The Wichita State volleyball team travels to Carbondale, Ill., and Evansville, Ind., this weekend.  The Shockers (18-4, 9-3) play Southern Illinois (17-7, 6-7) at 7 p.m. on Fri., Nov. 6 and play Evansville (13-12, 6-7) at 7 p.m. on Sat., Nov. 7.

Both matches will be broadcast on KEYN 103.7 FM with Brian Petrotta calling the action.   

Scouting Southern Illinois
The Salukis are 17-7 overall and 6-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference and are coming off of wins over Indiana State and Illinois State over the weekend.  Wins this season have come against Stephen F. Austin, Northern Illinois, Illinois Chicago, Western Illinois, Stetson twice, Florida A&M, UAB, Murray State, Valparaiso, Evansville, Bradley twice, Indiana State twice, Southeast Missouri, and Illinois State.  Losses have come against Northern Iowa twice, Illinois State, Missouri State, Wichita State, Drake, and Creighton.  SIU is led by Jennifer Berwanger’s 3.61 kills per set, while Rachael Brown averages 10.83 assists per set and Lauren Blumhorst averages 4.32 digs per set.  The Salukis are hitting .230 as a team while opponents are hitting .182 against them.  SIU is led by fifth-year head coach Brenda Winkeler.

Series History vs. the Salukis
Wichita State leads the overall series with the Salukis 27-18.  SIU leads the series in Carbondale 11-10.  WSU head coach Chris Lamb is 16-3 overall against the Salukis and 7-2 in Carbondale.  The Shockers have won the last 14 meetings overall.  

Last Meeting vs. SIU
The last meeting between the two teams was Oct. 10, 2009 in Wichita.  The Shockers won by scores of 25-20, 25-20 and 25-16.  Emily Stockman led WSU with 10 kills, while Mary Elizabeth Hooper had 32 assists and Melissa Granville had 17 digs.

Scouting Evansville
The Purple Aces are 13-12 overall and 6-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference and are coming off of a loss at Illinois State and a win at Indiana State over the weekend.  Wins this season have come against Memphis, SEMO, College of Charleston, Youngstown State, St. Peter’s, UTM, SIU Edwardsville, Bradley twice, Indiana State twice, Illinois State, and Creighton.  Losses have come against Arkansas State, Cincinnati, Wright State, Kent State, Southern Illinois, Northern Iowa twice, Lipscomb, Wichita State, Missouri State, Drake and Illinois State.  UE is led by Ginta Gabruseva’s 3.21 kills per set, while Ellen Sawin averages 10.41 assists per set and Julie Sylvester averages 4.73 digs per set.  The Purple Aces are hitting .180 as a team while opponents are hitting .220 against them.  UE is led by seventh-year head coach Mike Swan.

Series History vs. the Purple Aces
Wichita State leads the overall series with the Purple Aces 24-8.  The Shockers also lead the series in Evansville 9-6.  WSU head coach Chris Lamb is 16-3 overall against the Purple Aces and 7-2 in Evansville.  The Shockers have won the last 16 meetings overall.

Last Meeting vs. UE
The last meeting between the two teams was Oct. 9, 2009, in Wichita.  The Shockers won by scores of 25-19, 23-25, 25-11, and 25-19.  Emily Stockman led WSU with 17 kills and 23 digs, while Mary Elizabeth Hooper had 48 assists.

Last Time Out
The Shockers defeated Drake in three sets on Friday and Creighton in four sets on Saturday.  Emily Stockman led WSU with 29 kills, while Mary Elizabeth Hooper had 78 assists and Melissa Granville had 35 digs.

Stockman Named MVC Player of the Week
Wichita State volleyball student-athlete Emily Stockman has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Player-of-the-Week for the week of Oct. 26-Nov. 1.
Stockman, a senior outside hitter from Colorado Springs, Colo., led the Shockers to a 2-0 weekend with wins over fourth-place Drake and fifth-place Creighton. 
She averaged 4.14 kills, 0.14 aces, 4.14 digs, 0.43 blocks and 4.57 points per set while hitting .352 on the left side.  Against the Bulldogs, she had a double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs while hitting .367.  She also added an assist, a service ace and two blocks.  Against the Bluejays, she had a double-double with 16 kills and 16 digs while hitting .341.  She also added two assists and one block.
It is Stockman’s fourth MVC Player-of-the-Week honor this season and eighth of her career.  She becomes just the third player in Valley history to be honored eight or more times in her career.  Kate Galer of UNI also was an eight-time honoree, while Molly O’Brien of UNI was a 10-time honoree.

Shocks 26th in RPI
The NCAA released its fourth official RPI list of the season on Nov. 2.  The Shockers are 26th.  WSU was 33rd last week.  The Valley has three teams in the top-50 as UNI is 24th and Missouri State is 45th.  WSU is 8-3 against the RPI  top-100 and 3-3 against the top-50.  Wins in the top 100 include North Carolina (50), Oklahoma (49), Missouri State (45), Louisville (62), Rice (65), Drake (97) and Southern Illinois (95).  Losses in the top-100 include Pittsburgh (42), Missouri State (45) and UNI (24).

Niggemeyer’s Impressive Weekend
Senior Katie Niggemeyer put together an impressive weekend for the Shockers.  She averaged 3.29 kills per set while hitting .524 in two wins over Drake and Creighton.  Against the Bulldogs, she had 11 kills and hit .611 and against the Bluejays she had a season-high 12 kills while hitting .458.

Hooper Nearly Has a Triple-Double
Sophomore Mary Elizabeth Hooper finished just two blocks shy of a triple-double on Saturday night against Creighton.  Against the Bluejays, she totaled three kills, 40 assists, 13 digs and eight blocks.  She tied her career-high with 13 digs and set a new career-high in block assists with seven.

Shocks Block Season-High
Wichita State had 15 total blocks in Saturday’s win over Creighton.  That matches a season-best for the Shockers as WSU also had 15 at Rice on Sept. 12.  Both matches were four sets.

Stockman Joins Elite Club
Senior Emily Stockman joined an elite Shocker club on Oct. 23 against Missouri State.  She now has 1,189 kills and 1,038 digs in her career as a Shocker.  She is just the seventh player in Shocker history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career.  The six others include Kristin Carr, Becky Sutter, Sarah Larson, Janelle Watton, Jan Meloy and Sara Lungren.  Stockman needs just two service aces to have 1,000 kills, 1,000 digs and 100 service aces in her career.  Only three other Shockers (Becky Sutter, Janelle Watton and Sara Lungren) have accomplished that feat.

Granville and Hooper Reach Milestones
Two Shockers earned milestones over the weekend.  Senior libero Melissa Granville became just the fourth player in Shocker history to reach 1,400 digs in her career.    Sophomore setter Mary Elizabeth Hooper became just the eighth player in Shocker history to reach 2,000 assists in her career.