SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 EIU Panther Volleyball 2008 Weekly ReleasE #2 Page

Transcription

1 SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 EIU Panther Volleyball 2008 Weekly ReleasE #2 Page Volleyball Contact: Bart Rettberg Phone: (217) Fax: (217) EIUpanthers.com 2008 Home Openers... Friday-Saturday, September 5-6 MATCHES 5-7 HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS PANTHER CHALLENGE Fri., Sept. 5 Chicago State (0-4) vs. Toledo (0-3) 4 pm Fri., Sept. 5 EIU (2-2) hosts Western Illinois (1-3) 37th meeting between EIU and WIU... EIU leads series, last meeting: WIU 3, EIU 1 (30-13, 30-24, 21-30, 30-25) on 9/9/06 Sat., Sept. 6 Toledo vs. Western Illinois 10 am Sat., Sept. 6 EIU hosts Chicago State 12th meeting between EIU and CSU... EIU leads series, last meeting: EIU 3, CSU 1 (30-23, 26-30, 30-24, 30-17) on 10/19/04 Sat., Sept. 6 Chicago State vs. Western Illinois 4 pm Sat., Sept. 6 EIU hosts Toledo 3rd meeting between EIU and Toledo... series tied last meeting: Toledo 3, EIU 1 (27-30, 30-28, 30-25, 30-20) on 8/30/02 HOME SWEET HOME After beginning the 2008 campaign on the road at the nine-team North Carolina Central Tournament in Durham, N.C. last weekend, followed by a away match at Indiana State Tuesday night, EIU comes home to the friendly confines of Lantz Arena this weekend. The two-day Holiday Inn Express Panther Challenge includes two Illinois schools (Chicago State and Western Illinois), as well as Toledo from Ohio. Last season the Panthers finished with a 7-6 Lantz Arena record. A LOOK AT THE TOURNEY SCHEDULE Chicago State and Toledo are set to open the tournament schedule on Friday afternoon, with first set at 4 pm. Eastern will then host arch-rival Western Illinois at. There will be a full slate of Saturday action with Toledo and Western Illinois opening the morning session at 10 am, followed by the EIU and Chicago State matchup at. Chicago State and Western Illinois finish up their tourney schedule with a 4 pm contest and EIU hosts Toledo in the finale at. All-Tournament Team awards (MVP, top libero, and five other All-Tournament honorees) will be presented following the Toledo/EIU match. QUOTING COACH LORI BENNETT We are very much looking forward to the Holiday Inn Express Challenge this weekend... we expect a great weekend of competition... our last two matches have shown us that there are some things we need to improve on and the last couple days of work in the gym have prepared us for our opponents this weekend. PANTHER CHALLENGE HISTORY Since joining the Ohio Valley Conference in 1996, the Panthers have hosted six previous Tournaments. In 1996, 2001, 2002, and 2003 the tournaments were named EIU Invitationals, but starting in 2005 and 2007, the title was changed to EIU Challenge. This season s Panther Challenge is sponsored by Holiday Inn Express. Since 1996, EIU sports a 7-5 overall record for home openers when they occur as part of a Panther tournament, including last season s 3-2 home opener victory over Memphis. The Panthers are an even better 12-5 in total home tournament play since Last season EIU captured the tourney title downing all three opponents (Memphis, Indiana State and Loyola). UPDATED TOURNEY INFO Throughout the course of the two-day tournament, fans and media can keep track of all the action by going to the official EIU Panther website at EIUpanthers.com. Complete tournament 2008 QUICK FACTS Location Charleston, Illinois Founded/Enrollment 1895 / 12,349 Nickname/Colors Panthers/Blue & Gray