MATCH NOTES

MACOMB - Fresh off completing the first weekend of the Summit League's second half, the Western Illinois volleyball team will hit the road this weekend to take on North Dakota State Friday and South Dakota State Saturday. Both matches are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

The Fighting Leathernecks (6-14, 2-9 Summit League) look to pick up their first victory on the Dakota Swing since starting play there in 2007. Western dropped a pair of home conference matches to UMKC and Southern Utah over the weekend after a five-set victory at SIU-Edwardsville last Monday.

MEDIA COVERAGE

Live Stats: Live Stats will be provided by both schools and available at GoLeathernecks.com by accessing the live stats link on the volleyball schedule page.

Live Video: Both matches will be streamed live on the internet. Subscribers to Rocky Vision at GoLeathernecks.com can watch both matches live.

GoBison.com All Access will carry Friday's match at North Dakota State with coverage starting at 7 p.m.

Jackrabbit Extra on GoJacks.com will provide video for Saturday's match at South Dakota State with coverage starting at 6:45 p.m.

SERIES HISTORIES

North Dakota State: Friday is the ninth meeting in the all-time series and NDSU owns a 6-2 series advantage. The Bison have won five straight meetings, including a 3-1 victory in Macomb on Oct. 9 in the last matchup.

In that meeting, Western won the first set and served for set point twice to go up 2-0, but NDSU captured the second set and eventually the match. The Bison posted nine total blocks, and eight service aces against the Leathernecks, who were held to a .096 attack percentage.

South Dakota State: Saturday is the tenth meeting all-time between Western and South Dakota State, with SDSU holding a 7-2 series advantage. The Jackrabbits have won the last three meetings, including a five-set victory in Macomb on Oct. 8.  

In that matchup, Juniors Brooke Stittleburg and Cait Egan combined for 31 kills and Ellen Miller collected a season-high 47 assists, but SDSU recorded 12 service aces in the 3-2 win. South Dakota State received a clutch performance from middle hitter Kelli Fiegen, who had a match-high 17 kills with a .593 attack percentage.

WESTERN ILLINOIS QUICK HITS

Miller Stands Alone - With 45 assists and 17 digs against UMKC last Friday night, senior setter Ellen Miller reached two career milestones. Miller, who owns 1,716 career assists, surpassed Lisa Suellentrop for 7^th all-time in program history. With 32 digs over the weekend, Miller also moved into tenth place all-time (991 digs) and needs 18 more digs to move into ninth place. Miller is the only player in Western Illinois history to rank in the top ten of career assists and career digs. 

.200 Plus is a Plus - The Leathernecks have posted an attack percentage over .200 five times this season and are 5-0 in those contests.

Seeing Double - Junior Brooke Stittleburg picked up her team-high seventh double-double against UMKC, (24 kills and 16 digs) and Ellen Miller's 45 assists and 17 digs against UMKC was her sixth double-double this season and 27^th of her career.

Stittleburg Sets Career High - Junior Brooke Stittleburg set a career-high with 24 kills on 62 attempts against UMKC last Friday. The 62 attempts were also a season-high for any Western Illinois player. After four kills in the first set, Stittleburg posted 15 kills and a .518 attack percentage over the second and third sets.

Stittleburg, Gilbert Amongst Summit League's Best - Junior Brooke Stittleburg has been one of Western's top offensive options in league play and currently ranks ninth in the conference with 2.91 kills per set during Summit League action. Fellow junior Allison Gilbert, who leads the Leathernecks with 214 kills this season, has posted 15 double-digit performances and ranks seventh with 2.97 kills per set in league play.

Egan's Efficient - Junior middle hitter Cait Egan posted a .350 attack percentage on 17 kills against UMKC Friday night and ranks sixth in the Summit League with a .288 season attack percentage. In Summit League action, Egan is tenth in the conference with a .266 attack percentage.

Egan's Rise on Blocks List - Junior middle hitter Cait Egan had four total blocks over the weekend and ranks seventh in program history with 61 solo blocks. Egan also ranks tenth in program history with 260 career total blocks and needs four more total blocks to move into ninth place.

Defensive Standout - Sophomore libero Bridget Murphy picked up a team-high 19 digs against UMKC to help the Leathernecks collect a season-high 84 digs. Murphy, who has led the Leathernecks in digs 13 times this season, ranks ninth in the Summit League with 3.71 digs per set in conference play.

Ross Emerges - Freshman Meghan Ross has started the last four matches and collected 27 kills and 35 digs over that span. Ross led the Leathernecks in kills for the first time in her career Saturday against Southern Utah.

SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA STATE

North Dakota State (11-9, 8-3 Summit League) dropped a pair of road matches at Oakland and IPFW last weekend and fell out of first place for the first time since 2007. It also marked the first time NDSU has lost back-to-back Summit League matches since joining the league in 2007. The Bison are under the guidance of former assistant coach Kari Thompson, who took over as interim head coach after Erich Hinterstocker resigned on Tuesday.

The Bison play their home matches at the recently renovated Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse. NDSU, who will host the Summit League tournament for the second straight year, ranks 37^th in the country in average home attendance (1,024 per match).

Sophomore outside hitter Brynn Joki had a match-high 19 kills in the last matchup with Western and ranks fourth in the conference with 3.30 kills per set during league play. Joki also ranks fourth in the nation with 0.64 service aces per set and the Bison lead the conference with 1.58 service aces per set.

Sophomore Megan Lambertson posted a .480 attack percentage on 14 kills in the Oct. 9 meeting and leads the conference with a .391 attack percentage. Two-time defending Summit League Player of the Year Chrissy Knuth has been heating up over the last two weeks and ranks in the top ten in attack percentage (eigth) and kills (tenth) during league play.

Redshirt freshman Jordan Kissman, a transfer from Georgia Tech, had a match-high 45 assists against Western on Oct. 9 and ranks second in the conference with 10.44 assists during league play. Overall, the Bison rank first in the conference in kills (12.57 k/s) and assists (11.71 a/s).

SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA STATE

The Jackrabbits (9-12, 5-6 Summit League) lost to Drake in five sets at home Tuesday night and will host IUPUI Friday night. South Dakota State split road contests with IPFW (L, 2-3) and Oakland (W, 3-2) last weekend. SDSU currently sits sixth in the conference above IUPUI.

SDSU middle blocker Kelli Fiegen leads the conference with a .403 attack percentage and 1.25 blocks per set during league play. The sophomore also ranks fifth in league play with 3.14 kills per set.

Ellyce Youngren posted a double-double (11 kills, 12 digs) in the Oct. 8 meeting with Western and ranks fifth in the Summit League with a team-high 2.97 kills per set. Sophomore outside hitter Kaitlin Klingemann ranks third on the squad with 2.15 kills per set and her .314 attack percentage during league play is fourth best in the conference.

SDSU hitters ranks second in the conference with a .216 attack percentage and take sets from senior Thyele Rechatiko, who had 45 assists in the Oct. 8 meeting with Western and ranks third in the Summit League with 9.46 assists per set. Sophomore libero Shay Birath had 26 digs against Western on Oct. 8 and ranks third in league play with 4.73 digs per set.