Volleyball Preview: Blue Devils travel to UW-La Crosse Wednesday

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THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (10-9, 1-0 WIAC) play only one match this week, and that will be a lone conference game at UW-La Crosse, Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m.

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

BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: Despite losing by lopsided scores in the first two sets, UW-Stout stormed back to force a fifth and deciding set, but eventually fell to 11th ranked University of Chicago, 3-2, Saturday in the Blue Devils' final match of the UW-Whitewater Invitational.The Maroons (12-3) ran past Stout (10-9) in the first two sets, 25-13, 25-16, but the Blue Devils knuckled down and overcame Chicago, 26-25, 25-23, in the third and fourth sets, forcing a fifth and deciding set. Ashley Pratt (So, Lakeville) had three of her team-high 14 kills in the fifth set, Chicago prevailed, 15-13. The Blue Devils did not have an answer for Chicago's Maren Loe, who finished the match with 29 kills. Jasmine Mobley finished with 16 kills, five in the fifth set and Sydney Major had 11 kills. Pratt led Stout with 15 kills. Carly Troudt (So, Lino Lakes, Minn) had 12 and Kennedy Strain (Fr, Elk River, Minn) 10 kills. Stout had one solo block and 12 block assists, three each by Pratt, Strain and Kaylee Lemke (So, Shakopee, Minn). Earlier in the day, the Blue Devils lost to unranked Millikin University, 3-2. Stout took the first two matches, 25-21, 25-18, but Millikin (10-5) came back to take the final three, 25-9, 25-19, 15-10. The Blue Devils played 15 players in the match, with leading the way with eight kills. Molly Brion (Sr, Cameron), Rachel Tschumperlin (Sr, Fairmont, Minn) and Becky Bradshaw (Oak Lawn, Ill) each had seven kills. Stout had one solo block and 18 block assists, with Pratt recording seven assists and Tschumperlin five. Erin Syverson had 18 kills for Millikin and Kelsey Talkington had 17.  | vs.Williams and Carthage Story and Stats | vs. Millikin and Chicago Story and Stats

A LOOK AT STOUT: The Blue Devils this year are led at the line by sophomore Ashley Pratt, who is averaging 2.81 kills per set, and Carly Troudt is averaging 2.03 kills. Senior Molly Brion is averaging 2.14 kills. Pratt is currently ranked sixth in the WIAC in kills and 10th in hitting percentage (.282).  Brion is 18th in the league in kills. The Blue Devils utilize a two setter offense, with Maddie Phyle averaging 5.41 assists per set, ranking ninth in the WIAC. Phyle was injured last week, allowing freshman Emily Bialka to jump her numbers up to 5.43 assists, good for eighth in the league. Freshman Kennedy Strain and Pratt are leading the team at the net defensively, with Kennedy averaging 0.73 blocks to 0.84 for Pratt.  Pratt has nine solo blocks and has paired for 34 assisted blocks. Strain leads the team with 13 solo blocks and has 22 block assists.  | 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-LA CROSSE: UW La Crosse has a 11-4 all around record with a 1-0 confrence record. The Eagles are lead in kills by Stephanie Henk (3.24 per set), Jill Entinger (2.94 per set) and Leah Putzier (2.96 per set). Entinger also leads the team in blocks averaging .76 pers set along with Jessica Jablonski averaging .93 blocks per set. |  2015 Stats

LA CROSSE LAST TIME OUT: The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse volleyball team earned a pair of victories over College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) opponents at the Elmhurst College (Ill.) Invitational Saturday afternoon.  The Eagles earned a 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-22) win over Augustana College (Ill.) and a 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-23) victory over Wheaton College (Ill.).  UWL improves to 11-4 on the season, surpassing last year's win total of nine. Versus Augustana (Ill.), Stephanie Henk led four UWL players in double figures in kills with 13 while Leah Putzier finished with 12 and Jill Entinger with 10.  Entinger hit .667 for the match, finishing with 10 kills and no hitting errors in 15 attempts.  Ashley Entinger finished with seven kills.  The Eagles hit .239 (46-18-117) for the match, including .368 (17-3-38) in the second set. Maddie Entinger recorded 36 assists for the Eagles. Danica Johnson had a team-leading 20 digs while Putzier finished with 11.  In the win over Wheaton (Ill.), Putzier led UWL with 14 kills while Henk finished with 11.  The Eagles hit .228 (41-18-101) for the match. Maddie Entinger registered 38 assists and tied for the team lead with 14 digs with Johnson. | Story and Statistics vs. Augustana and Wheaton

THE LAST TIME STOUT AND LA CROSSE MET: The Blue Devils swept past UW-La Crosse, 3-0, in the final match of the regular season on Hallowe'en night, 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 (30-19) 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: The Blue Devils will host their final home games of the season when they host UW-Whitewater, Friday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. and UW-Platteville, Saturday, Oct. 10 at 2 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.