Affiliation NCAA Division I Conference Ohio Valley (13th Yr.) Home Court Lantz Arena (5,300) Athletic Director Barbara Burke Asst. Athletic Director/SWA Mary Wallace Faculty Athletic Rep. Dr. Gail Richard Lantz Arena Media Table (217) Head Coach Lori Bennett (4th Year) Career Record Bennett lmbennett@eiu.edu Assistant Coach Amy Schreiber (2nd Year) Schreiber arschreiber@eiu.edu VB Office Phones (217) or Final Record OVC Record 5-15 Letterwinners Returning/Lost 9/3 Starters Returning/Lost 5 (4+Libero)/2 Newcomers 5 OVC Regular-Season Titles 2 (1998, 2004) OVC Tournament Titles 1 (2001) NCAA Appearances 1 (2001) Director of Athletic Media/Public Relations Rich Moser Assistant SID (VB Contact) Bart Rettberg Assistant SID Ben Turner Graphic Design/Photographer Sandy King Rettberg s Office Phone (217) Rettberg s Cell Phone (217) Rettberg s bvrettberg@eiu.edu Sports Info Fax (217) Athletc Website EIUpanthers.com MEDIA GUIDELINES & POLICIES CREDENTIALS... Media and photographers wishing to cover EIU home matches need to contact Assistant Sports Information Director Bart Rettberg at the phone numbers (or ) above. Requests should be submitted at least 24 hours in advance. INTERVIEWS... All interviews must be arranged through the EIU Sports Information Office. Studentathletes have been instructed not to grant any interviews, in person or by telephone, unless prior arrangements have been made through the EIU Sports Information Office. Telephone numbers are private and will not be released. Do not expect student-athletes to be available if you have not made prior arrangements. Players and coaches are available before or after practice depending on availability. Practice is generally from 2-4:30 pm in Lantz Arena. Afternoon interviews will require advance planning and any photographers planning to attend practice must be cleared in advance. To reach a member of the EIU volleyball team on the road, please contact Bart Rettberg.

2 SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 EIU Panther Volleyball 2008 Weekly ReleasE #2 Page schedules, tournament program, results, live stats, and live video streaming (of EIU matches) will be made available. SCOUTING THE WESTERWINDS The Western Illinois squad enters the weekend with a 1-3 record, after competing at a tournament hosted by OVC member Morehead State. The Westerwinds opened with a 3-2 victory over Lipscomb before losing to the host Eagles in three sets and dropping a tough 3-2 matchup to Indiana State. WIU is led by juniors Erin Frick and Emily harrison, who both sport 32 kills apiece. Besides 2008 NCAA RULE CHANGES Fans need to be aware of several rule changes being implemented this 2008 volleyball season. A few significant changes are as follows (courtesy of the AVCA): TERMINOLOGY The term game has been changed to set. A match will still continue to consist of best threeout-of-five set victories. POINTS REQUIRED TO WIN A SET Instead of 30 points, the number of points needed to win sets ONE through FOUR is now 25 (must win by two). Fifteen points (with twopoint advantage) still wins the deciding FIFTH set, if necessary. SUBSTITUTIONS Teams have a maximum of 12 subs per set. COACHES POSITION When the ball is in play, coaches will be asked to stay at least 1.75 meters from the court s sideline. An imaginary line perpendicular to the outside edge of the extended attack line indicates this distance. If a coach doesn t comply, the referees may assess a team delay sanction. BALL HANDLING DECISIONS In recent years, referee training has