Volleyball Travels to Iowa State Challenge and Drake for Four Matches
8/30/2010 5:56:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
THIS WEEK: The North Dakota State women's volleyball team (0-2) is scheduled to play Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2-1) at 11 a.m. and Iowa State (1-1) at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 3, in the Iowa State Challenge at Ames High School in Ames, Iowa. The tournament was moved due to August flooding inside Hilton Coliseum. The Bison continue tournament play against Florida International (1-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 4, before traveling to Des Moines for a single match against Drake (4-0) at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 5.
THE SERIES: Friday will be the fifth meeting between North Dakota State and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The series is tied 2-2 after Milwaukee won 3-0 in the 2004 season opener. The teams first met in 1981 at the Minnesota Invitational and played twice in the 1986 Minnesota-Duluth Halloween Classic.
Friday will be the fourth meeting between North Dakota State and Iowa State. The Cyclones have a 3-0 lead in the series including a 3-0 win in Ames in 2005. The teams first met in the 1979 Minnesota Invitational and the 1985 Iowa State Classic.
Saturday will be the third meeting between North Dakota State and Florida International. NDSU leads the series 2-0 with a pair of wins at the 1983 and 1984 Lewis University invitationals.
Sunday will be the fifth meeting between North Dakota State and Drake. The Bulldogs have a 3-1 lead in the series including a 3-1 victory at the Marquette Challenge in 2004 and a 3-0 win in Des Moines in 2005. The teams previously met in the 1976 South Dakota State Invitational and the 1977 Nebraska Invitational.
BISON DROP TWO IN LOUISVILLE: North Dakota State opened its season with a 3-1 loss to Louisville last Friday and a 3-2 loss to Ohio last Saturday at the Louisville Cardinal Classic. NDSU middle hitter Chrissy Knuth and setter Jennifer Lopez were named to the all-tournament team. Knuth had 15 kills and hit .394 in the two matches, and Lopez averaged 6.89 assists and a team-high 2.11 digs. Outside hitters Brooke VandenBergh and Lauren McLaughlin and middle hitter Megan Lambertson led a balanced Bison attack with seven kills each against Louisville, and VandenBergh was credited with 11 kills against Ohio.
ABOUT WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE: The Panthers are 2-1 after beating Saint Louis and Tulsa and losing at IPFW last weekend. UWM has five starters back from last year's 16-15 team that placed third in the Horizon League with a 10-6 record. Junior outside hitter Kerri Schuh (3.36 kps) and senior outside hitter Jena Berg (2.36 kps) lead the Panther attack. Head coach Susie Johnson (Idaho State, 1993) has a 67-28 record in her fourth season at Milwaukee. Johnson is 87-75 in her sixth year overall.
ABOUT IOWA STATE: The Cyclones, ranked No. 9 in last week's American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 poll, are 1-1 after losing in four sets to 13th-ranked Florida and winning in four sets over 14th-ranked Kentucky last week in the Runza/AVCA Showcase in Omaha, Neb. The Cyclones have five starters and their libero back from last year's 27-5 team that was runner-up in the Big 12 Conference and advanced to the NCAA regional semifinals. Senior outside hitter Victoria Henson (3.50 kps) leads the Cyclone attack. Head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch (Nebraska, 1996) has a 106-59 record in her sixth year at Iowa State.
ABOUT FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL: The Panthers are 1-2 after beating Florida A&M and losing to New Mexico State and 15th-ranked Florida State last weekend. FIU has three starters and the libero back from last year's 32-4 team that won the Sun Belt Conference with a 17-0 record and advanced to the NCAA second round. Freshman outside hitter Una Trkulja (3.55 kps) and junior middle blocker Andrea Lakovic (3.09 kps) lead the Panther attack. Head coach Danijela Tomic (Arkansas-Little Rock, 1999) has a 119-42 record in her sixth year at FIU.
ABOUT DRAKE: The Bulldogs are 4-0 after winning the University of North Dakota tournament last weekend. Drake swept Gonzaga, Cal State Bakersfield and San Jose State before beating UND in five sets. Four starters and the libero return from last year's 22-12 team that placed fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 10-8 record. The top returners are senior outside hitter Angela Bys (3.57 kps) and senior defensive specialist Alana Wittenburg (4.43 dps). Former South Dakota State assistant coach Phil McDaniel has a 38-32 record in his third season at Drake.
BISON OPEN WITH FIVE NCAA TEAMS: North Dakota State will open its season with five straight opponents who reached the NCAA tournament a year ago. Louisville (21-11) has played in 12 straight NCAAs and Ohio (27-7) has won six of the last seven Mid-American Conference titles and played in seven straight NCAAs. The Bison go to the Iowa State Challenge Sept. 3-4 to face a Wisconsin-Milwaukee team that has played in two straight and three of the last four NCAA tournaments out of the Horizon League, an Iowa State team that was Big 12 runner-up and finshed 27-5 after its fourth straight NCAA tournament, and a Florida International program that was 32-4 and has played in the last two NCAAs out of the Sun Belt Conference.
