Kangaroos Head To Louisiana For Final Tournament Of '08
9/11/2008 10:00:00 AM | Volleyball
This Week - The UMKC volleyball team will play in its final tournament of the season on Friday and Saturday at the ULM Warhawk Classic in Monroe, La. The Kangaroos will open play at the ULM Activity Center against Houston Baptist on Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. before playing Southeastern Louisiana at 11 a.m. and Louisiana-Monroe at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Follow The ?Roos Online - All UMKC volleyball matches can be heard online at www.umkckangaroos.com during the 2008 season. The “Voice of UMKC Volleyball” T.J. Jackson, who is in his third season with the program, will provide all the play-by-play commentary for the Kangaroos. New in ?08, all home matches will be video streamed online. Check out Roo Vision for more details.
Last Match - The Kangaroos dropped a 3-1 decision to Big 12 foe Kansas on Tuesday night at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center in Lawrence. The Jayhawks won the first two sets by the scores of 25-14 and 25-22 before UMKC cruised to a 25-16 win in the third set. It was the first time since the 2001 season that the Kangaroos took a set from the Jayhawks. KU then closed out the match with a 25-14 win in the fourth. Freshmen Elizabeth Beck and Kate Humphreys led the squad with nine kills apiece.
Tipton Gets 10+ Kills In Two Straight Matches - Senior Mandy Tipton finished with a career-high 17 kills against Florida Atlantic on Sept. 6. The 17 kills are a team-high for the Kangaroos this season. The Blue Springs, Mo., native then recorded her second straight double-digit kill match against Arkansas State, when she finished with 11 kills.
On the season, Tipton is leading UMKC with 77 kills (2.85 p/set) to go along with 57 digs. The senior has led the team in kills in six-of-nine matches on the year.
Beck Shines At Kangaroo Klassic - True freshman Elizabeth Beck was UMKC's most consistent performer at the Kangaroo Klassic on Sept. 5-6, which led to her being named to the all-tournament team. The Omaha, Neb., native finished with 29 kills and a team-best .339 hitting percentage in the team's four matches. Against Florida Atlantic, the outside hitter had a career-best 14 kills and a .476 hitting percentage. She then followed it up with eight kills and four block assists against Arkansas State before tying for the team-high with nine kills at Kansas.
Wellwood Notches Double-Double - Freshman Erin Wellwood recorded her first career double-double and UMKC's first double-double of ?08 last Saturday against Arkansas State. The Omaha, Neb., native finished with 19 assists and 11 digs in the 3-0 loss to the Red Wolves.
Sperry Joins Double-Double Club - Senior Danni Sperry notched UMKC's second double-double of the season with her 16-assist and 11-dig performance at Kansas. The performance is Sperry's third career double-double. Last season, the Fairway, Kan., native finished with 14 assists and 13 digs at Western Illinois. During her freshman season, she finished with 14 kills and 17 digs at Cal State-Fullerton.
Hagerman On The Shelf - Junior Jamie Hagerman missed all four matches of the Kangaroo Klassic after injuring her ankle in practice leading up to the weekend. The Iowa native is day-to-day heading into the ULM Warhawk Classic.
Five Freshmen & A Senior - The youth prevailed in the Kangaroo Klassic finale against Arkansas State as a total of five freshmen and senior Mandy Tipton were listed in the starting line-up for the Kangaroos. Head Coach Geno Frugoli has started at least two freshmen in every match this season and a total of four freshmen in each of the past three contests.
McQuin Puts Down 10 Kills Against Morgan State - True freshman Christiana McQuin finished with a career-best 10 kills in the 3-0 victory over Morgan State on Sept. 5. The Wellington, Kan., native posted a .500 hitting clip (10-1-18) in the match, which is a season-high hitting percentage for the Kangaroos.
Wood Serves Up Five Aces Against MSU - Senior Jacqui Wood finished with a career-high five service aces in the win over Morgan State. The performance matches Wood with junior Jamie Hagerman for the single match-high in aces.
