ISU Volleyball

Nov. 15, 2005
Volleyball
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SYCAMORES FACE NO. 23 WICHITA STATE & MISSOURI STATE TO FINISH 2005

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State welcomes No. 23 Wichita State and Missouri State to ISU Arena in the final two contests of the 2005 season. The Sycamores will host Family Night on Friday against the Shockers, who have already wrapped up the MVC regular season title. ISU will honor their three seniors (Katie Freeman, Sarah Smith, Tessa Wolf) on Saturday night against MSU. The Bears will be playing for second place as they enter the weekend tied with Illinois State with a 13-3 record.

Wolf On Fire
• Senior Tessa Wolf has been on a tear over the last month averaging 4.68 kills per game with a .326 attack percentage over a six match span. In addition, Wolf has increased her production the last two weekends averaging 5.67 kills per game with a .449 hitting mark against UNI, Bradley and Illinois State. She tallied a career-high 20 kills against Bradley and followed with 19 kills against the Redbirds last Friday. Against Illinois State, Wolf opened the match with nine kills on 13 swings with no errors in the first game for a .629 attack percentage. Wolf has totaled double-digit kills in each of the last six matches and a team-best 17 times this season.

Trame Leads the Way
• Christy Trame broke the Indiana State freshman record for blocks in a season with 105 after posting a match-high four blocks against Illinois State on Friday. Trame leads the Sycamores and ranks eighth in the MVC with 1.18 blocks per game. She also moved into 10th place on ISU’s all-time kills list with 220 after posting 15 kills against the Redbirds. Trame has posted double-digit kill efforts in six of the Sycamores last seven matches and is averaging 3.78 kills per game during the stretch. In addition, she recorded a season-best 18 kills against Southern Illinois with a .353 attack percentage.

Pollard Stepping Up
• Meghan Pollard posted 11 digs against Illinois State on Friday, marking her seventh straight match with double-digit digs. She has led the Sycamores’ defensive effort in nine of the last 13 matches. Pollard moved into second on the team in digs averaging 2.82 per game, but leads the team in MVC action with 3.48 digs per game. In the first matchup of the year against Bradley (Oct. 7), Pollard recorded a career-high 28 digs. The total is a season-high for the Sycamores and ranks as the 12th best total all-time at Indiana State.

Scouting Report
No. 23 Wichita State Shockers (25-2, 16-0 MVC)
• The Shockers are ranked No. 23 for the third straight week in the USA Today/CSTV Top 25 and enter this weekend riding a 23-match winning streak. WSU has posted an unblemished 16-0 record in conference action to clinch its second straight MVC regular season title. WSU uses an all-around team attack as all six Shockers that play on the front line average at least 2.1 kills per game, while none average more than 2.9. WSU leads the MVC with a .308 hitting percentage while holding their opponents to a league-best .127 attacking mark.
Missouri State Bears (20-8, 13-3 MVC)
• MSU enters the match having won 14 of 16, including a current six-match winning streak. The Bears are tied for second-place in the MVC standings and will battle Illinois State on Friday for the second seed in the tournament. Katie Werges leads the Bears offense averaging 4.11 kills per game, while Sabrina Apker has tallied 2.81 kills per game with a team-best .336 attack percentage and 1.66 blocks per game, which ranks second in the MVC. Ashley Warren leads the MVC with 1,318 assists on the season.

Wolf Attack
• Tessa Wolf leads the Sycamores with 3.13 kills per game and a .215 attack percentage, including 17 matches with double-digit kills. She has led the team in kills in each of the last four games and in nine of the last 14 matches. Wolf has tallied a career-high 282 kills this year and passed the half-century mark for her career as she now has 513 kills during her four seasons at ISU.

Cox is Diggin’ It
• Kristy Cox has posted 331 digs this season, which ranks fourth on the ISU freshman records list. She has also led the team in digs in 16 matches, and posted double-digit digs in 18 matches. Earlier this year, Cox tallied a season-best 26 digs against Eastern Illinois, setting an ISU freshman record and marking the third most digs in a three-game match in ISU history.

Gone Fish-ing
• Junior Tera Fish regained her starting setter position and tallied 36 assists in three games against Bradley leading Indiana State to a season-best .241 attack percentage. Fish’s assist total was her highest since Sept. 10, and it was also the Sycamores best effort in a three-game match this season.

Freeman Does It All
• Senior Katie Freeman has continued her excellent play in several different aspects of the game. Freeman is third on the squad averaging 2.78 digs per game, while also posting 1.60 kills per game. Freeman posted a team-high 12 digs against Illinois State on Friday and now has 803 digs for her career. She needs 13 kills over the weekend to hit the half-century mark in her career at ISU.

Head Coach Julie Krofcheck
• Julie Krofcheck is in her third season in charge of the ISU bench. In the first two seasons of the Krofcheck era, the Sycamores finished in the top six of the MVC standings and earned trips to the postseason, which had never been done in back-to-back years at Indiana State.