SIX STARTERS RETURN FOR BISON: North Dakota State returns all six starters from last year's 23-4 team that won The Summit League with an 18-0 record. They are senior outside hitters Lauren McLaughlin and Brooke VandenBergh, junior middle hitters Chrissy KnuthJanna Deyle, sophomore right-side hitter Brynn Joki, and junior setter Jennifer Lopez. Knuth is a two-time Summit League Player of the Year. She was an AVCA all-region honorable mention and ranked 18th in the nation last year with a .373 hitting percentage. and
BISON CARRY LEAGUE-RECORD WINNING STREAK: North Dakota State enters the season with a 37-match winning streak in Summit League play. That is a league record, surpassing the mark of 34 straight league wins set by Northern Illinois in 1992 and 1993 when the Huskies went 16-0 and 18-0. Only two other schools have won more than 20 straight league matches. Oral Roberts won 29 straight from 1997 to 1999 and Valparaiso won 21 in a row from 2003 to 2005.
NDSU TOP 10 IN DIGS THREE STRAIGHT YEARS: North Dakota State finished in the top 10 nationally in digs per set for the third straight season in 2009. NDSU ranked ninth with an average of 18.00 digs per set after ranking third in 2008 and fourth in 2007. Individually, senior libero Kelly Lopez ranked 40th in the nation with an average of 4.90 digs per set. Lopez was named the Summit League Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season.
NDSU 45th IN FINAL RPI: North Dakota State's No. 45 ranking in the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index was the highest finish for NDSU in four seasons of Division I eligibility. The Bison were as high as 38th in the weekly RPI released Oct. 26.
BISON EARN SEVENTH STRAIGHT TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD: The North Dakota State women's volleyball team earned its seventh straight AVCA Team Academic Award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association in July. With a team grade-point average of 3.48, North Dakota State was one of a record 94 NCAA Division I women's volleyball teams honored for the 2009-10 academic year. It was NDSU's 12th team academic award in 15 years.
NDSU 31st NATIONALLY IN HOME ATTENDANCE: North Dakota State drew 14,653 spectators to 11 home dates last season for an average of 1,332 that ranked 31st among all Division I schools. It was an increase of 362 fans per match and 11 spots higher than NDSU's ranking in 2008. Ten crowds over a thousand filled the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse, including a season-high 1,808 against South Dakota State that was the second largest crowd in school history. NDSU has drawn more than a thousand fans to 16 of its last 18 home matches.
HOME SWEET HOME: North Dakota State plays its home volleyball matches on campus at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse, where the Bison have won 32 of 36 home matches since 2006. NDSU will host the Summit League tournament for the second straight year Nov. 19-20. The completely renovated facility seats 1,206 fans in new chairback seats. NDSU has a 322-57 record at the BBF since 1978.
BISON UNANIMOUS NO. 1 IN PRESEASON POLL: For the second straight season, North Dakota State is the unanimous favorite to win The Summit League in a preseason poll of the league's 10 head coaches. NDSU collected all nine possible first-place votes for 81 points, IPFW was second with 64 points, UMKC (54) was third and Oakland (53) fourth. The top four teams from the regular season advance to the Summit League tournament Nov. 19-20 at NDSU.
|
2009 Record |
|||
|
Team (First-Place Votes) |
Pts |
Overall |
League |
|
1. North Dakota State (9) |
81 |
23-4 |
18-0 |
|
2. IPFW (1) |
64 |
20-12 |
11-7 |
|
3. UMKC |
54 |
15-16 |
10-8 |
|
4. Oakland |
53 |
17-10 |
10-8 |
|
5. South Dakota State |
49 |
10-17 |
9-9 |
|
6. IUPUI |
47 |
20-10 |
12-6 |
|
7. Oral Roberts |
39 |
12-15 |
8-10 |
|
8. Southern Utah |
35 |
9-20 |
7-11 |
|
9. Western Illinois |
19 |
10-21 |
5-13 |
|
10. Centenary |
9 |
4-26 |
0-18 |
THE COACH: Erich Hinterstocker is in his fifth year as head coach at North Dakota State with an 84-31 record. Hired in May 2006, Hinterstocker inherited a program that went 5-31 prior to his arrival and made the third-best turnaround in the country to finish 17-13 in his first year. He has posted three straight 20-win seasons and led NDSU to its first NCAA Division I tournament in 2008. Hinterstocker came to NDSU from Alabama, where he was an assistant coach for two seasons. He also spent three seasons as an assistant at Wisconsin-Green Bay and one year at Alverno College in Wisconsin.