emphasized focusing on the player s contact point with the ball, and not allowing outside influences, such as spin after release, to influence ball handling decisions. A 2008 point of emphasis regarding the second team contact (usually a set attempt) now instructs referees to only call multiple contacts that are obvious enough to be readily seen, and to be less severe when judging extremely athletic plays. being the team setter, tallying 6.65 sets per set, Sarah Trimpe also has the squad s best hitting mark at.303. Defensively the Westerwinds Elise Crnjak has 79 digs as the starting libero, while freshman Cait Egan has tallied ten total blocks, two solo and eight assisted. Senior middle hitter Monique Houston currently has six service aces to lead all WIU players. SCOUTING THE COUGARS EIU s second weekend opponent, Chicago State, comes downstate with a 0-4 record, after losing all three of their matches at the Northern Illinois Invitational in straight sets, as well as a home loss versus Loyola (Chicago) on Tuesday. At the NIU tourney, the host squad beat them prior to losing to Connecticut and Cleveland State. Leading the Cougars are Shamara Clark and Hope Lockett, who each have 16 kills. Chy Crichton leads the digging game with 23 ups, followed by Clark s 21. Crichton also sports three total service aces. SCOUTING THE ROCKETS EIU will face the Rockets of Toledo to close out the Panther Challenge. Toledo comes to Charleston with an 0-3 record. Last weekend they competed at the Ohio State Classic, losing to the host Buckeyes in three, followed by a fiveset marathon loss to Youngstown State and a four-set defeat at the hands of Xavier. Leading the Rocket squad are Amber DeWeerdt and Stephanie Kersting with 33 and 32 kills, respectively. Freshman setter Kassie Kadera has 103 total assists entering the weekend. Defensively, senior libero Lori Ruth leads with 28 total digs, while junior middle blocker Sarah Wilson has five total blocks. Both DeWeerdt and Ruth have six service aces in their respective stat columns. EIU ENTERS TOURNEY AT 2-2 The Panthers opened the season last weekend by winning two consecutive three set matchups, first against the host North Carolina Central Eagles and again versus Campbell. Unfortunately EIU dropped a very tight three-set match to eventual third place finisher Houston Baptist to finish the tournament with a 2-1 record. EIU then traveled to traditional rival Indiana State last Tuesday evening, losing in four sets inside a sweltering ISU Arena SCHEDULE & RESULTS 2-2 / 0-0 OVC AUGUST 23 ALUMNI MATCH (Exhibition) W , 25-20, at North Carolina Central 1 vs. W , 25-18, Campbell W , 25-20, vs. Houston Baptist L , 26-28, SEPTEMBER 2 at Indiana State L , 19-25, 25-18, WESTERN ILLINOIS 6 2 CHICAGO STATE 2 TOLEDO 12 3 at Mississippi 3 vs. Southern Methodist 4 pm 13 3 vs. Georgia Tech 10 am 19 MOREHEAD STATE 20 EASTERN KENTUCKY 23 MURRAY STATE 26 at Tennessee Tech 27 at Jacksonville State OCTOBER 2 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 10 AUSTIN PEAY 11 TENNESSEE STATE 17 at UT Martin 18 at Murray State 24 at Eastern Kentucky 6 pm 25 at Morehead State 28 UT MARTIN 31 at Southeast Missouri NOVEMBER 1 at SIU-Edwardsville 4 pm 7 JACKSONVILLE STATE 8 TENNESSEE TECH 14 at Tennessee State 15 at Austin Peay 20 OVC TOURNAMENT TBA (campus site to be determined) 29 OVC Tournament Champion to play at Louisville All times central and subject to change HOME MATCHES held at EIU s Lantz Arena 1 - at North Carolina Central Tournament (Durham, N.C.) 2 - hosts EIU Panther Challenge (Charleston, Ill.) 3 - at Ole Miss Magnolia Classic (Oxford, Miss.) 2008 EIU VOLLEYBALL... Front (l-r) Madison Barr (Fr.), Jessica Wheeler (Jr.), Laura Welsh (Sr.), Lauren Sopcic (Sr.), Alex Zwettler (So.), and Kelsey Orr (So.); Back (l-r) Shannon Hullum (Fr.), Melanie Boykins (Fr.), Hannah Deterding (Fr.), Jorie Dieter (So.), Shaina Boylan (Jr.), Brittany Wallace (Fr.), Lauren Schutte (Jr.), and Erin Hake (So.) - Ohio Valley Conference contest

