GAMEDAY CENTRAL
No. 18 Embry-Riddle (22-9) vs. No. 7 Oklahoma Baptist (32-5)
DATE: Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013
CITY: Sioux City, Iowa
SITE:Â Tyson Events Center
START TIME: 9:30Â p.m.
No. 18 Embry-Riddle (22-9) vs. No. 6 Midland (34-3)
DATE:Â Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013
CITY:Â Sioux City, Iowa
SITE:Â Tyson Events Center
START TIME:Â 6:45 p.m.
No. 18 Embry-Riddle (22-9) vs. No. 20 Grand View (30-13)
DATE:Â Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013
CITY:Â Sioux City, Iowa
SITE:Â Tyson Events Center
START TIME:Â 6:45 p.m.
TWITTER: @ERAUVolleyball | @NAIA_News
HASHTAGS: #GoERAU | #NAIAVolleyball
ABOUT EMBRY-RIDDLE
The Blue and Gold are ranked 18th in the final regular season coaches' poll, holding steady from last week's poll. The Eagles have reached the NAIA National Tournament Final Site for the fourth consecutive season this year. Head Coach Josylnn Gallop is the winningest coach in program history, owning a 223-81 career record in this, her ninth season at the helm of the Eagles.
ABOUT OKLAHOMA BAPTIST
Oklahoma Baptist is an NAIA program that hails from Shawnee, Okla. and the Sooner Athletic Conference. Anna Howe is in her sixth season at the helm of the Oklahoma Baptist program and owns a 176-57 record with the Bison. In 2012, OBU finished 35-6 overall and 12-0 in league action, winning the conference regular season and tournament titles. The Bison earned an automatic berth to the NAIA National Championship Final Site by virtue of being ranked in the top 11 of the final regular season coaches' poll. In Sioux City, OBU advanced to the quarterfinal round before being ousted by Texas at Brownsville.
The Bison have been solid this season, ranking in the top 30 in the NAIA in digs/set (18.01, 14th), blocks/set (2.24, 20th), assists/set (11.87, 29th) and kills/set (13.06, 30th). Kristin Pressley is the top offensive threat, rankning fifth in the nation with 4.33 kills/set. Pressley also leads the team with 480 digs and ranks second on the Bison with 34 service aces Aysegul Guney (6.47 assists/set) and Rachel Aguilar (4.34 assists/set) have shared the setting duties for OBU, while Catherine Roth has tallied a team-leading 94 blocks (9 solo).
ABOUT MIDLAND
Midland is an NAIA program that hails from Fremont, Neb. and the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Paul Giesselmann is in his fourth season at the helm of the MU program and owns a 89-44 record with the Warriors. In 2012, MU finished 21-11 overall and 11-5 in league action, advancing to the semifinal round of the GPAC Tournament for the second consecutive season.
The Warriors rank in the top 50 in the NAIA in five major categories: kills (1873, 8th), assists (1699, 10th), hitting percentage (.246, 22nd), blocks (260, 42nd) and service aces (207, 42nd). Individually, Megan Farley has racked up 1494 assists, which ranks seventh in the nation, while Heather Pribyl (132 blocks, 26th) and Mackenzie Scheef (.333 hitting percentage, 32nd) are also listed in the top 50 in their respective categories. Scheef leads the team with 415 kills and Molly Pettit anchors the defense with 463 digs.
ABOUT GRAND VIEW
Grand View is an NAIA program that hails from Des Moines, Iowa and the Midwest Collegiate Conference. TIna Carter is in her sixth season at the helm of the GVU program and owns a 172-77 record with the Vikings. In 2012, GVU finished 29-11 overall and 5-1 in league action, earning a berth in the NAIA NAtional Championship Opening Round. The Vikings lost in three sets to Lindsey Wilson in the Opening Round to end their 2013 season.
The Vikings have played the most matches of any of the 24 teams in the National Championship, so it is no surprise that they lead the nation with 2184 kills and are ranked second in both assists (1979) and digs (2756). GVU also ranks 18th in blocks with 297. Chrissy Daggett is listed third in the country with 1550 assists and Kadie Subbert ranks eighth with 503 kills. Kelley Johnson's 140 blocks put her 15th in that category while Kelly Nakandakari is 16th in digs with 702.
