September 20, 2006
Volleyball
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WEEKLY VOLLEYBALL NOTES

Terre Haute, Ind. - - - The Sycamores (3-10) are back in action this week with a pair of road matches against conference opponents. On Friday they meet Southern Illinois (7pm) then Saturday they travel to Evansville (7pm). The Sycamores look to rebound from a two home losses against Missouri State and Wichita State last weekend. Despite the losses there were a few bright spots for the Sycamores. Sophomore Stephanie Meier recieved conference player of the week consideration after posting a double-double in kills and digs against Missouri State and Whitney Nichols got freshman of the week consideration for notching an astounding 75 total sets.

The Sycamores hope to have freshman offensive ace Kelli Whitaker back in the lineup for this weekend’s game as her presence has been sorely missed. In her absence, in addition to the play of Meier and Nichols, several other players stepped up with big contributions. Sophomore Kristy Cox continued her steady play at her libero position and a pair of freshman Jodi Stoker and Kristen Kerscher chipped in with impressive all-around performances.

Scouting Southern Illinois (Overall: 6-6 Conference: 1-1)

• The Saluki’s feature a balanced offensive attack with 5 players averaging 2.00 kills per game or better. They are lead by Senior Johanna Yutzy who leads the team in kills (3.26) and is second on the team in blocks per game (1.19).
• They are coached by Brenda Winkeler (2nd Year) who pushed the Saluki’s to a mark of (10-18) last year which was good for a 7th place conference finish.
• In their last meeting the Saluki’s won (3-1) behind the strong efforts of Johanna Yutzy who totaled 22 kills. The Sycamores only return 3 players who played in that match, Kristy Cox, Stephanie Meier, and Alisha Polite.

Scouting Evansville (Overall: 7-6 Conference: 1-1)

• The Purple Aces feature a pair of offensive weapons in Junior Anne Teegardin who posted an attack percentage of .750 in last weekend’s matches and Senior Sarah Treadway who is leading the Aces on the year with a 3.04 attack percentage.
• They are coached by Mike Swan (4th Year) who is no stranger to success, being one of only 36 active coaches to reach the 400 win plateau.
• In their last meeting the Ace’s won (3-0). They key to the game was errors as the Sycamores totaled 32 compared to the Ace’s 16.