3 SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 EIU Panther Volleyball 2008 Weekly ReleasE #2 Page 3 PANTHERS NEXT HEAD TO OXFORD Following this weekend s action, EIU will travel to Oxford, Mississippi to compete in the four-team Ole Miss Magnolia Classic on Friday-Saturday. On Friday, the Panthers play the host Rebels at, followed by a rematch with SMU at 4 pm. EIU competed in SMU s tournament last season, losing the championship match to the Mustangs in a grueling five-game affair. On Saturday, the Panthers will battle Georgia Tech at 10 am. ZWETTLER EARNS SECOND TEAM PRESEASON ALL-OVC ACCOLADES After being named to the OVC All-Newcomer last season, sophomore outside hitter Alex Zwettler was tabbed Second Team Preseason All-OVC, as voted on by league head coaches and SID staff. PANTHERS PICKED EIGHTH IN OVC The Panthers have perfect motivation for OVC play this coming season as the league s head coaches (and SID volleyball contacts) have predicted the Panthers to finish in eighth place Our nine returning players gained invaluable experience following last season s fall and spring action... those honed skills will pay off as we head into this year s campaign... many of those young players carried significant offensive and defensive loads for us last year and that experience and talent will give them the opportunity to be successful in the Ohio Valley Conference... we also have a talented group of young players coming in who are prepared to join our veterans and take this team to new heights... I am looking forward to this season as we turn the corner to return EIU volleyball to it s rightful place as one of the top programs in the league... we have an exciting future ahead of us and it begins this fall.... Coach Lori Bennett 2008 EIU PANTHER VOLLEYBALL ROSTER # ATHLETE POS HT YR EXP HOMETOWN (HS) 1 Shannon Hullum OH 6-1 Fr. HS Van, Texas (Van) 2 Brittany Wallace DS/L 5-5 Fr. HS Trenton, Ill. (Wesclin) 3 Kelsey Orr OH 5-10 So. 1V Forest, Ind. (Clinton Central) 4 Madison Barr OH/MB 6-0 Fr. HS Southlake, Texas (Southlake Carroll) 5 Hannah Deterding S 5-8 Fr. HS White Heath, Ill. (Monticello) 6 Shaina Boylan DS/L 5-7 Jr. 2V Highland Park, Ill. (Highland Park) 7 Melanie Boykins MB 6-0 Fr. HS Fort Worth, Texas (North Crowley) 8 Erin Hake OH 6-0 So. 1V Marion, Iowa (Linn-Mar) 9 Jessica Wheeler OH 5-10 Jr. 2V Gurnee, Ill. (Warren Township) 10 Jorie Dieter MB 5-10 So. 1V Joliet, Ill. (Joliet Township West) 11 Alex Zwettler OH 5-11 So. 1V Madison, Wisc. (Edgewood) 14 Lauren Sopcic MH 5-11 Sr. 3V Freeport, Ill. (Freeport Aquin) 15 Laura Welsh DS/L 5-5 Sr. 1V Hoffman Estates, Ill. (Fremd) 18 Lauren Schutte S 6-0 R-Jr. 2V Louisville, Ky. (dupont Manual Magnet) HEAD COACH: Lori Bennett, 4th Year (Indiana State, 1997) ASSISTANT COACH: Amy Schreiber, 2nd Year (IUPUI, 2003) ATHLETIC TRAINER: Katie McCormack, 1st Year SPORTS INFORMATION CONTACT: Bart Rettberg, 14th Year PRONUNCIATION GUIDE SHAINA BOYLAN... SHAY-nuh BOY-lynn Hannah DETERDING...DEE-ter-ding JORIE DIETER... JOR-ee DEE-ter Erin HAKE... HAYk (rhymes with