Volleyball: Muskingum (17-4 Overall, 4-2 OAC) at #21 Ohio Northern (22-4 Overall, 5-1 OAC)
Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017, 4 pm - ONU Sports Center, Ada, Ohio
Saturday's Preview: The No. 21-ranked Ohio Northern volleyball team enters Saturday's contest winners of six straight matches and is in a 3-way tie for first place in the OAC ... Northern could win its 25th OAC Regular Season title with victories in its last three matches against Muskingum, Baldwin Wallace and Marietta ... ONU is coming off a 25-8, 25-9, 25-16 sweep at Wilmington on Tuesday ... Northern was led offensively by sophomore Chelsea Huppert and freshman Christen Ware as each posted a game-high eight kills ... Sophomore Sydney Bapst chipped in seven kills, while freshman Katie Wade posted a game-high 30 assists ... Senior Megan Nieszala posted a game-high 13 digs, while sophomore McKenna Hostetler added 11 digs ... Through 26 matches this season, Huppert leads the team and is second in the OAC with 321 kills, while sophomore McKenna Jordan ranks second on the team and fourth in the OAC with 300 kills ... Huppert's .343 hitting percentage currently leads the team and ranks third in the conference ... Freshman Katie Wade currently leads the nation with 1,063 assists ... Her single-season mark currently ranks third among freshman in ONU history, and is 5 assists short of tying former Polar Bear Brandi Stover for second place all-time on the all-time assists list for freshman ... Nieszala currently leads the OAC and ranks 17th nationally with 501 digs, while sophomore McKenna Hostetler currently ranks second on the team and sixth in the OAC with 376 digs ... Huppert currently leads the league and ranks 9th nationally with 98 total blocks, while senior Haley Potters ranks second on the team and in the OAC, and ranks 19th nationally with 88 blocks ... Potters also has a team-best 32 service aces and ranks second in the OAC in the category ... Muskingum enters Saturday's game after having its 5-match winning streak stopped by Mount Union on Tuesday ... Brooke Fatheree paced the offense with 16 kills and added 10 digs in the tight 25-23, 26-24, 25-23 loss ... Fatheree leads MU with 255 kills and 25 aces ... Taylour Fatheree is second with 178 kills and leads the team with 62 blocks ... Chloe Brandewie is third on the team with 155 kills and is second with 56 blocks ... Erin Dickenson had a team-best 656 assists and Courtney Nestoff has a team-best 312 digs ... Muskingum received votes in the latest AVCA Division III poll released on Tuesday.
ONU Statistical Leaders:
Kills | Blocks | Aces | Digs | Assists | ||||||||||||||
1. | Huppert | 321 | 1. | Huppert | 98 | 1. | Potters | 32 | 1. | Nieszala | 501 | 1. | Wade | 1,063 | ||||
2. | Jordan | 300 | 2. | Potters | 88 | 2. | Langston | 31 | 2. | Hostetler | 387 | 2. | Nieszala | 64 | ||||
3. | Potters | 236 | 3. | Wade | 34 | 3. | Wade | 23 | 3. | Langston | 280 | 3. | Broering | 26 |
All-Time Series: Northern leads the all-time series against Muskingum by a 58-13 margin ... The Polar Bears have won 18 consecutive matches in the series and are 23-5 all-time all-time against the Muskies in the ONU Sports Center.
Head Coach Kate Witte: Witte is in her 27th season as head coach with a 686-225 record, a winning percentage of .753 ... She is the all-time winningest coach in ONU volleyball history.