Kansas City Heads East For Summit League Showdowns
10/18/2012 10:58:00 AM | Volleyball
The Opponents
IPFW enters the match with an 18-4 record overall and a 7-2 mark in league play, after falling to Oakland for the second time last weekend. Emily Spencer leads the team in kills with 333 while the duo of Jessie Manwaring and Kendall Wienkes have also chipped in with over 200 kills on the year. Setting up the IPFW hitters is senior Megan Steenhuysen. Steenhuysen is sixth in the country is assists per set, averaging 12.17. She has recorded 998 on the season. Tessa McGill has put together a standout senior season by leading the team in digs with 493. McGill became only the second player in IPFW history to reach 2,000 career digs. She is currently second all-time at IPFW and fifth all-time in the Summit League with 2,062 career digs.
Oakland enters the weekend with a 12-9 record overall and a 5-4 mark in Summit League play after defeating IUPUI, Omaha and Fort Wayne in its last three league contests. Meghan Bray leads the Golden Grizzlies with a league-high 363 kills and a 4.32 kills per set mark, winning Summit League Offensive Player of the Week on Sep. 3, while Taylor Humm and Brittany Holbrook have each topped the 200 kill mark. Defensively, Alli Kirk, two-time Summit League Defensive Player of the Week, has a team-high 459 digs, while Humm and Bray have chipped in 302 and 282, respectively.
Series History
Kansas City leads the all-time series with Oakland 18-11, after a 3-2 win over the Golden Grizzlies on Sep. 21. IPFW, meanwhile, leads the series, 8-3, winning 3-0 at the SRC on Sep. 23.
Last Weekend
Freshman Jessica Hendin recorded her third career double-double to lead the Kansas City volleyball team to a 3-0 win over Summit League foe Western Illinois on Friday night at the Swinney Recreation Center, their first 3-0 victory since Aug. 31. In the match, the Overland Park, Kan., native totaled 11 kills and a .333 hitting percentage, to go along 10 digs and four blocks, finishing second on the team in each category. Senior Emily Lucas, meanwhile, recorded a team-high 13 kills, while freshman Taryn Miller led the 'Roos with 14 digs.
Lucas led the Kansas City Volleyball team to a 3-1 win over IUPUI on Sunday afternoon at the Swinney Recreation Center with a match-high 23 kills and 13 digs for her 10th double-double of the season, moving the Kangaroos into a tie for second in the Summit League standings. Freshman Emma Hagedorn, meanwhile, notched her first career double-double with 12 kills and a career-high 10 blocks, the most by a 'Roo this season, while freshman setter Nicole Wemhoff finished with 25 assists and 11 digs for her seventh double-double of the year.
'Roos In Five
This season, the Kangaroos have played in seven five-set matches 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. 14 times she has led the 'Roos in kills and reached double figures, while currently, leading the league in kills (211) and kills per set (5.02) in league matches.
Roos In The RPI
Currently, the 'Roos rank 133rd in the NCAA's RPI rankings, the third best mark in The Summit League behind Fort Wayne (62) and Oakland (106).
Keys To Winning
In 2012, when the 'Roos have a higher attack percentage than their opponent they are 14-0, when they register more kills they are 11-1 and when they win game one of the match they are 10-0. Other superlatives: three or more players hitting over .300 (6-0), hitting over .250 as a team (5-0), recording more assists than the opponent (12-2), recording more digs than the opponent (10-2) and registering 40 or more kills (12-3).
Joining The Record Book
Currently, several 'Roos have placed their names inside the Kansas City record book, including senior setter Ella Meier who has moved into third all-time with 1858 career assists, while senior Brittany Fossier is fifth all-time in block assists with 242. Emma Hagedorn, meanwhile, sits seventh with a single season hitting percentage of .268, Taryn Miller is fourth in digs per set (4.65) and ninth in digs (400) and Lucas is eighth in kills per set (3.77).
NCAA Top-100's
For the 'Roos, Emily Lucas ranks 81st in the NCAA in kills per set (3.79) and 86th in points per set (4.29), while Taryn Miller is 85th in digs per set (4.70).
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 29 aces, including twice landing four, while Sublette, Kan., native Lucas is third 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 fifth at 0.29. As a team, the 'Roos are second in the league with 109 aces and second at 1.27 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.
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 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.
