Volleyball Preview: Stout plays Warhawks, Pioneers in final home games

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THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (10-10, 1-1 WIAC) stay in conference play as they wrap up the home portion of their schedule by hosting UW-Whitewater, (15-3, 1-1 WIAC) Friday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. and UW-Platteville, (10-10, 0-2) Saturday, Oct. 10 at 12 p.m. The Whitewater game will be the Annual Playing for a Cause game and the Blue Devils will again raise awareness for Breast Cancer research. The Platteville, the final home regular season game, is the annual Senior Game/Parents Game. The Blue Devils will recognize the careers of Molly Brion, Laura Reiter and Rachel Tschumperlin.

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

BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: UW-Stout and UW-La Crosse traded sets but it was La Crosse that came on out on top, 3-2,  in a conference volleyball match at Mitchell Hall Wednesday. The Eagles took the match, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 22-25, 15-9. Ashley Pratt led the Blue Devils (10-10, 1-1 WIAC) with 13 kills and four block assists. Kenney Strain had 12 kills and four block assists and Rachel Tschumperlin had 12 kills and five block assists. | Story and Stats

A LOOK AT STOUT: The Blue Devils this year are led at the line by sophomore Ashley Pratt, who is averaging 2.80 kills per set, and freshman Kennedy Strain, who is averaging 2.10 kills. Carly Troudt is averaging 2.00 kills per contest and Molly Brion is averaging 1.99 kills. Pratt is currently ranked ninth in the WIAC in kills and eighth  in hitting percentage (.283).  The Blue Devils utilize a two setter offense, with Emily Bialka averaging 5.64 assists per set, ranking seventh in the WIAC, and Maddie Phyle averaging 5.06 kills per set. Pratt and freshman Kennedy Strain are leading the team at the net defensively, with Pratt averaging 0.83 blocks to 0.73 for Strain.  Strain has 14 solo blocks with 38 block assists, while Pratt has 12 solo blocks and 58 block assists. Pratt ranks fifth in the league in total blocks.  | 2015 Stats

STOUT LAST SEASON: With 20 wins, the 2014 Blue Devils put together more wins in a single season since the 2004 season. The Blue Devils will need to replace three players that loomed large last year and throughout their careers. Morgan Denny, a first team all-WIAC middle hitter pick, was the team's leading hitter the last two seasons. Karley Wiensch, an honorable selection for the last two years, is the only setter the Blue Devils have had for the last four years. Nicole Bradford, playing at the libero spot, led the team in digs. Molly Brion, an honorable mention all-WIAC pick, finished 12th in the WIAC in digs with 3.38, and finished with 1.87 kills per set. Sophomore middle hitter Ashley Pratt chipped in, with 2.23 kills per set, ranking 20th in the league, and ranked fourth in the WIAC in hitting percentage (.294). Outside hitter Laura Reiter contributed 2.57 kills per set, second on the team and 11th in the league. As a team, Stout finished third in the WIAC in hitting percentage (.209), fourth in assists (11.43), fourth in kills (12.16), sixth in blocks (1.62), fourth in service aces (1.32) and fifth in digs (16.72). | 2014 Stats


A LOOK AT UW-WHITEWATER: After dropping a conference-opening decision to UW-Oshkosh on Sept.23, the Warhawks have rolled off six straight wins, including a 3-1 win over conference favorite UW-Stevens Point, and have moved up to 12th in this week's AVCA Division III Coaches Top 25 poll.  Lauren Pfeifer leads the Warhawks and the conference with an average of 3.52 kills per set. Sydney Racky is a close second with 2.59 kills per set. Courtney Wagner (.93 per set) and Pfeifer (.61 per set) lead in blocks for the Warhawks. Pfeifer and Brittany Robinson were named WIAC's athletes of the week last week, Sept. 28. Pfeifer and Brandon Langley each had 11 kills as the Warhawks blanked Concordia-Wisconsin, 3-0, Tuesday in Whitewater.  |  2015 Stats

WHITEWATER LAST TIME OUT: University of Wisconsin-Whitewater volleyball team picked up its fourth consecutive victory over a nationally ranked opponent, defeating UW-Stevens Point 30-28, 25-23, 18-25, 25-21 in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown at Russell Arena. Junior outside hitter Lauren Pfeifer (Fort Atkinson, Wis./Fort Atkinson) tallied 18 kills, 13 digs and six blocks to lead the Warhawks (15-3 overall, 1-1 WIAC). Sophomore outside hitter Sydney Racky (Walworth, Wis./Big Foot) and senior right side hitter Brittney Langley (Winnebago, Ill./Winnebago) posted 15 and 14 kills, respectively, to help carry the load offensively. Junior setter Staci Hasler (Sheboygan Falls, Wis./Sheboygan Falls) filled the box score with six kills, a career-high 53 assists and five digs. Sophomore middle hitter Courtney Wagner (Dekalb, Ill./Dekalb) added eight kills, six digs and six blocks. Freshman libero Brittany Robinson (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) collected a match-high 30 digs to lead the defense. Senior defensive specialist Jaclyn Krizka (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah) and junior defensive specialist Tessa Weber (Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Tremper) totaled 12 and 10 digs, respectively. In a back-and-forth first set, neither team led by more than three points at any given time. UW-Whitewater, which registered 25 kills and hit .419 during the stanza, fought off two set points and took four of the last five to take a 1-0 advantage. Racky recorded kills on three of the last four Warhawk points. The Pointers (15-4, 1-1) surged to leads of 8-4, 16-12 and 19-15 in the second set, but UW-Whitewater continued to push, taking a 23-21 advantage on back-to-back kills by Pfeifer. The two teams alternated points from there, allowing the Warhawks to take a 2-0 lead. UW-Stevens Point started the third quickly and never trailed in the set, halving its match deficit by closing the period with three straight points. UW-Whitewater turned a 12-10 deficit into a 17-12 lead on Robinson's serve, and then staved off a late rally by the Pointers to take the match and snap a four-match losing streak against UW-Stevens Point. | Story and Statistics vs. UW Stevens Point

