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THIS WEEK'S MATCHES: The Ben Staupe era begins when the Blue Devils take a road trip to Texas where they will play four matches at the Trinity, Texas, University Invitational in San Antonio. Stout will have their hands full, with two teams ranked in the Top 25 of the 2022 AVCA preseason poll. The Blue Devils will open with a 6 p.m. match against Texas Lutheran University, Thursday, Sept. 1, followed up by a single match against 24th ranked Transylvania University at 4:45 p.m., Friday, Sept. 2. The Blue Devils play two matches on Saturday, Sept. 3, facing sixth-ranked Berry College of Georgia at 12:15 p.m. and Edgewood College at 4:45 p.m. Transylvania and Berry College met in the first round of the NCAA tournament, with Berry advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals.
LOOKING AT UW-STOUT: The Blue Devils return 10 letter winners from last year's squad and five starters from 2021. Top hitters Sidney Hoverman, a 2021 all-WIAC honorable mention selection, and Jessica Barr return. Hoverman averaged 3.53 kills per contest and Barr 2.22. Barr and McCayla Thompson were Stout's top blockers, with Thompson averaging 0.55 and Barr 0.53 blocks per set. The Blue Devils will be looking to replace leading setter Lexie Nelson, who provided 80 percent of the assists, averaging 8.21 assists, put down 1.55 kills, averaged 2.94 digs and 0.47 blocks. Staci Meyer and Terrah Moshier alternated at the libero position and were among the team leaders in digs. Meyer led the team with 3.30 digs per set and Moshier averaged 2.90 digs. Anna Hansen saw action in 91 sets and Caroline Braun saw action in 62 sets. After a two-year absence, middle hitter Lydia Kneubuehl returns. Kneubuehl earned WIAC honorable mention selection in 2019 when she averaged 0.74 blocks per set and 2.45 kills per set. | Statistics
BLUE DEVILS LAST TIME OUT: The Blue Devils defeated UW-Superior, 3-0, Oct. 26, 2021, then closed out the season with a trip to UW-Whitewater, with a 3-0 loss, Oct. 29 and a 3-0 loss at Concordia-Wisconsin, Oct. 30, to close out the season. Stout finished the season at 14-13 overall, 1-6 in the WIAC. | UW-Superior Game Story and Statistics | UW-Whitewater Game Story and Statistics | Concordia-Wisconsin Game Story and Statistics
TEXAS LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY: Texas Lutheran earned a 19-14 record in the fall of 2021 and 9-7 mark in SCAC matches to finish fourth in the SCAC - surpassing preseason expectations. The 19-14 mark was the best under fifth-year head coach Phyllis Fowler and the Bulldogs 9-7 conference record was their first winning conference since 2017. The Bulldogs will return all but one starter to the fold in 2022, including 2021 NCAA Division-III digs leader and 2021 SCAC Backrow Player of the Year defensive specialist/libero Lexi Morris (Victoria/Victoria West), SCAC Freshman of the Year setter Shavonne Respondek (San Antonio/Madison), All-SCAC Second Team outside-hitter Tanyse Moehrig (Spring Branch/Smithson Valley), as well as veteran middle blockers Madison Weisinger (Friendswood/Friendswood) and Peyton Sulak (Needville/Needville). Texas Lutheran volleyball has been voted to finish fourth in the 2022 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Preseason Coaches Poll. | 2021 Statistics
THE SERIES: The teams have not met since Sept. 13, 2003, when Stout took a 3-0 win in San Diego, Calif. . | History
TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY: Transylvania is ranked 24th in the 2022 AVCA preseason poll. Transylvania advanced to the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament, falling in three tough sets to 12th ranked Berry College. The Pioneers return their top attacker in sophomore Cate Scheper, who put down 3.59 kills per set, and was named the HCAC newcomer of the year. Suzanne Klosterman averaged 2.52 kills and Madison Sweeney returns after hitting 2.35 kills. Setter Grace Ward dished up 8.16 assists and Makala Davis averaged 5.25. Karrington Jackson averaged 0.74 blocks. | 2021 Statistics
THE SERIES: This is the first meeting between Stout and Transylvania.
BERRY COLLEGE: Berry College is ranked sixth in the 2022 AVCA preseason poll. The Vikings advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III tournament, falling to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 3-1, Nov. 18, 2021. Berry, which was ranked seventh in the final 2021 AVCA poll, swept through the NCAA Regional and captured the crown by downing host school Emory College, 3-0. Emily Rapach, Peyton Breissinger, Molly Bergin and Jazzy Innis, return after earning all-AVCA honors and head coach Caitlyn Moriarty was named the Region Coach of the Year. Berry finished the 2021 season at 28-3 overall. | 2021 Statistics
THE SERIES: This is the first meeting between Stout and Berry College.
EDGEWOOD COLLEGE: Edgewood finished the 2021 season at 17-11 overall. The Eagles lost their top hitter in Mackenzie Doherty, but return Amanda Carlson, who averaged 2.00 kills per set. Abbey Falk topped the team in blocks with 0.89. Both setters return. Taylor Salmon averaged 5.48 assists and Abigail Hoffman 4.24. Hoffman, an NAAC honorable mention selection, did a little bit of everything for the Eagles. Hoffmann rotated as both an outside hitter and a setter. She tied for third on the team in kills (191) and ranked second with 466 assists. Hoffmann also led the team with 42 service aces and ranked fourth with 197 digs. | 2021 Statistics
THE SERIES: Since the 2000 season, Stout and Edgewood have met four times, with Stout holding a 3-1 lead. Stout won the last meeting between the two teams, a 3-0 win in Whitewater during the 2018 season. Edgewood captured a 3-1 win in Platteville during the 2010 season. | History
CONFERENCE & NATIONAL POLLS: The Blue Devils were picked to finish eighth in the WIAC, according to a preseason poll by conference coaches and sports information directors. | 2022 WIAC Preseason Poll | AVCA Top 25 Poll
UW-STOUT COACH BEN STAUPE: Coach Ben Staupe (16-88) is in his first year as the Blue Devil head coach, coming to Stout after four seasons as the head coach at NCAA Division I Western Illinois University, which was preceded by eight seasons as the associate head coach at Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) member UW-Whitewater. Before joining the Whitewater staff, Staupe was the head coach at Rock Valley College, a junior college in Rockford, Ill. A UW-La Crosse graduate, Staupe also served a stint as an assistant coach at NAIA Viterbo University, as well as coaching club volleyball and high school volleyball.
AWARDS: 2021: Lexie Nelson and Sidney Hoverman were selected all-WIAC honorable mention...Lexie Nelson and Sidney Hoverman were selected to the all-tournament team at the UW-Oshkosh Polito's Invitational...Lexie Nelson and Jessica Barr were selected to the all-tournament team at the Grinnell College/Central College Invitational..
DOWN THE ROAD: The Blue Devils will travel to Hamline University, Wednesday, Sept. 7, then return to St. Paul, Minn., where they will play four matches at the St. Catherine University Invitational, Friday, Sept. 9 (Bethany Lutheran/St. Catherine) and Saturday, Sept. 10 (Martin Luther College/Central College).
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