Steve Payne has been on the committee representing the Mid-Con for the last four years.
A Whole New Staff - The Kangaroos have a whole lot of new faces on their coaching staff this season. Head Coach Geno Frugoli was hired in January from Baylor University to lead the program. It is his first head coaching job at the Division I level.
Frugoli hired Joan Rickert from NAIA school Missouri Valley to be his assistant coach. Rickert has over 100 victories as a head coach. Frugoli also added Derick White as a graduate assistant coach, while Emily Bell is also on his staff as a volunteer assistant.
The Opponents - South Dakota State enters Friday's match with an 18-8 overall record and a 9-3 mark in The Summit League. The Jackrabbits have won three of four matches, which includes victories over IUPUI (3-1) and Oakland (3-0) last weekend in Brookings. Two SDSU players have more than 300 kills on the year with Amy Anderson leading the squad with 339. Setter Melia Owamoto paces the team with 1,187 assists, while Samantha Pearson has 546 digs.
North Dakota State, meanwhile, enters the weekend with a 17-6 overall record and a 9-3 mark in league play. The Bison have won three straight and seven of their last nine matches dating back to Sept. 28. Prior to facing UMKC, North Dakota State will square off against fellow conference co-leader Western Illinois in Macomb, Ill., on Friday night. Christy Steuwe is leading the team in both kills (352) and blocks (104) this season. Mattie Johnson has been Steuwe's primary setter, as she has 1,084 assists, while Kari Fagnan has a team-best 507 digs.
Series Records - The Kangaroos are 0-3 all-time against both North Dakota State and South Dakota State. UMKC dropped a 3-0 decision to North Dakota State on Sept. 28 and it fell to South Dakota State in three games on Sept. 29.
