ISU Volleyball

Sept. 27, 2005
Volleyball
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SYCAMORES TRAVEL TO EVANSVILLE & SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State heads south for two important Missouri Valley Conference match ups against Evansville and Southern Illinois. The Sycamores face the Purple Aces on Friday with both teams searching for their first win of the conference season. ISU is looking to avenge two losses to UE last season, after the Sycamores dominated the series the previous three years. Indiana State then heads to Carbondale, Ill. for a Saturday night match. SIU’s only win in MVC action so far was against UE in its first conference match of the season. ISU won both matches against the Salukis last season.

Last Time Out
• The Sycamores opened the home schedule last weekend against Creighton and Drake, but the home-court advantage was not enough to overcome the MVC foes as they dropped both matches. Creighton powered past ISU with an impressive .308 attack percentage to earn a 3-0 victory. Against Drake, Tessa Wolf tallied 17 kills with a .344 attack percentage but the Bulldogs stepped up in the clutch to take a 3-0 decision.

Setting It Up
• Tera Fish and Alisha Polite each recorded double-digit assist totals against both Creighton and Drake. It is the first time the Sycamores have had two players with 10+ assist totals in a match since the 2002 season.

Wolf Attack
• Tessa Wolf posted 17 kills with a .344 attack percentage against Drake last week to set an ISU season-high for kills in a match. It is the third-highest total for Wolf in her career as she has posted 18 kills on two occasions. She now has three of the top four kill totals for ISU this season and leads the Sycamores with 2.79 kills per game.

Cox is Diggin’ It
• Kristy Cox led the Sycamores in digs in both matches last weekend as she posted two double-digit totals. It is the 11th time Cox has posted 10+ digs in the first 14 matches of her career. Earlier in the year, she tallied 26 digs against Eastern Illinois, setting an ISU freshman record and marking the third most digs in a three-game match in ISU history.

Scouting Report
Evansville Purple Aces (5-11, 0-3)
• Evansville was picked to finish eighth in the preseason MVC coaches poll, and has dropped its first three conference tests of the season. The Aces are coached by Mike Swan, who is in his third year. UE has played several common opponents with the Sycamores this season as they opened the season with a victory over Austin Peay and dropped a 3-0 decision to Western Kentucky. The Aces also play Indiana on Tuesday. Senior Lacy Haller leads UE with 2.95 kills per game and a .260 attack percentage.
Southern Illinois Salukis (4-8, 1-2)
• SIU is under the direction of first-year head coach Brenda Winkeler, who came to the Salukis after a successful tenure at Eastern Illinois. The Salukis returned five starters to team, but were picked seventh in the MVC preseason poll. SIU has five players with over 2.0 kills per game, and Marissa Washington leads the squad with a .351 attack percentage.

Climbing the Charts
• Christy Trame moved into ninth place on the all-time ISU freshman list with 13 block solos (see freshman records, pg. 5). Trame’s season block solo total also leads the MVC this season. In addition, Kristy Cox has moved into the top 10 for freshman dig totals with 202.

Triple the Fun
• Junior Tera Fish posted a triple-double in just her fifth contest with the Sycamores after transferring to ISU from Dixie State College. Fish recorded 10 kills, 15 digs and 45 assists against Austin Peay with a .571 attack percentage. It is the second triple-double for the Sycamores in a span of 21 matches, as Kerri Byrum notched one last season against Bradley. Prior to Byrum, the feat had not been accomplished by a Sycamore in over four years.

Fresh Start
• Freshman Alisha Polite earned the starting nod against Wichita State marking the fourth freshmen, and fifth newcomer, this season to crack the starting lineup. In addition, Kristy Cox has been on the floor at the start of almost every match at the libero position, but liberos are not credited with official starts.Freeman Does It All
• Senior Katie Freeman has continued her excellent play in several different aspects of the game. Freeman is second on the squad averaging 3.06 digs per game, while also posting 1.72 kills per game. She has stepped up her play in conference action as she is second on the team with 2.08 kills per game. In addition, Freeman needs just three digs over the weekend to pass 700 for her career.

Not Your Ordinary Smith
• Senior Sarah Smith hit the half-century mark earlier this season as she went over 500 kills for her career. Smith now has 535 kills in four seasons which is the most of any current Sycamore. She has also continued her efficient attacking style as she is second on the team with a .188 hitting percentage, while averaging 2.04 kills per game. Smith’s career .237 attack percentage ranks seventh on ISU’s all-time list.

Up Next
• The Sycamores will return to ISU Arena next weekend to take on the top two teams in the MVC standings, Bradley and Northern Iowa, as both teams have identical 4-0 records to start the conference season. BU is led by All-American candidate, Lindsay Stalzer, who ranks 13th in the country with 5.28 kills per game. UNI is led by 2004 Freshman of the Year, Danielle Brazda, who ranks second in the country with 2.0 blocks per game.