MACOMB, Ill. -  The Western Illinois volleyball team will conclude its 2012 campaign this weekend when it plays host to Fort Wayne on Friday (Nov. 9) and Oakland on Saturday (Nov. 10). Both matches will begin at 7 p.m.

LIL' LEATHERNECKS FINALE: The Fighting Leatherneck volleyball program finished its third and final Lil' Leathernecks clinic on October 21...Western hosts the clinic's Grand Finale this Friday (Nov. 9) during the Fort Wayne match inside Brophy Hall where the campers will play in between sets two and three of the match.

"A heartfelt thanks goes out to the student-athletes, administration, and community for making our first-ever Lil' Leathernecks Volleyball Clinic a success," said head coach April Hall.

SENIOR NIGHT:  Western Illinois volleyball will recognize seniors Bridget Murphy and Katie Hosteng prior to Saturday evening's (Nov. 10) match against Oakland...Both Leathernecks began their career here at Western as freshmen in 2009...Bridget will finish her career at Western with the second-most career digs in program history, while Katie will conclude her career on the program's top 10 career kills list.

THE BREAKDOWN

THE MATCHUPS

Who: Fort Wayne (22-5, 11-3) at Western Illinois (11-15, 4-10)
Where: Macomb, Ill. • Brophy Hall (800)
When: Friday, Nov. 9th at 7 p.m.
Series History: Fort Wayne leads, 11-2
Last Meeting: Sept. 17, 2012, Western defeats Oakland, 3-2

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Who: Oakland (15-11, 8-6) at Western Illinois (11-15, 4-10)
Where: Macomb, Ill. • Brophy Hall (800)
When: Saturday: November 10th at 7 p.m.
Series History: Oakland leads 17-12
Last Meeting: Oct. 8, 2012, Fort Wayne defeats Western, 3-1

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Preseason Info:
2012 Quick Facts
2012 Information Guide

LAST TIME OUT: The Western Illinois and Chicago State volleyball teams battled in a five-set thriller Tuesday evening (Nov 6), but it was the Fighting Leathernecks (11-15) who came out victorious in the end, 3-2.

"We had some bumps in the road leading up to this match, but were able to come out with a win tonight," said head coach April Hall. " I'm proud of everyone for stepping into different roles and finding success. Ann (Miller), Katie (Hosteng), and Sam (Fournier) led us with double digit kills, but Mallory (Gibson) and Jordan (Jackson) weren't far behind. Although this win is great, we have a lot to work on going forward into our final weekend at home."

Western won sets one, three and five by scores of 25-19, 25-20 and 16-14, while the Cougars (2-27) took sets two and four by scores of 25-23 and 25-19.

Ann Miller led all players with 18 kills on the evening, while Samantha Fournier and Katie Hosteng each added 15 for the Leathernecks.

Heather Smith started her first match of the season at the setter position and tallied 59 assists, the most for Smith since she recorded 64 as a freshman versus USC-Upstate (Aug. 28, 2010). Smith also finished with a season-high 20 digs, the second most she has ever finished with in a match (21 vs. Fort Wayne in 2010).

Two other Leathernecks finished with more than 10 digs in Miller and freshman Kaitlynn Novak.

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A LOOK AT THE MASTODONS:  Fort Wayne enters Monday's match on top of The Summit League standings with a 22-5 overall record, and 11-3 in conference play...The Mastodons are coached by 14th-year head coach Kelley Hartley Hutton (Toledo '91) who owns a 293-146 record at Fort Wayne...In their last action, the Mastodons defeated Omaha 3-0 at home...Emily Spencer leads IPFW in kills with 426 (4.18 per set)...Megan Steenhuysen leads the Mastodons in assists with 1,253 (12.17 per set)...Leading IPFW in digs is Tessa McGill who owns 643 (6.24 per set).

A LOOK AT THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES: Oakland enters Monday's match with an 15-11 overall record and 8-6 Summit League mark...Rob Beam (Clarke College '96) is OU's head coach and is in the midst of his fifth year at Oakland, and owns a 83-86 record at the helm...The Golden Grizzlies most recently earned a 3-0 match victory over Omaha at home...Oakland is led by Meghan Bray who owns 438 on the season (4.29 per set)...Ciara Schultz (544) and Alissa Valentine (511) lead the Golden Grizzlies in assists...Alli Kirk leads the Golden Grizzlies in digs with 570.

AT THE HELM: April Hall was named head volleyball coach on February 20, 2012, becoming the ninth head coach in the Western Illinois volleyball program's history. Hall spent last year as an assistant coach at Northern Kentucky University while the Norse were in the transition from NCAA Division II to Division I. NKU went 26-6 last year and advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.

IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE (As of 11/7/2012): The Leathernecks rank in the top-five of two Summit League team categories: fourth in kills per set (13.05) and assists per set (12.50)...Several Leathernecks rank in the top-10 of several individual categories: Samantha Fournier ranks fifth in kills (374), kills per set (3.63) and in points (422), and sixth in points (4.1)...Katie Hosteng ranks sixth in hitting percentage (.305), eighth in services aces (25), and ninth in service aces per set (0.24)...Sarah Fetter ranks second in assists (1,061) and assists per set (10.83)...Bridget Murphy ranks fifth in digs per set (4.87) and seventh in digs (477)...Ann Miller ranks seventh in kills per set (3.29) and 10th in points per set (3.5).