THE LAST TIME STOUT AND WHITEWATER MET:  It was a roller coaster for UW-Stout as the Blue Devils rallied back after dropping the second set to UW-Whitewater, but ultimately fell to the Warhawks, 3-1. The Warhawks (15-5, 3-0 WIAC) took the first set with a commanding 25-13 win. Stout (14-7, 1-2 WIAC) put it together in the second set, gutting out a 25-23 win. The Blue Devils had a balanced attack in the set with Molly Brion (Jr, Cameron) and Carly Troudt (Fr, Lino Lake, Minn) each putting down three kills and Morgan Denny (Sr, Luck), Ashley Pratt (Fr, Lakeville, Minn) and Kaylee Lemke (Fr, Shakopee, Minn) each getting a pair of kills. Trailing 21-19, Lemke recorded a kill to pull Stout within one. An attack error by Whitewater and a kill by Denny and a service ace by Nicole Bradford (Sr, Ridgeland) gave Stout a 23-21 lead before the Warhawks tied the score. A kill by Troudt put Stout up by one and after the Warhawks sent the next pass into the stands, the score was one set each. The Warhawks took command in the third set and rolled to a 25-12 win, then took the final set, 25-19, and the match, by rolling off the final four points. Denny finished the night with 12 kills, two solo blocks and four block assists. Stout finished with two solo blocks and eight block assists. Bradford had 20 digs. The Warhawks got four players with double digit kills. Kristen Ruchti put down 14 kills, Ariel Feiertage 13, Lauren Pfiefer 12 and Jessica Slaby 10. Whitewater had two solo blocks and 14 assisted blocks, with Ruchti recording five assisted blocks.| Story and Statistics


A LOOK AT UW-PLATTEVILLE: UW- Platteville is lead at the line by Rachel Ambroch and Kelly Lynch with 2.57 kills per set and 2.22 kills per set, respectivly. Lidia Frias leads with .88 blocks per set with Lauren Grady averaging .59 blocks per set. The Pioneers have a 10-10 over all record and a 0-2 confrence record. Allie Carter averages 1.43 digs per set for the Pioneers. |  2015 Stats

PLATTEVILLE LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers forced the second set into extra points, but UW-Platteville lost at UW-River Falls, 3-1, Friday night with a 25-18, 26-28, 25-16, 25-22 decision. The Pioneers got 12 kills from Rachel Ambroch, 11 from Kelley Lynch, and eight  from Lidia Frias. The Pioneers lost, 24-26,25-27,25-20,22-25, to Edgewood College Wednesday in a non-conference contest. Rachel Ambroch had 15 kills in the loss. The University of Wisconsin-Platteville volleyball team recorded a 3-1 record at its home tournament on Friday and Saturday at Williams Fieldhouse. In the first match against the Ripon College Red Hawks, sophomore outside hitter Kelley Lynch recorded 15 kills for the Pioneers, while junior Rachel Ambroch and senior Lauren Grady recorded 12 and 10, respectively. Junior libero Lindsey Decker logged 22 digs in the five set win against Ripon. In the Pioneers' second match of the tournament, they defeated the Gustavus Adolphus College Gusties 25-14, 25-23, 19-25 and 26-24. Ambroch and Lynch recorded 12 and 11 kills in the win, while the team recorded 49 total kills and served 5 aces to pull past the Gusties. On Saturday for the third match of the tournament, the Pioneers fell to Westminster College (Mo.) 25-20, 22-25, 24-26, 25-22 and 12-15. Sophomore setter Allie Carter had 36 assists in the loss to the Blue Jays. For the final match of the tournament, the Pioneers cruised past the Cornell College Rams 21-25, 25-17, 25-16 and 25-22.  | Story and Statistics vs. Ripon and Gustavus Adolphus.

THE LAST TIME STOUT AND PLATTEVILLE MET:  Stout opened up their conference home opener by splitting the first two sets with UW-Platteville, but the Blue Devils powered back to easily take set three and gutted out a set four win to down the Pioneers 3-1, Sept. 26, 2014, at Johnson Fieldhouse. After splitting the first two sets by identical 25-22 scores, with Stout taking the first set, Stout (11-5, 1-0 WIAC) came back to overpower the Pioneers (5-11, 0-2 WIAC), 25-13 in the third set. Stout had to hold off Platteville in the fourth and deciding set, 25-21. Stout had three players reach double digits, with Morgan Denny (Sr, Luck) again leading the way, this time with 12 kills. Denny contributed one solo block and two assisted blocks at the net. Laura Reiter (Jr, Lino Lakes, Minn) and Ashley Pratt (Fr, Lakeville, Minn) each put down 11 kills. Moly Brion (Jr, Cameron) moved up to the attack for the final two sets and finished with nine kills, with only one error in 14 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .571. Karley Wiensch (Sr, Chippewa Falls) had 47 assists and Nicole Bradford (Sr, Ridgeland) had 21 digs. The Pionners' Jennifer Schmidt led all players iwth 14 kills.| 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 (30-20) 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: 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: Unless the Blue Devils earn a WIAC home playoff berth, they will be road warriors for the rest of the season. Stout will be at the College of St. Scholastica, Tuesday, Oct. 13, then will be at the UW-Eau Claire Sandy Schumacher Invitational, Oct. 16-17, where they will face Concordia-Moorhead, Buena Vista University, the College of St. Benedict and the University of Minnesota-Morris.