Tigers Prepare for the Battle of the Unbeatens

FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION DEPARTMENT

HAYS, Kan. – MIAA play opens this week as the Fort Hays State University volleyball team travels to Kearney, Neb. for a match with 3rd-ranked Nebraska-Kearney Tuesday (Sept. 20). First serve from the Health & Sports Center on the campus of UNK is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the door at a price of $10 for adults and $8 for students.

The Tigers enter the contest with a perfect 12-0 mark this season. Lining up on the opposite side of the net will be one of the other eight undefeated teams in NCAA Division II, with the Lopers carrying a 14-0 record into the match. The Lopers have dropped just one set this year. UNK holds an 87-9 advantage in the all-time series and has won 21-straight dating back to 2003. The Tigers will be looking for their first win in Kearney since 1992 (26-consecutive losses).

Blocking has proven to be one of the Tigers’ strong suits this season, ranking first in the conference and fifth in the nation with 108 total blocks so far (2.45 per set). Callie Christensen has the most total blocks in the MIAA and the 12th-most in the nation with 51. Rebekah Spainhour (47 total blocks, second) and Megan Anderson (45, fourth) also rank in the top four in the conference.

Fort Hays State has accumulated a .253 attack percentage to date while holding its opponents to a miniscule .088 hitting percentage, sixth-lowest in DII. The Tigers have also tossed up the seventh-most assists in the nation with 560.

Individually, Crystal Whitten leads the conference with 3.88 kills per set and ranks 21st in the country with 163 total kills. Ranking fourth in the MIAA with 140 kills is Spainhour. Senior Hannah Wagy’s 459 assists ranks seventh in the nation and is second-best in the league. Libero Ari Jacobsen has the fourth-most digs in the conference with 173.

The Lopers hold the nation’s highest attack percentage, hitting at a .347 clip this season. Blocks could be a dime a dozen Tuesday, with UNK currently ranked second in the MIAA behind FHSU with 101.5 total blocks to date.

Nebraska-Kearney is led offensively by Annie Wolfe, an outside hitter with 117 kills and a .483 attack percentage to her name this season. Junior middle blocker Tara Ziegelbein holds the second-best hitting percentage in the nation at .503, averaging 2.5 kills per set while picking up 31 total blocks in 2016. Expect Lindsey Smith to handle the setting duties, a sophomore who is averaging 10.7 assists per set this year.

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