Volleyball Preview: Blue Devils to face some heavy hitters this weekend

UW-Stevens Point Live Video | UW-Stevens Point Live Stats

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (16-15, 2-3 WIAC) will close regular season play when they travel to UW-Stevens Point (22-7, 2-3 WIAC) Friday, Oct. 30 and to UW-Oshkosh (23-7, 4-1 WIAC), Saturday, Oct. 31. The Blue Devils will be looking for a berth in the WIAC Tournament next week. Stout is currently tied with the Pointers for fifth in the WIAC. Both Stevens Point and Oshkosh have spent time in the AVCA Coaches poll, with the Pointers ranked 16th and the Titans 21st in the Oct. 27 poll. The Blue Devils defeated UW-Oshkosh twice last season. All WIAC teams have two conference games remaining heading into the weekend.

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

BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils lost at UW-Eau Claire, Oct. 21, then moved on to the Coe College Invitational where they lost to host Coe, 3-1, but downed the University of Dubuque and Luther College by 3-2 scores.. | UW-Eau Claire Story and Stats | Coe Story and Stats | Dubuque/Luther Story and Stats

A LOOK AT STOUT: The Blue Devils this year are led offensively at the net by sophomore Ashley Pratt, who is averaging 2.62 kills per set, and freshman Kennedy Strain, who is averaging 2.22 kills. Carly Troudt is averaging 1.95 kills per contest. Molly Brion is averaging 1.53 kills and Laura Reiter is averaging 1.76 kills. The Blue Devils utilize a two setter offense, with Emily Bialka averaging 5.49 assists per set, ranking seventh in the WIAC, and Maddie Phyle averaging 5.10 kills per set. Pratt and freshman Kennedy Strain are leading the team at the net defensively, with Strain averaging 0.87 blocks to 0.79 for Pratt. Strain has 29 solo blocks with 74 block assists, while Pratt has 17 solo blocks and 86 block assists. The school record for block assists in a season is 143 held by Tanille Hartwig in 2004, but with extended seasons, both, in particular Pratt, could move into the top 10 of the category. Hartwig, who holds the school record for career block assists, appears on the list three times. In addition to the leader, she is currently third with 107 and eighth with 95.| 2015 Stats

CLIMBING THE LADDER: Molly Brion recently passed the 1000 digs plateau for her career. Needing only three digs going into the Eau Claire tournament to hit 1000, Brion currently has 1103 career digs. Brion has 746 career kills.


A LOOK AT UW-STEVENS POINT: UW Stevens Point has an over all 22-7 season record with a 2-3 confrence record. The Pointers are lead in kills by Kelly Cefalu (3.00 kills per set), Gabby Thomas (2.70 kills per set), and Ellen Drewry (2.34 kills per set). Emma leads the Pointers with 1.21 blocks per set while Hannah Picel leads with 5.08 digs per set. UW Stevens Point moved up to No. 16 in the AVCA Division III ranks on Oct 20. | 2015 Stats

UW-STEVENS POINT LAST TIME OUT: The Pointers won a 3-2 non-conference match-up with Edgewood College Tuesday night. In a matchup of top-20 teams, the No. 16 UW-Stevens Point volleyball team handed No. 19 UW-Oshkosh its first Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) defeat of the season with a 31-29, 25-14, 21-25, 25-23 victory. Gabby Thomas led the way with 19 kills and 10 digs, while Emma Brunkhorst had 10 kills and eight total blocks on her return to the court for UW-Stevens Point. Brunkhorst capped her return with a kill on match point in the fourth set to give the Pointers their sixth win in the last seven meetings with the Titans. The win improves the Pointers to 4-4 against ranked teams this season and 19-8 against ranked opposition under Abbey Sutherland. Thomas' 19 kills were just two shy of her career-high 21 set earlier this season at UW-Platteville and registered her fourth double-double of the season. Ellen Drewry (Waunakee, WI/Waunakee) joined Thomas and Brunkhorst in double figures in kills with 11. Brittany Laffin had her 13th 40-assist performance of the season, finishing with 49. Hannah Picel (West Bend, WI/West) made a match-high 30 digs, while Bri Piepenbrok, Marie Krengel and Thomas were also in double figures in digs. | Story and Statistics

THE LAST TIME STOUT AND UW-STEVENS POINT MET: October 22, 2014 was the last time the Blue Devils came against the Pointers. After getting schooled by 11th ranked UW-Stevens Point in the first set, UW-Stout came back to make it a battle but couldn't get over the hump and dropped a 3-0 decision to the Pointers Wednesday at Berg Gymnasium. The Pointers made short work of the Blue Devils in the first set, taking a 25-6 decision, before Stout came back before losing 25-21, 25-19 in the final two sets. Morgan Denny had five kills in the third set and finished the night with a team-high eight kills, matching Ashley Pratt's eight kills on the night. The Pointers were solid at the net, recording three solo blocks and 16 assisted blocks. The Pointers' Gabby Thomas had a match-high 10 kills, and Sarah Breuer finished with nine kills. Emma Brunkhorst and Alexis Hartman each had five block assists. | Story and Statistics