STREAKING IN THE POLLS
When the NAIA released the final coaches' poll of the 2013 regular season on Sunday, the Eagles found themselves at No. 18 in the rankings, holding steady from the previous week. Embry-Riddle spent the entire 2011 season and all but one week in 2012 ranked in the top 10, a total of 25 weeks, including a trio of weeks at No. 2 (Sept. 20 - Oct. 4, 2011). In total, the Eagles have been ranked in the Top 25 for 49 consecutive polls, the fifth-longest active streak in the NAIA.
BLUE AND GOLD AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
The Eagles have shown early in 2013 that they are among the best in the NAIA in four of the most important facets of the game: assists, kills, hitting percentage and digs. Embry-Riddle is currently averaging 12.32 assists/set, the 15th-best average in the country. With 13.29 kills/set, ERAU ranks 20th in the NAIA. Ranking 34th in the nation, the Eagles are hitting .227 as a team. The Blue and Gold also rank 38th in the country with 16.92Â digs/set.
GRAY DOMINANT DEFENSIVELY
Junior libero
Hannah Gray has proven that she is one of the best defensive players in the country with her stellar play this season. Gray, who was recently named The Sun Conference Libero of the Year for the second consecutive year, is currently averaging 6.60 digs/set, the second-highest average in the nation. Her 706 digs, which are a new single-season school record, are also the 14th-highest total in the NAIA.
FERREIRA DOING IT ALL
Sophomore setter
Tamires Ferreira is out to prove that setters can do more than just rack up assists. She has done a great job circulating the ball while running the 5-1 offense for the Eagles, recording 1068 assists at an average of 10.27 assists/set, which ranks her 22nd in the nation in that category. She has also collected a team-leading 55 service aces, which ranks 33rd in the NAIA, in addition to picking up 286 digs, second-best on the team. Ferreira has also proven to be an offensive threat herself, putting down 166 kills, including a match-high 16 kills at Flagler on Sept. 11. The Barbacena, Brazil native also has 54 blocks (three solo) on the season, ranking third on the Eagle squad.
MILESTONE ACHIEVEMENTS
A pair of Eagles have broken program records during the 2013 season.
Emily Jacobson has racked up 106 blocks this season, increasing her career total to 371, which surpassed Susan Delahanty's 361 program record number. Jacobson has averaged 92.75 blocks per season since stepping on ERAU's campus. Jacobson also ranks 45th in the nation this season with an average of 1.00 blocks/set.
Hannah Gray has been picking up digs at an incredible rate all season long, ranking second in the NAIA in digs/set with an average of 6.60, which is good enough to be a new school record. The old record for digs/set in a season was 5.47 set by Nina Kontrec in 2011. Gray's career digs/set average has moved up to 5.80, which surpasses Kontrec's career record of 5.43 as well. Gray broke a school record in August when she collected 44 digs in a match against Madonna, breaking the record for digs in a single match. Then in November, Gray surpassed Nina Kontrec's single-season digs record, which was 673 set in 2010. Gray currently has 706 digs this season and 1310 digs in her two-year career.
REPLACING THE BEST CLASS IN EAGLE HISTORY
Following the 2012 season, Gallop lost four seniors that were arguably the best class in program history.
Jordan Holcomb and
Taylor Martin (now volunteer assistant coaches for the Eagles) rank No. 3 and No. 4 respectively on the all-time kills list (1,000-Kill Club), while
Adriana Vazquez shattered the career assist mark (5,035) while collecting four straight Sun Conference Setter of the Year honors (1,000-Assist Club). Glorida Kemp also graduated after compiling 672 kills, a .276 attack percentage and 237 blocks in her four-year career.
PRESEASON FAVORITES
The Sun Conference coaches selected the Eagles to top the league's preseason poll, released earlier this month. Embry-Riddle garnered six first-place votes and 48 total points to claim the No. 1 spot in the poll, while St. Thomas came in second with two first-place votes and 43 total points.
19 SEASONS OF EAGLE VOLLEYBALL
The 2013 season marks the 19th edition of Eagle volleyball. Embry-Riddle is 427-235 all-time, capturing five regular season titles, five conference tournament titles and making four appearances at the NAIA National Championship.
