Kangaroos Head North For Summit League Match With Coyotes
9/28/2012 9:28:00 AM | Volleyball
(Kansas City, Mo.) - The Kangaroos (10-7, 3-2) will head north to Vermillion, S.D., to take on Summit League rival South Dakota (7-9, 1-3) at 7 p.m. on Sep. 29. Live stats can be viewed at www.umkckangaroos.com.
The Opponent
South Dakota enters the match with a 7-9 record overall and a 1-3 mark in Summit League play with its lone league win coming in a 3-1 decision over Western Illinois. On the season, sophomore Kendall Kritenbrink leads the Coyotes with 193 kills and was named The Summit League Offensive Player of the Week on Sep. 17. Three other Yotes, meanwhile, have topped the 100 kill mark, including junior Amber Aschoff with 173. Junior Tori Kroll sets up the offensive with a team-high 591 assists, while in the back row, Kroll (145), sophomore Riley Haug (143) and sophomore Katie Bunkers (137) are all over 135 digs. At the net, senior Lindsey Sathre and junior Natalie Walseth each have a team-high 46 blocks.
Series History
Kansas City leads the all-time series between the two schools 2-1. Last season, each team won on its home court with the Coyotes taking the match 3-0 in Vermillion and the 'Roos winning 3-2 in Kansas City. The only other meeting between the two teams came in 2010 with the Kangaroos winning 3-0 at the Hampton inn & Suites Northern Colorado Volleyball Classic in Greeley, Colo.
Last Time Out
Senior Emily Lucas recorded her team-high fifth double-double of the season, as the Kansas City volleyball team (10-7, 3-2) knocked off Omaha (5-10, 0-3), 3-2, on Tuesday night at the Swinney Recreation Center.
In the match, the Sublette, Kan., native notched 23 kills, 16 digs and a career-high five aces, while freshman Emma Hagedorn finished with 12 kills in the victory.
Defensively, freshman Skyler Muff was in on five of the Kangaroos six blocks, while freshman Taryn Miller led the 'Roos with 20 digs and added three of Kansas City's 11 aces. In the back row, freshman Jessica Hendin and fellow freshman Lindsay Zych each topped the 10 dig mark with 13 and 11, respectively.
Offensively, Hendin tallied nine kills and Muff eight, while freshman Sydney Crimmins recorded six with a team-high .545 hitting percentage. Freshman Nicole Wemhoff and senior Ella Meier, meanwhile, finished with 28 and 24 assists, respectively.
'Roos In Five
This season, the Kangaroos have played in six five-set matches, coming out victorious in the matches against George Washington, Gardner-Webb, Western Illinois, Oakland and Omaha while falling only to Charlotte. In the matches, UMKC has out-hit its opponents .211 to .195, while registering more kills, assists, aces, digs and blocks.
Keys To Winning
In 2012, when the 'Roos have a higher attack percentage than their opponent they are 10-0 and when they register more kills and win game one of the match they are 7-0. Other superlatives: three or more players hitting over .300 (5-0), three or more players with 10 or more kills and hitting over .300 as a team (3-0), recording more assists than the opponent (8-1) and registering 40 or more kills (9-2).
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 24 aces in 17 matches, including twice landing four, while Sublette, Kan., native Lucas is right behind with 22 aces, including a career-high five. Overall, Miller's 0.36 aces per set is tops in the league, with Lucas second at 0.35. As a team, the 'Roos top the league with 90 aces and are third at 1.36 aces per set.
Solo Blockers
As a team, the Kangaroos are tied for The Summit League lead in solo blocks with 37, while individually freshman Emma Hagedorn ranks fourth with 10 and senior Ella Meier ranks seventh with eight.
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.
Senior Leaders
The UMKC volleyball will feature a quartet of seniors this season that will provide leadership to the eight newcomers on this year's squad. Leading the way for the 'Roos in their final seasons are Ella Meier, Emily Lucas, Brittany Fossier and Brittney Robers.
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.
