Live Video
THIS WEEK'S GAMES: After an entire month away from Johnson Fieldhouse to begin the season, UW-Stout (8-7, 1-0 WIAC) finally takes the wrapper off and plays their first home contest of the season, Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. as 19th ranked and defending conference co-champion UW-La Crosse (11-2, 0-1 WIAC) comes to visit. The Blue Devils won their conference opener last Wednesday at UW-River Falls, while the Eagles dropped their conference opener at UW-Eau Claire.
ON-LINE: All home Blue Devil matches are available in a
live video stream.
BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils opened the conference season with a 3-0 win over UW-River Falls in River Falls, Sept. 21, then dropped games at the WIAC/CCIW Crossover at UW-Stevens Point, falling 3-0 to 23rd ranked Elmhurst College and 3-2 to Wheaton College, Sept. 25. |
Story and Stats
A LOOK AT STOUT: The Blue Devils started off the season by going 7-2, but have had their ups and downs since then.
Ashley Pratt leads the Blue Devils with a 3.64 kills per set average, ranking fourth in the WIAC.
Kennedy Strain is averaging 2.38 kills and leads the team in blocks, with 17 solo blocks and 22 assisted blocks for a 0.87 per set averaging.
Olivia Jung is making the most of her senior season, and is averaging a career-best 2.33 kills.
Jessica DuVal has taken on the majority of the setting duties, and is averaging 7.76 to rank sixth in the WIAC. DuVal, along with
Anna Panning and
Carli Langeland, have taken on digging duties in the back row. Langeland leads the team in digs with 3.91, followed by Panning with 3.53 and DuVal with 2.87. |
Statistics
Pratt, who is third in the WIAC with a 3.42/set average, leads the team in kills with 140, 42 kills more than the next leader
Kennedy Strain who has 98. The team as a whole averages 1.4 kills per set more than their opponents this season, and have also been sharing the ball more than opponents; Stout has 28 more total assists than their opponents. Freshman
Jessica DuVal leads the way in assists, averaging 8.38 per set. The Blue Devils have four additional players who have more than 10 assists at this stage of the game. Strain is sixth in the league in total blocks, averaging 0.86, and tops the league in solo blocks with 17.
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-LA CROSSE:Â The Eagles shared the conference championship in 2015, and were picked to finish fourth this season. The Eagles opened the season on a nine-game winning streak, but hit a two game skid when they dropped a pair of matches to Viterbo University and the conference opener to UW-Eau Claire. La Crosse has been ranked 19th in the AVCA Top 25 rankings. Stephanie Henk is currently second in the WIAC in kills, averaging 3.77 kills per set and her setter, Maddie Entiger is leading the conference in assists with 11.51. Jill Entiger is averaging 2.68 kills. Marisa Johnson leads the team league in service aces with 0.58. |
Statistics
EAGLES LAST TIME OUT: La Crosse volleyball team, ranked 19th on this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 Poll, earned a pair of wins Saturday at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin/Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Crossover in Quandt Fieldhouse. The Eagles earned a 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-12, 25-19) victory over North Park University (Ill.) and a 3-2 (28-26, 23-25, 25-16, 20-25, 15-13) win over 16th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University. In the win over North Park (Ill.), Madeline Brown led UWL with 11 kills while Jill Entinger finished with eight and Marisa Johnson seven. Madison Entinger recorded 31 assists as the Eagles hit .103 for the match. UWL hit .375 (10 kills, one error, and 24 attempts) in the third set. Versus Illinois Wesleyan, Stephanie Henk finished with 25 kills for UWL while hitting .346 (25-7-52). Brown finished with 12 kills and Jill Entinger 11. Madison Entinger recorded 53 assists as the team hit .257 overall. The Eagles hit .357 (12-2-28) in the fifth and deciding set. |
Story and Statistics
THE LAST TIME STOUT AND LA CROSSE MET: 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 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. The Eagles got 17 kills from Leah Putzier, 14 kills from Ashley Entinger and 10 kills from Jil Entinger. The Eagles collected eight service aces. |
Story and Statistics
UW-STOUT COACH LAURA EVANS: Coach
Laura Evans (44-35) 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: 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
Kennedy Strain were selected to the University of Northwestern all-tournament team, Sept. 3..
DOWN THE ROAD: The Blue Devils stay at home when they host Gustavus Adolphus College, Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. Stout will then make its longest trip of the season when they got to UW-Whitewater, Friday, Oct. 7 and to UW-Platteville, Saturday, Oct. 8.
