UMKC Volleyball Hits The Road To Close Out The 2007 Season
11/7/2007 12:45:00 PM | Volleyball
This Week - The UMKC volleyball team will hit the road for a pair of matches this weekend to close out the 2007 season. The Kangaroos open play with a 6 p.m. match at Oakland on Friday night at the O'Rena. A day later, UMKC will head to Indianapolis to square off against IUPUI beginning at 6 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 dropped their final two home matches of the season against South Dakota State and North Dakota State last weekend at the Swinney Recreation Center. On Friday night, UMKC fell to the Jackrabbits in three games, 19-30, 14-30 and 24-30. A day later, the squad lost in four games to the Bison, 27-30, 30-32, 30-28 and 17-30.
Summit League Race Heats Up - South Dakota State and Oral Roberts are tied for the top spot in The Summit League standings with an 11-3 record, while three teams - North Dakota State, IPFW and Western Illinois - are all tied for third with 10-4 marks. The top four teams in at the conclusion of the regular season advance to the Summit League Championships.
Tipton Second In School History In Single Season Digs - Junior Mandy Tipton continued her rise up the UMKC single season dig charts with her 38 digs last weekend in matches against South Dakota State and North Dakota State. With her performances, Tipton moved her season total to 479 digs this season, which is second place in the school recordbooks. The Blue Springs, Mo., native now needs just 21 digs in the season's final two matches to become just the second player in Kangaroo history to finish with 500 or more digs in a single season.
On the year, Tipton has been in double-figures in 25-of-30 matches, which includes 10 matches with 20 or more digs. Last Saturday, Tipton matched a season high with her 28 digs against the Bison. She also finished with 28 digs on Sept. 22 against Western Illinois.
Schmidt Posts Career-Highs Against The Bison - Freshman Holly Schmidt finished with a pair of career highs in the four-game loss to North Dakota State last Saturday at the Swinney Recreation Center. The Alma, Mo., native finished with a career-high nine kills and seven blocks against the Bison.
UMKC Third In League Play In Service Aces - UMKC ranks third in league only matches this season in service aces. The Kangaroos have 74 aces in 48 games, which averages out to 1.54 aces per game. Individually, Mandy Tipton ranks eighth in the league with 15 aces, while Kylee Stephenson averages .29 per game for the team.
Tipton Becomes Fifth Kangaroo With 1,000 Career Digs - Redshirt junior Mandy Tipton became just the fifth UMKC player to surpass the 1,000-career dig plateau last Friday night against South Dakota State. Tipton now has 1,028 career digs, which ranks fifth all-time. She needs 21 digs to catch Julie Mohrfeld, who ranks fourth in the school recordbooks with 1,049 digs.
Injury Bug Hurts 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 10 matches due to a medical condition. Junior Liz Pollock, meanwhile, has missed the last six matches after injuring her knee in the match at Western Illinois on Oct. 19.
Koenig Posts Third Double-Double Of The Season - Sophomore Caitlin Koenig posted her third double-double of the season on Saturday night against North Dakota State. The Cary, Ill., native finished with 45 assists and 12 assists in the match. In the match, Koenig narrowly missed her third triple double, as she also tallied nine kills.
Gettinger Leads Team With Six Double-Doubles - Sophomore Kelly Gettinger leads the Kangaroos with six double-doubles on the season. The outside hitter's last double-double came on Oct. 10 at Central Arkansas, when she finished with 10 kills and 11 digs.
On the year, Gettinger is second on the team in digs (310) and third on the squad in service aces (24) and kills (310). The Overland Park, Kan., native has 10 matches on the year with 10 or more kills and 17 matches with 10 or more digs.
Johnson Tops On Team In Kills - Senior Sarah Johnson is leading UMKC with 272 kills or 2.62 per game this season. The Sioux Falls, S.D., native has 11 matches with 10 or more kills, which includes a career-best 17 kills against Cleveland State on Sept. 8.
Johnson is also tied for the team lead in league only matches with sophomore Jamie Hagerman. Both players have 130 kills in Summit League play.
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 89 blocks (.90 p/game), while Johnson is second with 83 blocks (.77 p/game) on the year.
Starks In The All-Time Recordbooks - Senior Lauren Starks currently ranks 10th all-time in the UMKC record books with 962 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 1,718 assists in a Kangaroo uniform.
Triple Stats For Koenig - Over the first five matches of the season, redshirt sophomore Caitlin 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. The Cary, Ill., native narrowly missed her third triple double of the season on Saturday night when she finished with 45 assists, 12 digs and nine kills against North Dakota State.
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 - The Golden Grizzlies enter Friday's match with a 7-20 overall record and a 3-11 mark in Summit League action. Oakland has lost its last five matches since defeating Centenary, 3-1, on Oct. 19. Last weekend, OU dropped a pair of 3-0 decisions at home against ORU and on the road at IUPUI.
Two OU players have more than 200 kills on the season with Amy Golem pacing the squad with 281 kills or 2.96 per game. Katy Wilson (399 assists) and Alex Darin (370 assists) are the team's primary setters, while Lauren Duquette has a team-high 565 digs. At the net, Leah Dupuie paces the team with 117 blocks.
IUPUI, meanwhile, enters the weekend with a 12-16 overall record and a 5-9 mark in league play. The Jaguars have won their last two matches, as they topped Centenary, 3-1, on Nov. 3 and Oakland, 3-0, on Nov. 4. Devika Bellamy and Carol Newell are leading the team with 382 and 342 kills, respectively. Danielle Goodnight has 989 assists, while Chelsea Bastin has 448 digs.
Series Records - The Kangaroos lead the all-time series over Oakland 15-4, as they have won nine of the last 10 meetings in the series. On Oct. 13 in Kansas City, UMKC defeated the Grizzlies in three games by the scores of 30-27, 32-30 and 30-24.
IUPUI, meanwhile, holds a 13-7 all-time advantage in the series against the Kangaroos. The Jaguars have won the last four meetings in the series and 10 of the last 11. UMKC's last victory over IUPUI came in October of 2005 in Kansas City. This season, the Jaguars topped the Kangaroos in four games in The Summit League opener on Sept. 15.
