9/18/2014 12:40:00 PM | Volleyball
(Kansas City, Mo.) – The Missouri-Kansas City volleyball team (8-3) will close out its preseason tournament slate this weekend when it heads to Fort Myers, Fla., for the FGCU Hilton Garden Inn/Homewood Suites Classic on Sep. 19-20. The 'Roos will open with Florida Atlantic on Friday at 2:30 p.m. CT, before taking on FGCU on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. CT and Alabama State (4-10) at 2:45 p.m. CT.
The Opponents
Florida Atlantic enters the match, equaling the 'Roos with an 8-3 record with wins over Tulane, FIU and Southeastern Louisiana in their last three. Offensively, Brittney Brown (114) and Kristina Rankovic (108) have each topped the 100 kill mark, while Genesis Viera leads the Owls with 372 assists. Defensively, Nathalie Rosado has a team-best 168 digs with Katarina Stepanovic is tops in blocks at 24.
FGCU comes into the tournament with a 4-5 record on the season, defeating Florida A&M, Southern Illinois, Houston Baptist and Texas Southern. The Eagles are led offensively by the quartet of Vanessa Benke (112 kills), Jessica Barnes (112), Olivia Mesner (102) and Eleonora Kazarian (99), while Gigi Meyer sets up the offense with 394 assists. At the net, Lauren Tutwiler (24), Mesner (21) and Kazarian (20) lead the team in blocks.
Alabama State enters the weekend with a 4-10 record overall with wins over Southern, South Carolina State, Savannah State and The Citadel. Chelsey Scott leads the Hornets with 102 kills, while Myla Marshall (97) and Amber Bennett (95) are right behind. Defensively, Rachel Smith is tops in digs at 105 with Marshall leading in blocks at 43.
The Series'
Florida Atlantic (0-2)
9/8/06 (N) L, 1-3
9/6/08 (H) L, 1-3
FGCU (1-0)
8/31/12 (N) W, 3-0
Alabama State (0-0)
First Meeting
Last Time Out
The Missouri-Kansas City volleyball team picked up its eighth win of the season in just its 11th match with a 3-1 victory over instate rival Southeast Missouri State (4-8) on Wednesday night at the Swinney Recreation Center, marking the best start in school history for the 'Roos. The win over SEMO is just the second over the Redhawks in school history, improving the Kangaroos' mark to 2-8 all-time against the cross-state foe.
Jessica Hendin led the UMKC attack with 15 kills and a .314 hitting percentage, while adding 12 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. Emma Hagedorn, meanwhile, was the only other 'Roos to finish with double figure kills, notching 10 to go with a team-best six of the 'Roos seven blocks.
For the 'Roos, Melissa Hartsel and Sydney Crimmins each tallied nine kills, hitting .368 and .250, respectively, with Kaylyn Brandt registering a team-high 29 assists. As a team UMKC hit .245 with 58 kills, while limiting the Redhawks to a mark of .043 and 37 kills. In the back row, Taryn Miller topped the squad at 23 digs, with Crimmins chipping in 14.
Hot Start
The 8-3 start by the 'Roos is the best start in school history through 11 matches, topping the 2002 team that began 7-4.
Miller Garners Second Straight POW
Taryn Miller was named the WAC Player of the Week after averaging 7.41 digs, 0.82 assists and 0.35 service aces per set over four matches last week. Miller opened the week with 22 digs and two assists in a four-set loss to No. 24 Kansas. Over the weekend, she was named MVP of the CEFCU Classic after averaging an astounding 8.00 digs, 0.92 assists and 0.46 service aces per set and leading the 'Roos to the tournament title with a perfect 3-0 record. Miller finished with 30 digs in three straight matches for the first time in her career, posting 35 against North Dakota State, 31 at Bradley and a career-high 38 vs. Miami (Ohio). The 38 digs was a Renaissance Coliseum record. Miller now sits in third place on the UMKC career digs list with 1,326, 10 digs shy of second place.
Hendin Named WAC Player Of The Week
Jessica Hendin was named the WAC Player of the Week after averaging 3.82 kills, 3.82 digs and 0.55 service aces per set over three matches last week en route to all-tournament team honors at the Jackrabbit Invitational, her second all-tournament selection in as many weeks. Hendin opened the week with a double-double of 15 kills and 17 digs in a four-set loss to Valparaiso. She then tied her career-high with three aces against South Dakota State and was just shy of a double-double, finishing with nine kills and 11 digs. Hendin closed out the week with a season-high 18 kills to go along with 14 digs in a win against Stephen F. Austin for her third double-double of the season.
WAC Leaders
In the early going of 2014, the 'Roos sit atop the WAC in hitting percentage (.206), assists (12.78), kills (13.73) and digs (18.71), while Taryn Miller is tops in digs at 6.04.
