Volleyball Preview: Blue Devils travel to Whitewater, Oshkosh

Live Video vs. UW-Whitewater | Live Stats vs. UW-Whitewater | Live Video vs. UW-Oshkosh

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (14-6, 1-1 WIAC) will be at UW-Whitewater (14-5, 2-0 WIAC) Friday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m., then will be at UW-Oshkosh (17-2, 1-1 WIAC) Saturday, Oct. 11 at noon before hoping out of league play to meet the Illinois Institute of Technology (8-12) at 2 p.m. in Oshkosh. Stout has won eight of their last nine contests, and have won three in a row.

ON-LINE: All home Blue Devil matches are available in a live video stream.

BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT:  Stout needed only 75 minutes to down St. Scholastica Tuesday in a three set match, 25-16, 25, 15, 25-19. Morgan Denny had 12 kills and Ashley Pratt had 10. | Story and Stats

A LOOK AT STOUT:  Morgan Denny is having a very nice season, averaging 3.18 kills per set, ranking fifth in the WIAC and is averaging 0.92 blocks per set, ranking fifth in the league. Denny ranks fifth in the league in hitting percentage (.294). Denny has delivered double digit kills in 14 matches and has at least one solo block in 16 matches. Laura Reiter has contributed 2.59 kills. Setter Karley Wiensch ranks fourth in the WIAC in assists with 9.68 per set and sixth in service aces with 0.29. Nicole Bradford is averaging 4.31 digs per set, good for seventh in the league and is 14th in servce aces with 0.29. Molly Brion is 12th in the WIAC in digs with 3.36. Sophomore Olivia Jung has been a steady contributor, averaging 2.11 kills per set and freshman Ashley Pratt has also chipped in, with 2.19 per set. In 21 sets played, freshman Becky Bradshaw has 13 service aces and leads the team with a 0.62 average. Stout is one win away from matching last years wins total of 15. Stout was picked to finish eighth in the conference, according to a WIAC preseason poll.   | 2014 Stats | 2013 Stats

A LOOK AT UW-WHITEWATER: The Warhawks are currently a half game behind UW-River Falls in the WIAC standings and are 26th in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll. The Warhawks have been idle since Sept 27 and have won their last five matches. Whitewater leads the league in hitting percentage (.245) and have held their opponent's to a league low (.124). Lauren Pfeifer leads the way with 2.86 kills. Jessica Sabey has 2.73 kills and Kristen Ruchti has 2.66 kills. Kim Frei is second in the league in assists with 10.67 and Tessa Weber is the league's leader in service aces with 0.55. Sydnee Toon leads the WIAC in blocks at 1.25 per set.  | 2014 Stats

THE  LAST TIME STOUT AND WHITEWATER MET: UW-Whitewater combined for a block party as they handed UW-Stout a 3-0 loss Oct. 4, 2013, at Johnson Fieldhouse. The Warhawks collected 24 block assists as they took a 25-13, 25-17, 25-17 decision. Kristen Ruchti led the way for the 17th ranked Warhawks with eight block assists. Kim Frei, Arial Johnston and Lauren Pfeifer each added four. Ariel Freitag led all players with 11 kills for the Warhawks. Stout got 10 kills from Morgan Denny and eight from Laura Reiter.  | Story and Stats

A LOOK AT UW-OSHKOSH:  The Titans ran off 15 straight wins to start the season before dropping a 3-0 conference contest to UW- Whitewater, Sept. 27. Katelyn Malcheske (3.22 k/set) and Brooke Brinkman (3.00) are ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in kills in the WIAC. Mandy Troutman is tops in the league in digs with 5.52 per set.  | 2014 Stats

THE  LAST TIME STOUT AND OSHKOSH MET: The Blue Devils defeated the Titans 3-0 October 4 at the UW-La Crosse Invitational. Stout rolled over No. 25 Oshkosh in three straight sets. Led by hitters Molly Brion and Laura Reiter, the Blue Devils won by scores of 25-23, 25-14 and 25-22. Brion recorded 12 kills while Reiter added 11 for Stout. Karley Wiensch recorded 37 assists, three service aces and 11 digs while Nicole Bradford added 16 digs for the Blue Devils. The loss was only Oshkosh's second on the year. | Story and Stats

A LOOK AT ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: The Scarlet Hawks snapped a five game losing streak with a 3-0 win over Mount Mary University, Tuesday. Taylor Duman leads the team in kills (2.78) and service aces (0.59) and is matching Claire Fraeyman   in blocks (0.79). The teams have not met at least as far back as 1991. | 2014 Stats

TEAM CAPTAINS: Captains for the 2014 season are Morgan Denny, Nicole Bradford, Laura Reiter and Molly Brion

UW-STOUT COACH LAURA EVANS: Coach Laura Evans (14-6) is in her first year as the Blue Devil coach, replacing Jill Jolliff, who completed 21 seasons as the program's head coach, the longest tenure of any UW-Stout volleyball coach. Evans, the former Laura Hegerle, played her college volleyball at Southwest State University in Marshall, Minn. She has been an assistant coach at Colorado Christian, Augsburg College and Luther College.

QUICK HITS:   The Blue Devils are coming off their second consecutive 15-win season...preseason camp was very competitive, with nearly 30 potential players in before the roster was trimmed to 18...Stout will face Carleton and Macalester colleges on both their first and second days of competion. The Blue Devils open with the pair at the St. Olaf Tournament this weekend, then also open the Macalester Tournament with the same teams, Friday, Sept. 5...Stout has only one home date in September (Friday, Sept. 26 vs. UW-Platteville in the conference opener)...and four home dates in October...Stout faces eight of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) teams at some point this fall, and face Carleton, Macalester, and Bethel twice. The only WIAC school the Blue Devils are scheduled to meet twice is UW-Oshkosh, but a trip to the WIAC Tournament will change that.

AWARDS: Laura Reiter was named to the UW-La Crosse all-tournament team, Oct. 4...Morgan Denny was the UW-Stout/Northwestern Mutual Athlete of the Week after her performance at the St. Kate's Invitational, Sept. 19-20...Morgan Denny and Karley Wiensch were named to the St. Kate's Invitational all-tournament team, Sept. 20...Morgan Denny was named to the Macalester College all-tournament team, Sept. 6...Kaylee Jacobs was selected to the all-tournament team at the St. Olaf/Carleton Invitational, Aug. 29...Karley Wiensch was an honorable mention selection to the 2013 All-WIAC Volleyball team...Morgan Denny earned Academic All-District honors...the entire 2013 squad was honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) with the Team Academic Award for the fourth time in five years....

DOWN THE ROAD: The Blue Devils will host UW-Superior for the final time in league action, Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. Superior is leaving the WIAC for the UMAC starting next school year. The Blue Devils will be at the UW-River Falls Invitational, the final weekend tournament of the season, where they will face Gustavus Adolphus and Central College, Friday, Oct. 17 and Luther College and Bethel University, Saturday, Oct. 18.