IN THE NATION (As of 11/512): Where the Leathernecks rank nationally as a team: 89th in assists per set (12.47)...115th in kills per set (15.72)...125th in digs per set (15.72)...159th in hitting percentage (.202)...218th in winning percentage (.400)...264th in blocks per set (1.67)...274th in aces per set (0.99)...Where Leathernecks rank individually in the nation: Sarah Fetter ranks 46th in assists per set (10.83)...Bridget Murphy ranks 64th in digs per set (4.94)...Samantha Fournier ranks 100th in kills per set (3.66) and 112th in points per set (4.14)...Katie Hosteng ranks 199th in hitting percentage (.300)...Ann Miller ranks 188th in kills per set (3.27).

TOP 10!: Senior Katie Hosteng has been consistent for the Leathernecks throughout her career, averaging 214 kills per season over her first three years at Western...She has 286 this season, the most she has ever tallied in a single season, and 927 career kills...Her 927 career kills rank 10th all-time in program history.

JUST KEEP DIGGING: Senior defensive specialist Bridget Murphy finished last season with 580 digs, the fourth-best single-season total in Western's program history, and 5.98 digs per set, which is the second-best single-season performance in Western's record books...She has 477 digs this season (4.87 per set), and 1,727 over her four-year career...Her 1,727 career digs rank second in program history behind only Jennifer Alexander who finished her career at Western with 2,343.

DISHING OUT ASSISTS: Junior setter Sarah Fetter set a new career-high in assists against South Dakota State at home this season (Oct. 19), dishing out 64 in the team's 3-1 loss...Throughout her career, she has had five total 50-plus assist matches...Besides her 64-assists evening against SDSU, Fetter has tallied 50 or more assists twice in 2012...First in Western's season-opener versus Montana on August 25th (50 assists), and the other coming in the Leathernecks' 3-2 home loss to Omaha this season on September 28th (56 assists)...Fetter owns 2,036 career assists in only her second season at Western, which ranks seventh in program history...She is 95 assists behind Amy Nesemeier (2,131 career assists) who sits sixth on the all-time list.

BLOCK PARTY: Western Illinois has finished five matches this season with 10-plus blocks, first on September 14th against South Dakota (12 blocks), the second came on September 17th at Oakland (13 blocks), the third came when the Leathernecks had 11 at Fort Wayne, the fourth versus SDSU at home (12), and the most recent against NDSU in Macomb (10)...The 13 blocks against Oakland was the most since September 30th of last year when they had 15 at Kansas City.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Defensive Specialist Bridget Murphy was named The Summit League's 'Defensive Player of the Week' for her performance September 17-23. Fort Wayne's Emily Spencer earned the league's 'Offensive Player of the Week'...The senior captain finished the week with 82 digs, averaging 6.07 digs per set, while dishing out 16 assists and aces five serves...Murphy collects her third career Defensive Player of the Week honor and first of the season. It also marks the first of any Leatherneck volleyball player this season.

INVITATIONAL MVP: Sophomore Samantha Fournier was tabbed the Drury Inn Jessica Barkman Memorial Classic's 'Most Valuable Player' after helping guide the Leathernecks to a tournament title...She finished the invite with a tournament-best 51 kills, putting down a career-high 21 kills in two of Western's matches...Fournier finished with a .280 hitting percentage, and tallied 37 digs, six blocks, three assists and three service aces.

SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: After being tabbed 'Tournament MVP', Fournier also earned the weekly Western Illinois 'Scholar-Athlete of the Week' award (Sept. 3)...The Coal Valley, Ill. native holds a cumulative grade point average of 3.367 and is undecided on a major.

ANOTHER SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Ann Miller became the second Leatherneck volleyball player of 2012 to earn the Papa John's Scholar-Athlete of the Week award for her accomplishments on the court and in the classroom (Sept. 24)...The Bettendorf, Iowa native has 118 kills (3.28 per set) on the year and owns a 3.964 grade point average while majoring in University Advising.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Senior middle blocker Katie Hosteng is the only Leatherneck to have been named to all three all-tournament teams this season, first earning the honors in the SIU-Edwardsville Cougar Classic after finishing the invite with 31 kills (2.58 per set) and a .297 hitting percentage...She was then named to the all-tournament team after the Drury Inn Jessica Barkman Memorial Classic where she tallied 41 kills and a team-best .286 hitting percentage...Lastly, Hosteng earned all-tournament honors after putting down 33 kills (3.30 per set) with a .365 hitting percentage, 10 blocks, nine digs and three service aces.

THE SCHEDULE: Western's 2012 schedule breakdown: three preseason invitationals, 16 Summit League matches, 11 non-conference contests, and nine total matches at home with the first three home matches being played inside Western Hall, and the other six at Brophy Hall.

CLASS BREAKDOWN: The Leathernecks return nine members from last year's team led by seniors Bridget Murphy and Katie Hosteng...They have two juniors that returned to the squad in Sarah Fetter and Heather Smith...A sophomore class of five return to Western in Ann Miller, Molly Murphy, Bailey Kaloupek, Mallory Gibson and Samantha Fournier...The Leathernecks enter the 2012 season with three newcomers, all freshmen, in twin sisters Leighanne Novak and Kaitlynn Novak, and Jordan Jackson.

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