A LOOK AT UW-OSHKOSH: The Titans are sporting an over all season record of 23-7 and a 4-1 conference record. Nerissa Vogt, Laura Trochinski, and Katelyn Malcheski are stealing the show at the link with 2.43, 1.02, and 2.13 kills per set, respectively. Vogt also leads the team in blocks with 1.29 blocks per set. | 2015 Stats

UW-OSHKOSH LAST TIME OUT: The Titans will face UW-River Falls before facing the Blue Devils. UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball team concluded play at the Linda Slagell Classic by splitting a pair a matches against Illinois opponents on Saturday (Oct. 24) in Decatur, Ill. UW-Oshkosh (23-7), ranked 19th in the NCAA Division III by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, fell, 3-1, to 21st-ranked University of Chicago before ending the day with a 3-0 victory over Monmouth College. The University of Chicago (17-8) defeated UW-Oshkosh in set scores of 25-23, 17-25, 25-21, 25-18. The Titans swept Monmouth College (7-18) in set scores of 25-15, 25-13, 25-19. With its win over the Scots, UW-Oshkosh improved its season record to 13-0 in three-set matches. Katelyn Malcheski paced UW-Oshkosh with 17 kills. Tina Elstner added 11 kills for the Titans, who also received a team-leading 26 assists from Lexi Thiel and 18 digs from Mandy Trautmann. UW-Oshkosh outhit the Scots, .323 to .157, and pounded down 41 kills compared to 28 for Monmouth College. Elstner led all players with nine kills in 16 errorless attempts. Malcheski recorded eight kills, while Brooke Brinkman chipped in six kills and a match-high three blocks. Morgan Windau registered 39 assists in her first career start for UW-Oshkosh. Katie Hodges led the Titans with six digs, while Rachel Smith and Brianna Venturini both recorded five digs and a team-leading two service aces. UW-Oshkosh concluded the Linda Slagell Classic with a 3-1 record, including victories of 3-2 victory over host Millikin University (Ill.) and 3-0 over Central College (Iowa) on Friday (Oct. 23).| Story and Statistics

THE LAST TIME STOUT AND UW-OSHKOSH MET: UW Stout last met Oshkosh on Oct. 11, 2014, hitting over .250 in both matches, UW-Stout defeated UW-Oshkosh in a conference contest and the Illinois Institute of Technology in a non-conference tilt by 3-0 scores at UW-Oshkosh's Kolf Sports Center. The Blue Devils opened with a conference contest, defeating the Titans for the second time in seven days by a 3-0 score (25-20, 25-20, 25-21). The teams had met in a non-conference contest last weekend in La Crosse. Laura Reiter  led the way with 14 kills and hit at a .364 clip as the team hit .265. Reiter had a pair of block assists and Morgan Denny contributed one solo block, two block assists and eight kills. Against Illinois Tech, the Blue Devils were able to play the entire bench on their way to a 25-15, 25-16, 25-23 win. Denny led the way with seven kills and had two solo blocks and a block assist. As a team, Stout hit .316 and 35 kills to 18 for Tech. The 16 wins gives Stout more wins this season than all of last season. The blue Devils also swept the Titans, 3-0, at the UW-La Crosse Invitational, Oct. 4, 2014. | Story and Statistics

TEAM CAPTAINS: Captains for the 2015 season are seniors Laura Reiter and Molly Brion and sophomore Maddie Phyle. Reiter and Brion were both captains for the 2014 season.

UW-STOUT COACH LAURA EVANS: Coach Laura Evans (36-25) is in her second year as the Blue Devil coach. In her first season, the Blue Devils posted 20 wins, the first 20-win season since 2004. 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 last season posted a 20-10 overall record, finishing with 20 wins for the first time since the 2004 season and finished fourth in league play, again their best finish since the 2004 season...Stout improved in the WIAC final statistics in hitting percentage, assists, kills, blocks and service aces from the previous year...Stout was picked to finish fifth in the WIAC in a preseason poll conducted by conference coaches and sports information directors.

AWARDS: Payton Schultz was selected to the All-Tournament team at the Coe College Mabel Lee Invitational...Ashley Pratt was selected UW-Eau Claire Sandy Schumacher Memorial Tournament all-tournament team, Oct. 17...Molly Brion was selected to the UW-Whitewater all-tournament team, Sept. 26...Ashley Pratt was selected to the Loras College Invitational all-tournament team...Ashley Pratt was selected as the UW-Stout/Northwestern Mutual Athlete of the Week, Sept. 8...Carly Troudt and Ashley Pratt were named to the Pacific Coast Classic all-tournament team...2014 Awards: Morgan Denny was a first team all-WIAC selection, while Karley Wiensch was an honorable mention selection for the second time, while Molly Brion was an honorable mention selection for the first time...Nicole Bradford was the UW-Stout/Northwestern Mutual Athlete of the Week after Stout went 3-1 from Oct. 6-11...Laura Reiter was selected to the all-tournament at UW-La Crosse, 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..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 look to earn a berth in the WIAC Tournament. The quarterfinals are Tuesday, Nov. 3, the semi-finals Friday, Nov. 6 and the championship game is Saturday, Nov. 7.