Kangaroos Return Home For Key Summit League Showdowns With Western Illinois and IUPUI
10/11/2012 9:25:00 AM | Volleyball
The Opponents
Western Illinois enters the match with an 8-11 record overall and a 2-6 mark in Summit League play after defeating North Dakota State and Oakland. Offensively for the Leathernecks, sophomore Samantha Fournier (257) and senior Katie Hosteng (217) have each topped 200 kills, while junior Sarah Fetter's 788 assists are tops on the team. Defensively, senior Bridget Murphy leads the squad with 365 digs and was named Summit League Defensive Player of the Week on Sep. 24.
IUPUI, meanwhile, enters the weekend with a 13-7 record overall and a 6-2 mark in league play after downing Western Illinois last weekend. Offensively, junior Moriah Fair leads the team with 224 kills and is the reigning Summit League Offensive Player of the Week, while senior Kelsey Hoefer and freshman Kaitlyn Hickey have added 204 and 197, respectively. Senior Bethany Foegler, meanwhile, leads the team with 71 blocks, while chipping in 155 kills.
Series History
IUPUI leads the all-time series 20-10 after winning 3-1 on Sep. 14. Western Illinois, meanwhile, leads the series 21-14, despite UMKC winning five of the last six, including a 3-2 decision in Macomb on Sep. 15.
Last Weekend
Last weekend, the 'Roos traveled north to the Dakota's, defeating South Dakota State, 3-1 before falling to North Dakota State, 3-1. On the weekend, senior Emily Lucas led the 'Roos with 44 kills, including 30 in Kansas City's first ever win in Brookings, while adding 26 digs. Freshman Emma Hagedorn, meanwhile, registered 27 kills and team-highs of nine blocks and a .478 hitting percentage.
'Roos In Five
This season, the Kangaroos have played in seven five-set matches, including four of their last five, coming out victorious in six with wins against George Washington, Gardner-Webb, Western Illinois, Oakland, Omaha and South Dakota while falling only to Charlotte. In the matches, UMKC has out-hit its opponents .217 to .191, while registering more kills, assists, aces, digs and blocks.
Killer Lucas
This season, senior Emily Lucas has notched a team-high 273 kills and three times reached her career-high, including registering 34 at South Dakota. 12 times she has led the 'Roos in kills and reached double figures, while currently, leading the league in kills (175) and kills per set (5.00) in league matches.
Roos In The RPI
Currently, the 'Roos rank 142nd in the NCAA's RPI rankings, the fifth best mark in The Summit League behind Fort Wayne (56), Oakland (107), IUPUI (133) and NDSU (131).
Keys To Winning
In 2012, when the 'Roos have a higher attack percentage than their opponent they are 12-0, when they register more kills they are 9-1 and when they win game one of the match they are 8-0. Other superlatives: three or more players hitting over .300 (5-0), hitting over .250 as a team (4-0), recording more assists than the opponent (10-2), recording more digs than the opponent (9-2) and registering 40 or more kills (11-3).
Aces High
Freshman Taryn Miller and senior Emily Lucas are off to a hot start serving in 2012 for the Kangaroos. To date, the Blue Springs, Mo., native Miller has notched a Summit League-high 27 aces, including twice landing four, while Sublette, Kan., native Lucas is right behind with 24 aces, including a career-high five against Omaha. Overall, Miller's 0.34 aces per set is tops in the league, with Lucas second at 0.32. As a team, the 'Roos are second in the league with 101 aces and third at 1.28 aces per set.
Preseason All-Tourney Team Selections
Three members of the Kansas City volleyball team were named to all-tournament teams, led by Skyler Muff who garnered honors at both the UniWyo Cowgirl Classic and the Runnin' Bulldog Classic. Freshmen Taryn Miller, meanwhile, was also named to the UniWyo Cowgirl Classic All-Tournament Team, while Emily Lucas was placed on the North Texas Invitational All-Tournament Team.
Last Season
In 2011, the Kangaroos finished the season with an overall record of 12-17 and a 6-12 mark in Summit League play to place eighth in the standings. The 'Roos, however, closed out the season winning six of eight league games, including five straight. During the course of the season, the squad finished 3-0 at a preseason tournament for the first time since 2002, while five separate players made all-tournament teams.
Summit League Preseason Poll
The Kangaroo volleyball team was picked to finish seventh in The Summit League's annual preseason poll in a vote by the league's head coaches. The 'Roos, who finished the 2011 season with a 12-17 record overall and a 6-12 mark in league play, garnered 23 points overall to finish just behind South Dakota.
Fresh Faces
The 2012 Kangaroos include eight newcomers, seven of whom are freshman. Sophomore Morgan Voorhes is the only non-freshman first year 'Roo after transferring from Pittsburgh State, while redshirt freshman Sydney Crimmins joins the squad after spending a year with the Kangaroo basketball program. The remaining freshmen consist of Lindsay Zych, Taryn Miller, Emma Hagedorn, Nicole Wemhoff, Jessica Hendin and Skyler Muff.
Kansas City Feel
The 2012 edition of the Kangaroo volleyball team will have a distinct Kansas City feel to it as six student-athletes come from the area, including Lindsay Zych (Lenexa, Kan.), Taryn Miller (Blue Springs, Mo.), Emma Hagedorn (Parkville, Mo.), Nicole Wemhoff (Kansas City, Mo.), Morgan Voorhes (Overland Park, Kan.) and Jessica Hendin (Overland Park, Kan.). Three others, Sydney Crimmins (Clay Center, Kan.), Emily Lucas (Sublette, Kan.) and Skyler Muff (Pittsburg, Kan.) are from Kansas.
