For Immediate Release

Volleyball -- Sept. 13, 2011

Eureka Volleyball Weekly Notebook: Sept. 13, 2011

PDF Version of Eureka Volleyball Weekly Notebook

THE WEEK AHEAD

The Eureka College volleyball team will take its longest road trip of the 2011 season this weekend when the Red Devils open the 16-match St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference portion of its schedule with back-to-back matches on Saturday in Louisville, Ky.

The Red Devils will have a challenging opening SLIAC weekend when they play defending SLIAC co-champion Spalding on its home floor at 10 a.m., followed by a match against seven-time SLIAC champion Webster at noon.

SCOUTING SPALDING

In the final season of a three-year period as a provisional member of NCAA Division III, Spalding enters the week with a 3-5 overall record. 

Spalding owns victories in 2011 over Lindenwood (Ill.) (Sept. 2), Robert Morris-Springfield (Sept. 3) and Robert Morris-Peoria (Sept. 3), but recently dropped all four of its matches at the Hanover Invitational on Sept. 9-10.

The 2011 season marks the 14th season for head coach Bridget Yates.  The former Hanover student-athlete has directed Spalding to a winning season in each of her previous 13 campaigns and the 2008 United State Collegiate Athletic Association national title.  Additionally, Yates was a five-time Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and was also chosen as the 2006 NAIA Region 12 Coach of the Year.

The Golden Eagles remain ineligible for SLIAC and NCAA Division III postseason play until their D-III provisional period is completed after the 2011-12 athletic year.

Spalding will play non-conference matches against Transylvania (Tuesday) and Indiana-Southeast (Thursday) before hosting Eureka in their SLIAC opener on Saturday.

SCOUTING WEBSTER

The winningest volleyball program in SLIAC history with 238 league wins since 1990, Webster represents Eureka’s second opponent of Saturday’s doubleheader in Louisville.

The Gorloks own a 3-3 record as of Tuesday and snapped a three-match losing streak Saturday with a three-set non-conference sweep of Illinois College at Barker Chevrolet Classic hosted by Illinois Wesleyan last Saturday.  Webster also won matches in 2011 against Benedictine-Springfield (Sept. 1) and Carroll (Sept. 2).

Two-time SLIAC Coach of the Year Merry Graf is in her 11th season as head coach of the Gorloks.  She has piloted Webster to four SLIAC regular season titles and four SLIAC Tournament championships.

Webster will play its SLIAC opener Tuesday versus Principia in St. Louis before squaring off against the Red Devils on Saturday.

EUREKA IN SLIAC OPENERS

The 2011 season represents Eureka’s sixth season as a member of the SLIAC.  The Red Devils have fared well in the opening match of their annual SLIAC schedule.

The Red Devils are 4-1 all-time in SLIAC openers and 1-0 when opening on the road.  Greenville ended Eureka’s four-match winning streak in SLIAC openers in 2010.

Date                       Opponent             Result

9/27/06                  Blackburn              W, 3-1

9/11/07                  Blackburn              W, 3-0

9/19/08                  Westminster        W, 3-1

9/15/09                  at Blackburn         W, 3-0

9/14/10                  Greenville             L, 0-3

STRUGGLES IN INDIANA

For the fifth consecutive season, the Red Devils participated in the Rose-Hulman Invitational when they played four matches last weekend at the Hulbert Arena in Terre Haute, Ind.  Eureka dropped three-set non-conference decisions to Franklin and Bethany on Saturday, before falling in three sets to Manchester and host Rose-Hulman on Sunday.

Junior outside hitter Kelli Dunne paced the Eureka attack during the weekend road trip with a team-high 24 kills in four starts.  Sophomore outside hitter Peyton McAtee followed Dunne with 18 kills and posted a team-high .241 attack percentage.

Defensively, junior Courtney Kincaid led all Eureka players with 42 digs and senior Paige Fannon had three total blocks.

Bethany and tournament host Rose-Hulman shared the team title with identical 4-0 records at the event.

NEARING THE TOP 10

A pair of four-year Eureka seniors are both within striking distance of the all-time Eureka kills list.  Paige Fannon (579) and Brittany Feger (554) are both on pace to enter the Red Devils’ top-10 in all-time kills before the end of the season.

Fannon and Feger can become the first set of Eureka teammates to reach the list in the same season since Lauren Sandrik and Candy Anderson in 2005.

All-Time Eureka Leaders                          Career Kills

1.              Stephanie Logan Morstatter               1,379

10.            Kelli Adams Stanley                                687

                 Paige Fannon                                           579

                 Brittany Feger                                            554

WEEKLY NOTABLES

Brittany Feger matched a career-high with three service aces versus Bethany last Saturday.

Sophomore Eileen Bollinger set a career-best with 19 assists Saturday against Franklin and also matched career-highs in aces (three) and digs (seven) during the Indiana road trip.

Sophomore Emily Campbell’s two service aces Sunday versus Manchester were a career-best.

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For More Information Contact:

Bryan Moore
Sports Information Director
Eureka College
300 E. College Avenue
Eureka, Illinois 61530
309-467-6456
bmoore@eureka.edu