November 11, 2009
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SETTING THE SCENE
For the fourth straight year and the 11th time overall, the University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team has earned a berth to the GLVC Tournament. The Tritons clinched the league’s No. 3 seed with a 3-1 victory over Northern Kentucky last Saturday. UMSL finished the regular season with a 21-20 record, including an 11-3 GLVC mark. The Tritons open tourney play against No. 6 seed Southern Indiana in quarterfinal round action. The Screaming Eagles defeated the Tritons, 3-1, earlier this season in Evansville, Ind.
VERSUS THE REST OF THE FIELD
UMSL is 4-3 against the other seven teams in the conference tournament. The Tritons swept St. Joseph’s (No. 8 seed) and Drury (No. 7 seed) and earned 3-1 victories over Northern Kentucky (No. 4 seed), Rockhurst (No. 5 seed). Lewis (No. 1 seed) handed the Tritons a 3-2 loss, while Indianapolis (No. 2) seed defeated UMSL, 3-1.
RECAPPING THE FIRST MEETING WITH SOUTHERN INDIANA
After hitting an impressive .433 en route to a 25-17 opening set win, UMSL saw host Southern Indiana rally for a 3-1 victory, claiming the final three sets 25-22, 25-22, 25-21. The loss snapped a six-game GLVC win streak by the Tritons. UMSL finished the match hitting .224, recording 60 kills, while USI recorded 45 kills and hit .242. Sophomore Weslie Gaff tallied a match-best 17 kills, while junior Kayla Kinzinger finished with 43 assists, six digs and five kills. Junior Carolyn Holstein registered 22 digs. Southern Indiana out-blocked UMSL, 10-3, and recorded six service aces to the Tritons’ one.
ANOTHER 20-WIN SEASON
For the first time since the 1995 and 1996 seasons, UMSL has recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons. The Tritons finished with a 23-8 mark last season and currently stand at 21-10 in 2009.
HEAD COACH TRENT JONES
Head coach Trent Jones is in his second season at UMSL, where he owns a record of 44-18. The seventh head coach in program history, Jones wasted little time in directing the program in the right direction in his first season as the Tritons posted a 23-8 record, the first 20-win season for UMSL since 1996. Additionally, the team finished with a 14-3 GLVC mark, the most league wins in school history. For his efforts, Jones was named the GLVC Coach of the Year. Jones arrived on the UMSL campus after serving four seasons as the assistant coach at national power Washburn University. During his four seasons at Washburn, the Lady Blues compiled a 129-23 record and qualified for the NCAA Tournament each year, while also reaching the schools first-ever NCAA Final Four in 2007.
UMSL IN THE NATIONAL STATS
As a team, UMSL ranks 31st in kills per set (13.19), 34th in assists per set (12.18), 38th in hitting percentage (.229), 60th in win-loss percentage (.677) and 64th in blocks per set (2.03). Additionally, the Tritons are 134th in digs per set (14.72). Individually, sophomore Weslie Gaff ranks 42nd in hitting percentage (.340) and 24th in blocks (1.09 bpg). Junior Carolyn Holstein ranks 25th in digs (5.10 dpg), while junior Kayla Kinzinger ranks 48th in assists (10.03 apg).
GLVC PLAYER OF THE WEEK NODS
UMSL had two players earn GLVC Player of the Week honors. Sophomore Erin Higgins was tabbed on October 12, while sophomore Weslie Gaff was selected November 9.
GETTIN’ DIGGY WITH IT
Junior libero Carolyn Holstein has had an impressive campaign in the backrow for the Tritons. She leads the GLVC with 5.10 digs per set and set a new single season record earlier this season. Holstein currently has 586 digs. She has 16 matches of 20 digs or more and two matches of 30 digs or more. She ranks seventh all-time in UMSL history with 1,139 career digs and is 10th all-time in service aces (89).
COURT COOKIN’
Junior Liz Cook became just the fifth player in program history to record her 1,000th career kill earlier this season. The outside hitter leads the squad with 2.85 kills per set and adds 2.21 digs per set. She ranks fifth all-time in UMSL history with 1,013 kills and is third all-time with 3,103 career kill attempts. Cook also ranks eighth in school history with 91 career service aces. She was a second team all-GLVC selection last season.
MIDDLE DOMINANCE I
Sophomore Weslie Gaff has been a force at the net this season for the Tritons and is the squad’s most efficient attacker. Gaff leads the squad in hitting percentage (.340) and blocks per set (1.09) and is third in the GLVC in both categories. She also ranks third on the team in kills, averaging 2.43 per set. Gaff was last year’s GLVC Freshman of the Year and earned first team all-GLVC honors, while also being named the AVCA Midwest Freshman of the Year. Her .340 hitting percentage this season is the seventh best single season total in program history, while her 120 blocks are the eighth best single season total. Gaff owns a career hitting percentage of .317, which ranks third all-time, while she currently ranks seventh all-time in block solos with 68.
MIDDLE DOMINANCE II
Senior Sarah Eisnaugle has also been a force at the net for the Tritons, averaging 2.17 kills and 0.69 blocks per set. Eisnaugle ranks sixth in UMSL history with 951 kills, sixth in kill attempts (2,497), sixth in blocks (291), sixth in block assists (213) and fifth in block solos (78).
HIGGINS ON THE RIGHT
A mainstay in the starting lineup as a rookie, sophomore Erin Higgins has only had a better second season. Higgins has been dominant on the right side of the attack, averaging 2.63 kills per set. She is hitting .255, while also averaging 0.60 blocks per set.
TRENDS...
UMSL has recorded nine 3-0 victories this season and has been swept just twice (Findlay and Grand Valley State).... UMSL is 7-4 at neutral sites... UMSL is 9-2 in three-set matches, 10-5 in four-set matches and 2-3 in five-set matches.
DOUBLE TIME
Four different players have recorded a double-double this season, with junior Liz Cook registering a team-best nine. Sophomore Kelsie Rankin has five, followed by junior Kayla Kinzinger who has three and sophomore Weslie Gaff who has one.
DID YOU KNOW?
• Sophomore Erin Higgins is just in her third season of volleyball competition. Higgins, who also played in junior high, returned to the volleyball court as a senior at Pleasant Valley High School after three years on the dance team.
• Junior Liz Cook was a high school teammate at Bishop O’Hara in Kansas City, Mo. of head coach Trent Jones’ younger sister, Tessa, who is in her first season as an assistant coach at Drury.
• Junior Bre Pratl’s mother (Cathy Freimuth) was a standout volleyball player at Lewis and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000. She still owns single season records for kills (529) and service aces (81), both set in 1984.
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