Volleyball | 11/5/2012 12:07:00 PM
McPherson, Kan. – The regular season is over for KCAC volleyball and with that brings the conference tournament with a trip to the NAIA National Tournament going to the winner. McPherson drew the sixth seed and will travel to No. 3 Friends University on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. (CT) contest.
It was just six days ago that these two squads faced each other with the Lady Falcons getting the upper hand, winning 3-0 by just 14 total points. MC has since gone 0-1, losing to Sterling College 1-3 on this past Saturday. Friends hasn’t had a match since their competition against the Lady Bulldogs; whether that added rest will make them refreshed or lethargic will be seen on Tuesday. The winner of the match won’t know who they will take on next as the tournament is reseeded after the quarterfinal round.
The 9-26 McPherson team finished the regular season 6-12 in the conference and were right in the middle of the pack in the middle of the pack of the KCAC in most statistical categories. One area that MC has done a great job this year is blocking, they are currently third in the conference in total blocks with 224.5 and blocks per set at 1.9; Aubrey Hoover leads the team with 83 and is followed by fellow freshman Sophie Simon who has 71.
The Lady Bulldogs have played 112 games in 2012 and four ladies have played in each one; seniors Katie Naccarato, Hannah Hoffman and Callie McCaffrey and junior setter Rachel Phillips.
The top-killer for MC has been Hoover who is averaging 3.0 kills per game and has 317 for the year. Next on the list is sophomore Tori Phelan who has smashed the ball to the floor 256 times.
The two-setter rotation has worked well for McPherson this season. Between the duo of Hoffman and Phillips, they have 990 assists for the season; Phillips leads Hoffman 504-486.
Four players for MC have accumulated over 200 digs with libero Tiffany Rooker leading the way with 446, putting her third in the KCAC. The other three are McCaffrey (236), Hoffman (213), and Naccarato (205).
Scouting Friends
Friends University is currently 14-4 in the KCAC and 20-14 overall for 2012. They are currently riding a five-game win streak dating back to October 22nd. The team has racked up 335 total blocks which puts them second in the NAIA; they are also sixth in the country in blocks per game with 2.72.
Despite being the third seed in the KCAC tournament, Friends sits in the middle of the conference in nearly every stat grouping. They obviously lead in blocks and blocks per game and are the top digging team with 1967 total digs.
Friends’ Crystal Taporco leads the conference in blocks per game with 1.6 and has 190 on the year.
Jada Witham has the most kills for the Lady Falcons this season with 319 and averages 2.7 each time out on the court. Taporco is next on the list with 283 and is followed by Ciara Lawson at 224; Taporco sits second in the KCAC in hitting percentage at 34%.
Friends also uses a two-setter rotation and have a total of 1182 assist for the season. Hayley Young has 608 while fellow setter Tasha Miller has 574.