rake) Shannon HULLUM...HUH-lum this year. That ranking shouldn t be much of a surprise, as EIU finished eighth in But very rarely do the crystal ball preseason predictions come true, so the Panthers can definitely use the lack of respect as motivation in OVC play this season. ALUMS GIVE PANTHERS EARLY TEST Alex Zwettler tallied 16 kills as the EIU varsity squad downed a tough group of alumni in three sets, 25-16, 25-20, on August 23. The match was played in front of a large fan contingent at Court #5 in the Student Rec Center. All fourteen Panther squad members saw action. Lauren Sopcic added eight kills off 15 attacks for a.467 hitting mark and was a force at the net as she earned four block assists to lead all players. Sophomore Erin Hake put down six kills of her own while also recording 13 digs. Junior libero Shaina Boylan led all Panthers defensively with 18 digs. Fellow junior Lauren Schutte dished out 23 total assists in sets one and two, while freshman setter Hannah Deterding contributed nine assists in set three. The alumni group consisted of former players from the past OVC championship squads: the 1998 (regular-season), 2001 (tournament and program s first NCAA appearacne) and 2004 (co-champions). HOME MATCHES ON OVCSPORTS.TV Panther fans unable to attend a home EIU volleyball match can watch the contests live online via OVCSPORTS.TV, as the Panthers are one of just a few OVC schools that televise all home events online. Fans may purchase a per match, per season or per year package. In addition, fans can follow each home match, pointby-point, by accessing free live statistics which are available through EIUpanthers.com. Lauren SCHUTTE...SHUH-tee (not SHOE-tee) Lauren SOPCIC... SOP-sick Alex ZWETTLER... ZWET-ler Amy SCHREIBER... SHRYE-burr THE LORI BENNETT FILE EIU COACHING CAREER... 4TH YEAR (44.7%) / in OVC (38.5%) / / / / OVC Tournament Host LAKELAND COACHING CAREER (64.4%)... Seven Years Ranked 9th in the Nation CLUB TEAM COACHING CAREER Club Smash (Coach/Owner) Prime Time (Coach) Twin Cities (Coach) WINDSOR HS COACHING CAREER Co-Head Coach PLAYING CAREER Indiana State University ( ) Three-time letterwinner and two-year starting setter Two-time Academic All-Missouri Valley Conference Honorable Mention Ended career second all-time in assists Eastern Kentucky University (1992) OVC All-Freshmen Team AWARDS NJCAA Region 24 Coach of the Year NJCAA District J Coach of the Year and NJCAA Region 24 Coach of the Year EIU Athletic Administration Graduate Student of the Year COMMITTEES NJCAA Region 24 Committee Chair ISU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Vice President ALL-AMERICANS UNDER BENNETT Iwona Waligora (NJCAA/AVCA) Lira Xavier (NJCAA) EDUCATION Eastern Illinois (1999) - Masters in Phys. Ed. Indiana State (1997) - Bachelors in Phys. Ed. Graduate of Windsor HS

4 SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 EIU Panther Volleyball 2008 Weekly ReleasE #2 Page OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE STANDINGS OHIO VALLEY ALL MATCHES THU SEPT. 3 W L PCT H A W L PCT H A N STRK Austin Peay L1 Morehead State L1 Murray State W2 EASTERN ILLINOIS L2 Jacksonville State W2 UT Martin L3 Eastern Kentucky W1 Tennessee Tech W1 Southeast Missouri L3 Tennessee State L3 THIS WEEKEND IN THE OVC FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5: 1 Western Illinois at EASTERN ILLINOIS - 2 Southeast Missouri at LSU - cancelled 3 Morehead State vs. North Carolina Central 4 Tennessee Tech vs. Purdue 5 Creighton at Jacksonville State 5 Mississippi