Volleyball Preview: Blue Devils head into tourney play at Oshkosh

Live Video | Point by Point Scoring | WIAC Championship

THIS WEEK'S GAMES: The Blue Devils (15-13, 3-4 WIAC) will travel to UW-Oshkosh (27-6, 5-2 WIAC), Tuesday, Nov. 1 for a 7 p.m. first round game in the WIAC Volleyball Championship. Stout is the sixth seed in the tournament, the Titans the third seed. The  semi-finals of the WIAC Championship are Thursday, Nov. 3 and the championship, Saturday, Nov. 5..

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

BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils went 1-2 last week, sweeping St. Scholastica, 3-0, Oct. 25, getting swept by UW-Stevens Point, 3-0, Oct. 28 and falling to UW-Oshkosh, 3-1, Oct. 29. UW-Stout needed to pick up a win if they wanted to host a first round WIAC tournament game...and things looked good after Stout took the first set over UW-Oshkosh Saturday at Johnson Fieldhouse. But the 23rd ranked Titans stopped the Blue Devils in their tracks and took the final three sets.In the process, the Titansearned a share of the WIAC title along with UW-Whitewater and UW-La Crosse, but will be the third seed in the tournament. The Blue Devils earned the sixth seed and will travel to Oshkosh Tuesday, Nov. 1 to face the Titans in back-to-back contests. Keyed by Olivia Jung, the Blue Devils' only senior, Stout opened the match with a 25-22 first set win.  On Senior Day, Jung put down six of her team-high 15 kills in the opening set.  | Story and Stats

A LOOK AT STOUT: The Blue Devils have had their ups and downs throughout the season, and have won five of their last eight matches. Ashley Pratt continues to lead the Blue Devils in attacks, averaging 3.43 kills per set with an attack average of .267, both fourth in the WIAC. Pratt recorded 15, 17 and 18 kills across the three matches last week. Kennedy Strain has been solid on both sides of the net, averaging 2.53 kills and leads the team in blocks, averaging 0.85 per set. She has recorded 28 solo blocks, the most of any player in the WIAC, and 58 assisted blocks, ranking 11th. Freshman Jessica DuVal has been the Blue Devils' primary setter this season, averaging 8.29 assists, sixth in the WIAC, and freshman Anna Panning leads Stout in digs at 4.46, fourth in the WIAC. Over the three matches last week, DuVal averaged 10.0 assists per set. | Statistics

The Blue Devils return six players to the roster - one senior, two juniors and three sophomores - including both starting middle hitters from last season. All-WIAC honorable mention pick Ashley Pratt (Jr, Lakeville) led the team in kills last season at 2.59 per set and was the team's leader in total blocks with 109 as a sophomore. Pratt recorded 18 solo blocks and 91 block assists. Kennedy Strain (So, Elk River, Minn) had a strong freshman season, securing the middle opposite Pratt, finishing with 2.14 kills per set and led the team in solo blocks with 29. Strain finished with 106 total blocks. Beginning her third year as the Blue Devil head coach, Laura Evans will look to Pratt and Strain to anchor the team in the middle. Olivia Jung (Andover, Minn), the lone senior on the team, will play either outside or on the right side. Jung saw limited action last season, playing in 43 sets, but still finished sixth on the team in total blocks with 23. Junior Becky Bradshaw (Oak Lawn, Ill) returns at outside hitter and she too saw limited action last year, but when she is on the court, she is capable of playing front and back row and averaged 1.83 kills per set. Outside hitter Steph Cannon will need to recover from an injury and is not expected to be back for the season after playing in 118 sets last year. Sophomore setter Emily Bialka (Cottage Grove, Minn) gained valuable experience after playing in 139 of 141 possible sets last year. Bialka was part of a two-setter system - Stout played three different offenses throughout the year - for much of last season and led the team in assists with 742 (5.34), ranking eighth in the WIAC. Bialka can also get off the ground. She put down 50 kills and recorded 36 total blocks, fourth on the team. Defensive specialist Carissa Hilgers played in 73 sets last season and returns. Defensive specialist Hallie Locher comes in as a junior after transferring from UW-La Crosse, where she played for two seasons. Last season, Locher played in 88 sets for the Eagles, averaging 2.33 digs and tallied 14 service aces. The Blue Devils will look to a large freshman class to fill needs. The recruiting class includes three setters who will compete with Bialka. "Our incoming setters coming in can, and will need to, compete at a high level," Evans said. The coaching staff will need to concentrate on fundamentals early in the preseason "With so many new kids, we will need to focus on the ball control piece," Evans said. "Our serve, receive and defense will be key." | 2015 Stats



A LOOK AT UW-OSHKOSH:  The Titans were ranked 23rd in the Oct. 25 AVCA Coaches Poll. The Titans lead the league in blocks, averaging 2.73 with Brook Brinkman leading the Titans at 0.93 blocks per set. Tina Elstner is fifth in the conference in kills, averaging 3.18. Lexi Thiel is averaging 9.63 assists and Rachel Gardner leads in digs at 3.18. | Statistics

TITANS LAST TIME OUT: After dropping the first set of the evening, the Titans came back to take the match 25-20, 25-20, 25-15. Oshkosh held court at the blocking net, recording five solo blocks and 24 assisted blocks. Nerissa Vogt had three solo blocks and eight assisted blocks. Carly Lemke, who had a career-high 18 kills, had a solo block and four assisted blocks. Samantha Jeake recorded 15 kills and five assisted blocks. Lexi Thiel finished with 50 assists . | Story and Statistics


TEAM CAPTAINS: Captains for the 2016 season are yet to be named.

UW-STOUT COACH LAURA EVANS: Coach Laura Evans (51-41) is in her third 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 posted a 20-10 overall record during the 2014 season, 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. But the Blue Devils picked up the competitive level of their schedule in 2015 and finished at 16-18 overall...Stout was picked to finish sixth in the WIAC in a preseason poll conducted by conference coaches and sports information directors.

AWARDS: Libero Anna Panning was selected as the UW-Stout/DIgiCopy Athlete of the Week, Oct. 25...Defensive specialist Anna Panning was selected to the WIAC/CCIW Crossover all-tournament team, Sept. 25...Middle hitter Ashley Pratt was selected as the UW-Stout/DigiCopy Athlete of the Week, Sept. 13...Middle hitter Kennedy Strain was named to the Northland College all-tournament team, Sept. 10...Setter Jessica DuVal and middle hitter Ashley Pratt were selected to the University of Northwestern all-tournament team, Sept. 3...2015 Awards: Ashley Pratt earned all-conference honorable mention honors...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.

DOWN THE ROAD: The WIAC  semi-finals Thursday, Nov. 3 and the championship, Saturday, Nov. 5.