'Roos Look For First Summit League Win On Road Against Oakland, IPFW
10/6/2011 10:28:00 AM | Volleyball
(Kansas City, Mo.) - The UMKC volleyball team (6-1, 0-7) will look to pick up its first Summit League win of the season when it visits Oakland (8-7, 3-3) and IPFW (11-6, 4-2) this weekend. The match between the 'Roos and the Golden Grizzlies is slated for a 6 p.m. start on Friday, while the Kangaroos and the Mastodons are set to square-off at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
The Opponents
Oakland enters the week with an 8-7 record overall and a 3-3 mark in league play after splitting its matches with Oral Roberts and Southern Utah last week. On the season, the Grizzlies are led by Meghan Bray's 218 kills, while Allison Bell and Brittany Holbrook have added 167 and 146, respectively. Alissa Valentine sets up the OU offense with 447 assists, while Alli Kirk's 287 digs are tops on the team.
IPFW enters the weekend with an 11-6 record overall and a 4-2 mark in Summit League play, after picking up consecutive wins over Southern Utah and Eastern Michigan in its previous two outings. Emily Spencer leads the 'Dons offense with 275 kills, while Jessie Manwaring (179), Alli Hook (122) and Megan Wiler (105) have each topped 100 kills. Megan Steenhuysen, meanwhile, leads IPFW in assists with 735, while Tessa McGill's 347 digs are a team-high.
Series Record
UMKC leads the all-times series against Oakland, 17-9, despite dropping a pair of matches last season to the Grizzlies. IPFW, meanwhile, leads the series with the 'Roos, 6-2 after each team won on the road in 2010.
Last Week
On Friday, the 'Roos dropped a four-set match, 3-1, to Western Illinois at the Swinney Recreation Center. In the match, each of the 'Roos two setters finished with double-doubles, as junior Ella Meier registered 25 assists and 12 digs and junior Brittney Robers recorded 16 assists and 12 digs.
On Sunday, UMKC fell to IUPUI, 3-0. Senior Kelsey Knoche led the 'Roos with 11 kills, 13 digs and three blocks, while junior Brittany Fossier notched eight kills and six blocks in the loss.
On Monday, the Kangaroos fell to North Dakota State, 3-1. In the match, senior libero Nicole Kerkman recorded 22 digs, tying her with Mandy Tipton for the top spot in the UMKC record books with 1,336 career digs, while Senior Elizabeth Beck led the 'Roos with 10 kills and Meier notched her fourth consecutive double-double with 24 assists and 13 digs.
Setting The Mark
With her four block performance on Sunday, UMKC senior Christiana McQuin became the 'Roos all-time leader in block assists with 331, passing Lindsey Zerr. The Wellington, Kan., native also sits fifth in school history with a .254 hitting percentage and eighth with 52 solo blocks.
Senior Nicole Kerkman, meanwhile, is tied with Mandy Tipton for the all-time digs record at 1,336 digs. The Omaha, Neb., native, also sits second in school history with a mark of 3.67 digs per set. Fellow senior Kelsey Knoche ranks fifth in digs per set (3.10) and eighth in kills per set (2.67) while Erin Wellwood sits fifth in assists (1,364) and Brittany Fossier sits ninth in block assists (215).
Senior Power
The 2011-12 senior class consists of seven different student-athletes whose years in the Blue & Gold span from one to four years. In their combined 22 seasons, Elizabeth Beck, Nicole Kerkman, Kelsey Knoche, Christiana McQuin, Kara Thomas, Erin Wellwood and Demetria Williams have combined for 1,867 sets played over 536 matches, while amassing 2,549 kills, 1,723 assists, 319 service aces, 3,660 digs, 93 solo blocks, 708 block assists, 801 total blocks and a .179 hitting percentage.
Five 'Roos Honored As All-Tournament Performers
Five different 'Roos were honored this preseason as all-tournament performers, led by senior Nicole Kerkman who was named to the Black Knights Invitational and Kangaroo Klassic all-Tournament Teams. Teammates Emily Lucas and Christiana McQuin garnered honors at the Black Knights Invitational and Kangaroo Klassic, respectively, while Kelsey Knoche and Chloe Jarema earned all-tournament honors at the Radford Tournament.
First Tournament Sweep Since 2002
With its three game sweep and tournament title at the Radford Tournament on Sept. 2-3, the UMKC volleyball team captured its first 3-0 tournament performance since the Southern Illinois Tournament in 2002. That year, the 'Roos defeated Murray State, 3-1, Central Michigan, 3-1 and host Southern Illinois 3-2.
Players of the Week
The UMKC roster currently features six players who have claimed Summit League Player of the Week honors. Plano, Texas, native Brittany Fossier was the first to be honored, winning Defensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 15, 2008, during her freshman season. During their sophomore campaigns, Kelsey Knoche (10/26/09) and Elizabeth Beck (11/16/09) were each named Offensive Player of the Week, while Christiana McQuin (11/9/09) garnered Defensive Player of the Week honors. Last season, meanwhile, Nicole Kerkman (9/13/10) and Demetria Williams (9/27/10) each earned the Defensive Player of the Week award.
Last Season
In 2010, the 'Roos finished the campaign with a 9-21 record overall and a 6-12 mark in Summit League play, finishing eighth in the league. Offensively, the 'Roos were led by a trio of then juniors, including Elizabeth Beck (294 k), Kelsey Knoche (293 k) and Christiana McQuin (240 k), while then sophomore Ella Meier finished with a team-high 590 assists. Defensively, six Kangaroos recorded over 150 digs, led by Nicole Kerkman's 396 and Knoche's 360. At the net, McQuin (112 b) and Demetria Williams (81 b) were the squad's top two blockers.
Head Coach Christi Posey
Christi Posey was named the new head coach of the Kangaroo volleyball program on Feb. 14, 2011, after spending the past eleven seasons as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at the University of Kansas. Prior to heading to Lawrence, Posey served as the head volleyball coach at Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kan., from 1993 to 2000. During that time, Posey led the Huskies to KSHSAA state tournaments in each of her eight season, winning the state championships in 1996 and 1997, while finishing third three times. While coaching the Huskies, she was named the 1997 Coach of the Year by the Kansas Volleyball Association and Kansas Sport Magazine after leading her team to a perfect 44-0 record, including a second-straight KSHSAA state championship and the 1996 Coach of the Year by Kansas Sport Magazine and Sports Connection after guiding her team to a 41-3 record and the state championship.
'Roos in The Classroom
Last season, eight 'Roos were named to The Summit League Academic all-Conference team, including current 'Roos Elizabeth Beck, Nicole Kerkman, Kelsey Knoche, Christiana McQuin, Ella Meier, Brittney Robers and Erin Wellwood. In order to be named to academic all-League team, each student-athlete must post a GPA of 3.0 or higher in the semester in which they compete. Additionally, five 'Roos were named distinguished scholars for posting a GPA above 3.6, including Beck.
Meanwhile, seven current player and eight total were named to the Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence, including Beck, Kerkman, Knoche, McQuin, Meier, Kara Thomas and Wellwood, for posting a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better.
