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THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (5-1, 0-0 WIAC) will open the home portion of the schedule when they host 25th-ranked Augsburg College. (3-2, 0-0 MIAC), Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. Stout will then be at the Loras College Invitational, Sept. 11-12. The Blue Devils will face host Loras College (2-3), Wheaton College (2-2, 0-0 CCIW), Wartburg College (4-0, 0-0 IIAC) and St. Mary's University (4-1, 0-0 MIAC).
ON-LINE: All home Blue Devil matches are available in a live video stream.
BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils ran off five wins in a row to open the season, before falling to the University of La Verne, 3-1. Stout opened with a 3-2 win over Carleton College and 3-0 win over Crown College at the St. Olaf Invitational, Sept. 1. The Blue Devils traveled to the Pacific Coast Classic in California, downing New York University, 3-2, Occidental College, 3-0, and Whittier College, 3-0, before falling in five sets to host La Verne. | vs. Carleton and Crown | vs. NYU and Occidental | vs. Whittier and La Verne
A LOOK AT STOUT: 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 |
The Blue Devils look to repeat a 20-plus win season and are off to a good start. Ashley Pratt has been the Blue Devils' leading attacker, averaging 3.43 kills per contest, second in the WIAC, while Molly Brion, a 2014 all-WIAC honorable mention pick, is averaging 2.76 and Carly Troudt 2.52. Stout has utilized a 6-2 offense, with sophomore co-captain Maddie Phyle averaging 5.75 assists and freshman Emily Bialka averaging 4.42 assists. Pratt has been the team's leader at the net defensively, recording five solo blocks and teaming up for 21 block assists. Freshman Kennedy Strain has five solo blocks. Freshman Payton Schultz is the team leader in digs, averaging 4.33. Pratt and Troudt were selected to the Pacific Coast League all-tournament team. Pratt was selected as the UW-Stout/Northwestern Mutual Athlete of the Week. | 2015 Stats
A LOOK AT AUGSBURG COLLEGE: The Auggies return two All-Americans from a team that won their second straight MIAC regular-season title this season, along with its second straight berth in the NCAA Division III national playoffs, finishing with an overall record of23-6 overall, 10-1 in MIAC play. Right-side hitter Ashley Peper repeated her first-team all-MIAC selection from a year ago, while setter Courtney Lemke was an honorable-mention selection for the first time.Peper has been one of the most dominant hitters in the MIAC and the country during her career. Peper led the MIAC's overall statistics for the second straight year in kills (437) and kills per-set (4.05), while standing second with 1,108 attack attempts. Among MIAC setters in overall statistics, Lemke finished as the conference's leader in assists per-set (11.11), with her 1,089 assists third-most among league setters. She recorded 13 matches with assist-dig double-doubles last season. Lemke was fourth among NCAA Division III players nationally in assists per-set (11.11). Â Augsburg went 2-2 in the Labor Day Tournament at Northwestern-St. Paul.The Auggies went 2-0 Friday, beating No. 25 Coe College and the College of St. Scholastica. On Saturday, the Auggies battled in back-to-back matches, but ultimately lost both in four sets to Dominican University (Ill.) and host University of Northwestern-St. Paul to go 2-2 on the weekend. Peper was the MIAC player of the week, getting 90 kills last week. | 2014 Stats | 2015 Stats
LAST TIME OUT: The No. 20 Augsburg College volleyball team went 2-2 in the Labor Day Tournament at Northwestern-St. Paul on Friday and Saturday. The Auggies went 2-0 Friday, beating No. 25 Coe College and the College of St. Scholastica. On Saturday, the Auggies battled in back-to-back matches, but ultimately lost both in four sets to Dominican University (Ill.) and host University of Northwestern-St. Paul to go 2-2 on the weekend. Ashley Peper recorded 78 kills (4.59 k/set) and 60 digs over the course of the tournament. Courtney Lemke dished out a team-high 142 assists (8.35 a/set), and added 43 digs, seven kills, three aces and three blocks. Jaelyn Arndt finished with 33 kills (1.94 k/set), while Jessica Lillquist recorded 30 (1.76 k/set). Tabby Roh led the Auggie defense at the net with 13 blocks (one solo), Lillquist chipped in 11 blocks (two solo), and Arndt recorded 10 (three solo). DeeDee Maier recorded six service aces, and 54 digs, while Macey Terhell finished with 77 digs. Morgan Malley finished with 34 assists and 23 digs in the tournament.
THE LAST TIME STOUT AND AUGSBURG MET: UW-Stout went toe-to-toe with 24th ranked Augsburg College Sept. 10, 2014, getting edged by the Auggies 3-2. A year after getting swept by the Auggies, 3-0, in Menomonie, the Blue Devils invaded Augsburg's home court, dropping a 25-12, 15-25, 25-18, 18-25, 15-9 decision. The first five set match of the season for the Blue Devils, Morgan Denny led all players with a season-high 18 kills. Laura Reiter finished with 14 kills. Nicole Bradford finished with 22 digs. Karley Wiensch had 45 assists. The Auggies' Colleen Ourada had 17 kills and Ashley Peper finished with 14 kills. Courtney Lemke had 46 assists. | Story and Statistics
AN OVERVIEW OF THE OPPONENTS AT THE LORAS COLLEGE INVITATIONAL: Stout will then be at the Loras College Invitational, Sept. 11-12. The Blue Devils will face host Loras (2-3), Wheaton College (2-2, 0-0 CCIW), Wartburg College (4-0, 0-0 IIAC) and St. Mary's University (4-1, 0-0 MIAC). | 2015 Stats
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 (25-11) 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: 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 the University of Northwestern, Wednesday, Sept. 16, then will be at the Gustavus Adolphus Triangular, Saturday, Sept. 19 to take on Concordia-Moorhead and host Gustavus Adolphus.
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