All-Tournament Honors
In the opening tournament, a pair of 'Roos earned all-tournament recognition as Emma Hagedorn and Jessica Hendin were each named to the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Omaha Classic All-Tournament Team. In the Jackrabbit Invitational, Hendin repeated as an all-tournament performer, while Melissa Hartsel joined her on the squad. In the 'Roos third preseason tournament, the CEFCU Classic, Taryn Miller garnered MVP honors, while Kaylyn Brandt and Sydney Crimmins joined her on the squad.
NCAA Leaders
After three weeks of play the 'Roos have put themselves atop several NCAA rankings, as the squad leads the country in both digs per set (18.68) and attacks per set (40.2). In total digs, UMKC is fifth (766) and in total attacks eighth (1,648), while ranking 14th in blocks (106), 18th in kills (560) and 21st in assists (519).
Individually, Taryn Miller ranks second in digs (249) and third in digs per set (6.07), while Jessica Hendin is 34th in aces (17) and Emma Hagedorn (49) and Melissa Hartsel (46) are 23rd and 37th, respectively in blocks.
Taking Down Familiar Foes
The 'Roos have squared-off with three former Summit League foes this season, coming out victorious in all three. On Aug. 30, UMKC beat Omaha 3-2, before taking down South Dakota State 3-0 on Sep. 5. On Sep. 12, meanwhile, the Kangaroos beat North Dakota State for the first time ever, 3-2.
CEFCU Champs
The 'Roos went a perfect 3-0 at the CEFCU Classic, beating North Dakota State, host Bradley and Miami (OH) to claim the tournament title, their first since the 2011 Radford Tournament.
Killin' It
Through two weeks the 'Roos have notched five of the top-nine kill totals in the WAC this season, including the top-two with 67 against both Drake and Stephen F. Austin. In the back row, meanwhile, UMKC has notched the seven of the top-10 dig totals including the top-two, while also finishing with the three of the top-five assist totals, the top ace total and the second and third most blocks.
Individually, Taryn Miller has amassed four of the top six dig totals, including the top two at 38 and 35, while Emma Hagedorn's 10 blocks vs. NDSU is tied for the most.
In The Books
Last season, Emma Hagedorn and Taryn Miller each continued to etch their names in the UMKC record books. Hagedorn set the record for block assists in a season (128) and blocks in a match (14), while Miller recorded the fifth most digs (537). In their careers, Miller ranks second all-time at 1,349 digs and second in digs per set at 5.01 and Hagedorn ranks tied for fourth in block assists at 250 and sixth in hitting percentage at .248, while Nicole Wemhoff is sixth in assists at 1,468.
All-Conference Returners
Last season, Sydney Crimmins and Taryn Miller were each named to the Second Team All-WAC, while freshman Kaylyn Brandt was named to the WAC All-Freshman Team in a vote by the conference's head coaches.
WAC Preseason Poll
The WAC volleyball coaches have selected Missouri-Kansas City to finish fourth in the preseason poll, as the Kangaroos garnered 27 points, while New Mexico State was chosen to win the WAC regular-season crown in 2014. New Mexico State received six of the first-place votes with Seattle U earning the other two. The Aggies earned 48 total points, followed by Seattle U with 43. Utah Valley was picked to finish third with 35 points, while just behind UMKC was Bakersfield in fifth with 26 and Grand Canyon in sixth with 22 points. Texas-Pan American and Chicago State rounded out the poll with 16 and seven points, respectively.
Preseason All-WAC Selections
The WAC coaches voted on the preseason award winners and Utah Valley junior middle blocker Lauren Bakker was the pick for WAC Preseason Player of the Year, with the 'Roos Sydney Crimmins and Emma Hagedorn named to the Preseason All-WAC Team.
Crimmins Reps WAC At SAAC
UMKC volleyball's Sydney Crimmins has been elected to represent the WAC as the conference's national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representative where she will serve as a liaison between the NCAA and the WAC and its SAAC reps. She will serve as a SAAC rep on an NCAA committee and will actively engage the WAC membership about issues concerning student-athletes on a national level.
Last Season
In their first season in the WAC, the 'Roos finished with a winning record for just the third time ever and recorded back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in school history after going 15-14 overall and 9-7 in the WAC. Sydney Crimmins was named to all-tournament teams in each of the 'Roos preseason tournaments and capped it off by being named Second Team All-WAC, alongside teammate Taryn Miller.
New Kids On The Block
The 'Roos will welcome in a pair of true freshman this year in middle hitter Emma Dyer and defensive specialist Adasia Bromberger. Redshirt freshman Meagan Kerns, meanwhile, will make her debut in the Blue & Gold after sitting out last season with a knee injury.
Upperclassmen Return
This season, the Kangaroo lineup will have a heavy dose of upperclassmen with a total of nine on the roster, including seven juniors and two seniors. In all, a total of seven upperclassmen and nine total returners started 12 or more matches in 2013.
Academic 'Roos
Last season, Kaylyn Brandt, Sydney Crimmins, Taryn Miller, Skyler Muff, Morgan Voorhes and Nicole Wemhoff each garnered a spot on the Academic All-WAC Team for amassing a 3.2 or higher cumulative GPA.
