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THIS WEEK'S MATCHES: The Blue Devils (0-0, 0-0 WIAC) finished the 2019 season with a 19-11 overall record and 1-6 record in conference play and the 2020 season was canceled due to the pandemic. The Blue Devils will open the season by hosting Hamline University (0-0, 0-0 MIAC), Wednesday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. in Johnson Fieldhouse. This is the first time Stout has opened the season by hosting a game since the 1999 season when the Blue Devils hosted St. Catherine in a 3-0 win. Stout will then head to Iowa where they will play in the Central College/Grinnell College Fall Invitational, Sept. 3-4. Stout will open at Grinnell, by playing Elmhurst University and Grinnell College the first day. The Blue Devils will meet the Unversity of Dubuque and host Central College in Pella, Iowa, on the second day.
ON-LINE: All home Blue Devil matches are available in a live video stream.
PARKING: Parking on the UW-Stout campus is restricted during the business week. For games in Johnson Fieldhouse during the week, please plan to park in Lot 29. Do not park in Lot 4, which is a reserved lot for students that live in the residence halls.
2021 UW-STOUT BLUE DEVILS: The Blue Devils lost six players to graduation after the 2019 season and two to graduation after the 2020-21 COVID season. Hybrid setter/right side hitter Lexie Nelson returns as Stout's leading hitter, putting down a team-best 297 kills and trailed only starting setter Jessica DuVal in assists, dishing off 510. Nelson was eighth in the WIAC in kills. Nelson has 546 kills and 669 assists over her two seasons. Look for outside hitter Grace Maurer (1.76 k/set) to see more time on the court. Emili Cain returns to the Blue Devils after missing the 2019 season. Cain returned to the Blue Devils in the spring of 2021. Cain recorded 2.01 kills as a freshman in 2017 and 1.92 kills in 2018. | Complete 2021 Season Preview
BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils closed out the 2019 season with a 3-2 home loss to the University of Minnesota-Morris, then dropped a 3-0 decision at UW-La Crosse to close out the conference and overall season. The 2020 season was canceled due to the pandemic, but the Blue Devils did host an exhibition match against UW-Eau Claire, April 9, 2021, in Johnson Fieldhouse where Blue Devil coach Mandy Trautmann got a chance to see her newcomers in game action. The Blue Devils played three total exhibition contests in the spring of 2021, two on the road.
THE BLUE DEVILS IN 2019: The Blue Devils finished the 2019 season with a 19-11 overall record, 1-6 in the WIAC. The Blue Devils opened the season by winning their first eight matches. Libero Steph Cannon was named the WIAC defensive player of the year and earned third team all-AVCA All-America honors. Then freshman Lydia Kneubuehl was selected as an All-WIAC honorable mention pick. | 2019 Statistics
HAMLINE UNIVERSITY: The match will be a homecoming os sorts for Hamline head coach Maggie Meixl, who played collegiately for the Blue Devils for four years. Meixl is in her fifth season as the Pipers' head coach. The Pipers played a limited 2020 schedule, moving the schedule to the spring where they finished 4-4 overall, winning all four home matches. The Pipers finished the 2019 season at 13-14 overall.
LAST TIME THEY MET: The Blue Devils defeated the Pipers 3-0 when the teams last met at Hamline, Sept. 11, 2019. The Blue Devils, with the 25-16, 28-26, 29-27 victory, improved to 8-0 and the 3-0 win was Stout's seventh sweep of the season. Lexie Nelson led the way for the Blue Devils with 14 kills and added 23 assists. Amber Ripley put down nine kills and Lydia Kneubuehl and Kara Simonson each had seven kills. | Game Story and Statistics
UNIVERSITY OF DUBUQUE: The Spartans played a limited schedule last season, finishing with a 5-4 overall record in the spring. Dubuque wrapped up their season by playing the in the AVCA Division III Women's Volleyball Tournament in Indianapolis, Ind. Darby Hawtrey and Julie May earned American Rivers Conference (ARC) all-conference and Emma Powell honorable mention. Stout defeated Dubuque, 3-1, when the teams met Sept. 27, 2019, in Dubuque. The Spartans finished 2019 at 22-11 overall. | Game Story and Stats
CENTRAL COLLEGE: The Dutch played an eight-match schedule in the spring, finishing the season at 4-4 and concluded the season with a 3-0 win over Luther College. Senior utility hitter Kayleigh Fite and junior libero Landry Luhring were selected to the ARC all-conference team. The Blue Devils took a 3-2 win when the teams met Sept. 2, 2017, at the S. Mary's University Invitational in Winona, Minn. Amber Ripley led Stout in the win over Central College, finishing with 16 kills, nearly doubling her total of the three previous matches this season. Ashley Pratt finished the match with 13 kills. Emili Cain, who returns to the Blue Devils this season after a season off, had four kills and a solo block. Central finished at 17-13 in 2019. | Game Story and Stats
ELMHURST UNIVERSITY: The Blue Jays played an six-match regular schedule (with one exhbition game), then played four games in the AVCA Division III Women's Volleyball Tournament in Indianapolis, Ind., finishing the season at 8-2 overall. The Blue Jays went 3-1 at the AVCA meet, finishing third. At one point during the season, Elmhurst was ranked eighth nationally. In their only two meetings since at least 2000, the Blue Jays won back-to-back 3-0 decisions over UW-Stout in 2016 and 2017. In the 2017 match, Kennedy Strain had 13 kills to lead Stout. The Blue Jays finished the 2019 season at 10-22 overall. | Game Story and Stats
GRINNELL COLLEGE: The Pioneers saw their 2020 season wiped out by the pandemic after coming off a 2019 season where they advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the program's history. The Pioneers won the 2019 Midwest Conference Tournament, downing St. Norbert College in five sets, but were downed by Carthage College in straight sets in the NCAA Tournament. | Game Story and Stats
CONFERENCE & NATIONAL POLLS: The Blue Devils were picked to finish seventh in the WIAC, according to a preseason poll by conference coaches and sports information directors. | 2021 WIAC Preseason Poll | AVCA Top 25 Poll
UW-STOUT COACH MANDY TRAUTMANN: Coach Mandy Trautmann (35-24) is in her fourth season as the head coach of the Blue Devils in 2021. In her first season as head coach in 2018, Trautmann led the Blue Devils to a home WIAC playoff berth, the first for the Blue Devils since 2004. Trautmann took over the Blue Devils after a season as an assistant coach. Prior to coming to Stout, Trautmann was the team captain for UW-Oshkosh in 2015, a season the Titans captured the WIAC regular season championship. Trautmann was a two-time first team all-WIAC selection in 2014 and 2015, and an honorable mention choice in 2013. She was named to the all-WIAC defensive team in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
DOWN THE ROAD: The Blue Devils return to Menomonie, Wednesday, Sept. 8 to host St. Mary's University at 7 p.m., then will travel to UW-Oshkosh to take on Lake Forest College, Wisconsin Lutheran College, Lakeland University and St. Norbert College. Sept. 10-11. The Blue Devils met the same quartet at the 2019 UW-Oshkosh tournament.