at Jacksonville State 6 Eastern Kentucky at Pittsburgh 6 Eastern Kentucky vs. Binghampton 7 UT Martin vs. Sam Houston 7 UT Martin at Loyola (Chicago) 8 Austin Peay vs. Butler 9 Murray State at Belmont SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6: 1 Chicago State at EASTERN ILLINOIS - 1 Toledo at EASTERN ILLINOIS - 2 Southeast Missouri vs. Rice - cancelled 2 Southeast Missouri vs. Louisiana Tech - cancelled 3 Morehead State vs. West Virginia 3 Morehead State at Winthrop 4 Tennessee Tech at Ball State 4 Tennessee Tech vs. Southern Illinois 5 Alabama-Birmingham at Jacksonville State 6 Eastern Kentucky vs. Ohio 7 UT Martin vs. Bucknell 7 UT Martin vs. Evansville 8 Austin Peay at Kennesaw State 8 Austin Peay vs. Loyola (Maryland) 9 Murray State vs. Furman 9 Murray State vs. IPFW WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10: Tennessee State at Kentucky 1 - Holiday Inn Express Panther Challenge (Charleston, Ill.) 2 - LSU Tiger Classic (Baton Rouge, La.) - cancelled 3 - Winthrop Classic (Rock Hill, S.C.) 4 - Cardinal Invitational (Muncie, Ind.) 5 - Gamcock Invitational (Jacksonville, Ala.) 6 - Pitt Classic (Pittsburgh, Penn.) 7 - Loyola Tournament (Chicago, Ill.) 8 - Kennesaw State Tournament (Kennesaw, Ga.) 9 - Belmont Tournament (Nashville, Tenn.) OVC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK OFFENSIVE 9/1 Stephanie Champine (APSU) DEFENSIVE 9/1 Emma Keough (MOR) SETTER 9/1 Brooke Schumacher (JSU) EIU RANKINGS IN THE OVC Rankings for All Matches... thru Sept. 3 Kills (kps) 5th (11.54) Hitting (%) 5th (.174) Assists (aps) 6th (10.31) Aces (aps) 2nd (1.69) Digs (dps) 5th (15.08) Blocks (bps) 9th (0.85) PANTHERS IN OVC TOP 10 Rankings for All Matches... thru Sept. 3 KILLS 9... Kelsey Orr 2.92 kps... Alex Zwettler 2.92 kps HITTING % 1... Lauren Sopcic.396 ( ) ASSISTS 4... Lauren Schutte 8.18 aps SERVICE ACES 2... Lauren Schutte 0.64 aps 3... Shaina Boylan 0.50 aps 8... Erin Hake 0.31 aps DIGS 5... Shaina Boylan 4.25 dps POINTS Kelsey Orr 3.23 pgs

5 SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 EIU Panther Volleyball 2008 Weekly ReleasE #2 Page EASTERN ILLINOIS PANTHER VOLLEYBALL Eastern Illinois Combined Team Statistics (as of Aug 30, 2008) All matches RECORD: OVERALL HOME AWAY NEUTRAL ALL GAMES CONFERENCE NON-CONFERENCE Attack Set Serve Dig Blocking ## Player sp k k/s e ta pct a a/s sa se sa/s re dig dig/s bs ba total blk/s be bhe points 3 ORR, Kelsey ZWETTLER, Alex BOYKINS, Melanie SOPCIC, Lauren HAKE, Erin WHEELER, Jessica BARR, Madison WALLACE, Brittany # SCHUTTE, Lauren HULLUM, Shannon DETERDING, Hannah DIETER, Jorie BOYLAN, Shaina WELSH, Laura TEAM EASTERN ILLINOIS Opponents Team Statistics EIU OPP ATTACK Kills Errors Total Attacks Attack Pct Kills/Set SET Assists Attempts Assist Pct Assists/Set SERVE Aces Errors Attempts Serve Pct Aces/Set SERVE RECEPTIONS Errors Errors/Set Attempts Reception Pct DEFENSE Digs Digs/Set BLOCKING Block Solo 6 0 Block Assist 6 20 Total Blocks Blocks Per Game Block Errors 0 2 Ball handling errors 1 3 ATTENDANCE Total Dates/Avg Per Date 0/0 1/119 Neutral site #/Avg 2/61 Current win streak 0 - Date Opponent Score Score by set Att. 1Aug 29 at NC Central W ,25-18, Aug 29 vs Campbell W ,25-20, Aug 30 vs Houston Baptist L ,26-28, at Hilton RTP/NCCU Tournament (in Durham, N.C.) 2 - Holiday Inn Express Panther Challenge (in Charleston, Ill.) 3 - at Ole Miss Magnolia Classic (in Oxford, Miss.) * - Ohio Valley Conference match Record in 3-set matches: 2-1 Record in 4-set matches: 0-0 Record in 5-set matches: 0-0