Tipton Approaching School History - Senior Mandy Tipton is inching closer and closer to breaking the UMKC school record for career digs. The Blue Springs, Mo., native needs 85 digs to pass Angela Melka's 1,239 digs for the top spot in the record books.
UMKC All-Tournament Team Honorees - UMKC has had a total of three student-athletes earn all-tournament team honors this season.
Senior Mandy Tipton and sophomore Holly Schmidt earned the all-tournament nod at the TCU Molten/Nike Invitational on Aug. 30-31. Tipton led the team with 24 kills (2.67 p/set) and a .358 hitting percentage, Schmidt finished with 10 kills and a .286 hitting percentage to go along with nine blocks.
At the Kangaroo Klassic, freshman Elizabeth Beck was named to the all-tournament team after finishing with 29 kills and a team-best .339 hitting percentage. She also had a team-high nine block assists on the weekend.
Third Largest Crowd Packs Swinney For “Diabetes Night” - The Kangaroos had 613 fans in attendance at their home match against No. 22 Wichita State on Sept. 2. The figure is the third largest attendance total in UMKC volleyball history. The match was designated as “Diabetes Night” with half of the ticket proceeds going to the American Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Head Coach Geno Frugoli's teams have two of the top-10 highest attended matches in school history. Last season, 413 fans saw the Kangaroos top Oakland on Oct. 13, 2007.
Coaching Staff In Tact - Head Coach Geno Frugoli returns for his second season as the head coach for the Kangaroo volleyball program, while Joan Rickert and Derick White return as his assistants. In new addition in ?08 is volunteer assistant coach Brett Ferguson. The former Park student-athlete helped the Pirates to the NAIA Men's Volleyball National Championship last season.
Frugoli Selected As A Voter For AVCA Poll - Head Coach Geno Frugoli was selected as a voter for the CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll for the 2008 season. Frugoli will be required to rank the teams in Division I women's volleyball each week based on their performance.
AVCA Academic Honor - The Kangaroos received the AVCA Academic Team Award for the second straight year in 2007. In order to receive the honor, the team must carry a 3.30 grade point average on a 4.0 scale. UMKC has received the honor a total of seven times.
A New Look For The ?Roos - At the end of the 2007-08 school year, UMKC Athletics and Kansas City, Mo., advertising firm Bernstein-Rein began work on transforming one of the most unique mascots in college sports. Two options were presented to the community, drawing 2,200 votes. On May 6, 2008, the new set of marks was unveiled.
The new identity encapsulates a strong competitive nature and fierce attitude. The Roo icon and typography establish a sense of motion and direction, with the kangaroo in one if its most iconic poses - side-on in full stride. Its eyes are focused with a snarl adding to its aggressive attitude.
The colors draw inspiration from the classic blue and gold of UMKC, with an addition of black to create a bolder presence. The iconography draws inspiration from UMKC's position as a part of a growing urban community.
The Opponents - Houston Baptist enters the weekend riding a six-match winning streak after topping fellow Summit League foe Centenary, 3-0, on Tuesday night. The Huskies lone loss of the season came in five sets to UNC-Charlotte in their second match of the season. Jessica Barrera and Megan Klimitchek are leading the team with 89 and 79 kills, respectively. Natalie Magat has 245 assists, while Courtney Whittleman has 124 digs.
SE Louisiana enters the weekend having played just two matches on the year, where the team stands at 0-2. On Sept. 9, the Lady Lions dropped a 3-0 decision at Southern Miss. Jessica Srajer is leading the team with 19 kills, Katie Collins has 55 assists and Alex Greer has 26 digs.
Louisiana-Monroe, the tournament host, enters play with an 0-5 record on the year, and the squad has yet to win a set in the five matches. On Tuesday, the Warhawks fell to Louisiana Tech, a team that UMKC defeated in three sets at the TCU Molten/Nike Invitational at the end of August.
Series Records - The Kangaroos lead the all-time series over Louisiana-Monroe, 1-0. The match-up against SE Louisiana and Houston Baptist will be the first meeting in the all-time series.
