THIS WEEK'S GAMES:Â The Blue Devils (19-7, 3-2 WIAC) will travel to 12th ranked UW-Stevens Point (20-4, 3-1 WIAC) Wednesday, Oct. 22 for a 7 p.m. matchup. Stout will wrap up the regular season next week when they are at UW-Eau Claire, Wednesday, Oct. 29 and host UW-La Crosse, Friday, Oct. 31. The first round of the WIAC Tournament is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 4.
ON-LINE: All home Blue Devil matches are available in a live video stream.
BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils came back to defeat UW-Superior, 3-2, Oct. 15, then took 3-1 wins over Bethel University and UW-River Falls in an abbreviated UW-River Falls Invitational, Oct. 18.
A LOOK AT STOUT: With 19 wins, the Blue Devils have put together more wins in a single season since the 2004 season.
Morgan Denny is having a solid season, averaging 3.06 kills per set, ranking fifth in the WIAC and is averaging 0.93 blocks per set, ranking sixth in the league. Denny ranks sixth in the league in hitting percentage (.285). Denny has delivered double digit kills in 17 matches and has at least one solo block in 21 matches and currently has 979 total kills, 21 short of 1000.
Laura Reiter has contributed 2.61 kills. After a strong weekend, setter
Karley Wiensch moved up to third in the WIAC in assists with 9.87 per set and ninth in service aces with 0.26.
Nicole Bradford is averaging 4.35 digs per set, good for sixth in the league and is 14th in service aces with 0.24.
Molly Brion is 12th in the WIAC in digs with 3.31. Freshman
Ashley Pratt has also chipped in, with 2.16 kills per set, and is fourth in the WIAC in hitting percentage (.302). Stout was picked to finish eighth in the conference, according to a WIAC preseason poll.
A LOOK AT UW-STEVENS POINT: The Pointers have bounced around in the low teens in the AVCA Top 25 Division III poll throughout the season, and are currently second in the WIAC behind UW-Whitewater. The Pointers were picked to repeat as conference champions, according to a WIAC preseason poll. Senior Alexis Hartman, the reigning WIAC Player of the Year, leads the returnees after topping the NCAA Division III with 1,512 assists a season ago. She is the first player in program archives to receive the conference honor. Junior Emma Brunkhorst led the league with a .364 hitting percentage and 496 kills, while ranking second with 151 total blocks. Krista Loos leads the WIAC in kills with 3.88 and Brunkhurst is right behind with 3.85. Hartman leads the league in assists with 11.04 and Brunkhurst is tops in blocks with 1.25 per set. Head coach Abbey Sutherland needs one victory to reach 100 in her career.
THE LAST TIME STOUT AND UW-STEVENS POINT MET: UW-Stout played UW-Stevens Point even in the first set, but the 24-ranked Pointers kicked in another gear in the final two matches and defeated UW-Stout 3-0 Sept. 12, 2013, at Johnson Fieldhouse. The Blue Devils dropped the first set, 25-22, then saw the Pointers take over in the final two sets, 25-16, 25-11. The Pointers got stronger defensively at the net throughout the contest, and finished the game with three solo blocks and 10 block assists. Emma Brunkhorst had two solo blocks and two block assists to lead the way. Brunkhurst finished with a game-high 12 kills. Rachel Gasper had three block assists. Krista Loos contributed nine kills. Stout got nine kills from
Laura Reiter and seven from
Morgan Denny. Denny and Reiter each had a solo block.
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 (16-7) 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 completion. 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: Nicole Bradford was the UW-Stout/Northwestern Mutual Athlete of the Week after Stout went 3-1 from Oct. 6-11...
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: Stout will close out the regular season at UW-Eau Claire, Wednesday, Oct. 29 and will host UW-La Crosse, Friday, Oct. 31. The quarterfinals of the WIAC Tournament are Tuesday, Nov. 4, with the semi-finals Friday, Nov. 7 and finals Saturday, Nov. 8.
