Volleyball Preview: Blue Devils to face Warhawks in WIAC opener Tuesday

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THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (16-17, 2-5 WIAC), sixth seeded, will travel to third seeded UW-Whitewater (28-4, 5-2 WIAC) to face the Warhawks in a first round WIAC Tournament contest, Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. The winner will advance to the semi-finals held at UW-Oshkosh, Friday, Nov. 6.

BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils lost 3-0 to a pair of WIAC opponents, falling to UW-Stevens Point, Oct. 30 and at UW-Oshkosh, Oct. 31.. | UW-Stevens Point Story and Stats | UW-Oshkosh 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 2.5862 kills per set, and freshman Kennedy Strain, who is averaging 2.16 kills. Carly Troudt is averaging 1.94 kills per contest. Molly Brion is averaging 1.53 kills and Laura Reiter is averaging 1.74 kills. The Blue Devils utilize a two setter offense, with Emily Bialka averaging 5.40 assists per set 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 0.85 blocks to 0.77 for Pratt. Strain has 29 solo blocks with 76 block assists, while Pratt has 18 solo blocks and 87 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: (I will update) 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 1129 career digs. Brion has 755 career kills. Freshman Payton Schultz broke the school single season digs record of 607 set by Casey Huntoon in 2007.and has 643 digs.


A LOOK AT UW-WHITEWATER:The Warhawks have an over allrecord of 28-4 with a conference record of 5-2. Lauren Pfeifer leads the Warhawksat the line with 3.68 kills per set and Sydney Racky averages 2.49kills per set.Whitewater's leaders in blocks per set are Courtney Wagner and Lauren Pfeifer, 1.10 kills per set and .63 kills per set respectively. | 2015 Stats

UW-WHITEWATER LAST TIME OUT: The Warhawks swept UW-Eau Claire, Oct. 30, then downed Dominican, 3-1, in the season finale, Oct. 31. | UW-Eau Claire Story and Statistics | Dominican Story and Statistics

THE LAST TIME STOUT AND UW-WHITEWATER MET: The Blue Devils and Warhawks last meT on Oct 9, 2015.After dropping the first set, UW-Stout had some momentum going in the second set, but 12th ranked UW-Whitewater snatched the momentum back and went onto to take the set and ultimately the match, 3-0, Friday at Johnson Fieldhouse. The Warhawks won the first set, 25-18, but the Blue Devils jumped out to a 15-10 lead in set No. 2. But the Warhawks stormed back to tie the match then went on to a second 25-18 win. Whitewater kept the captured momentum on their side in the third set and took the match with a 25-16 third set win. Whitewater's Lauren Pfeifer led all scorers with 12 kills and three block assists. Courtney Wagner led the Warhawks' block party, recording three solo blocks and four block assists. The Warhawks had a distinct advantage from the serving line, dropping in six service aces to one for the Blue Devils. Stout got six kills from Kaylee Lemke (So, Shakopee, Minn) and Lemke added Stout's only solo block. Ashley Pratt and Rachel Tschumperlin each had three block assists.| 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 (36-27) 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 WIAC Tournament begins Tuesday, Nov. 3 with the quarterfinals. The semi-finals and championship matches will be held at UW-Oshkosh, Nov. 6-7.