The East Central University volleyball team is headed into the final week of regular-season action, with two matches on the calendar. The Lady Tigers will first host Southern Nazarene, Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. in the final Great American Conference match and the annual Senior Night. ECU will then travel to battle with Central Oklahoma, Saturday, Nov. 16 at 4 p.m.
Match Notes
The Coverage
Fans who can't be at the game can find links to live stats and live video (if available) on ECUTigers.com. Go to the volleyball schedule page.
Senior Night
The Lady Tigers will honor their seven seniors:
Taylor Brown,
Noelle Cope,
Danielle Essix,
Sarah Nelson,
Kennedy Riley,
Ashley Williams and
Jessica Wilkinson before the match starts Thursday.
Wilkinson Honored
ECU senior
Jessica Wilkinson earned her first Great American Conference Setter of the Week honor after taking over the lone setting position for the Lady Tigers last week.
After playing in the match against Southwestern Oklahoma State as part of a two-setter system, Wilkinson played the position alone against Ouachita Baptist. As the Lady Tigers rallied for the win, she set an ECU record for assists in a five-set match with 54. She added 12 digs in the victory.
Scouting Southern Nazarene
The Crimson Storm are 20-9 overall and 10-2 in the GAC and will face Northwestern Oklahoma State, Tuesday before coming to Ada.
SNU has a strong team offense this season, hitting .212 to .156 by their opponents. The Crimson Storm also have a 1.3 to 0.8 advantage in service aces and 2.3 to 1.4 blocking lead.
SNU has four hitters with over 600 attempts and 175 kills, but Taylor Jacobs stands out above the others. Jacobs has a .211 (387k-137e-1184ta) hitting percentage and adds 61 (3-58) blocks. Kira Roberts has the next highest total in attack attempts, with 779. Jamie Hope and Emily Dick are two of the keys to the Crimson Storm's blocking advantage. Hope has 119 (14-105) total blocks, while Dick adds 104 (8-96).
Against the Crimson Storm
The Lady Tigers and SNU battled through a five-set match earlier this season in Bethany, Okla., with the Crimson Storm earning the 2-3 win.
Senior
Ashley Williams led ECU with 17 kills, a .364 (17k-5e-33ta) hitting percentage, 11 digs and eight block assists. Fellow senior
Noelle Cope added 15 kills and 14 digs.
Taylor Jacobs led SNU, with 28 kills and 13 digs, while Kira Roberts added 16 kills.
The Series
The all-time series with the Crimson Storm didn't start until 2011, with only four previous meetings. SNU currently holds a 1-3 advantage in the series, but the Lady Tigers have been the victor in the lone match played in Ada.
Scouting Central Oklahoma
The Bronchos are 20-9 overall and 8-7 in the MIAA in 2013. UCO will battle with Pittsburg State Tuesday and Northwestern Oklahoma State Friday before hosting ECU.
The Bronchos has a .213 team hitting percentage and are holding their opponents to a .148 mark. They are close in most other statistical categories, except in blocks where they hold a 2.1 to 1.5 advantage.
UCO has two hitters with over 600 attempts and 200 kills. Barbara Jackson is the top performer for the Bronchos, with a .223 (348k-117e-1038ta) hitting percentage, while adding 25 service aces and 253 digs. Allison Barr is the most consistent hitter, with a .324 (284k-69e-664ta) mark. Juliette Smith is the strongest contributor at the net, with 116 (19-97) total blocks.
Against the Bronchos
The Lady Tigers and UCO meet earlier this season at the South Central Classic hosted by ECU. The Bronchos earned a 2-3 win.
Sophomore
Hayley Gerken led ECU with 14 kills and a .258 (14k-6e-31ta) attack percentage. Senior
Danielle Essix added 10 kills and 15 digs.
Barbara Jackson was the top player for UCO, with a .412 (16k-2e-34ta) hitting percentage.
The Series
UCO and ECU have faced each other every season since the Lady Tigers started their program in 2008. The Bronchos currently own a 10-2 advantage in the series, including a 5-0 mark when playing in Edmond.
Home Court Advantage
In 2013 the Lady Tigers are 8-3 when playing at home and have won their last eight matches in the Kerr Activities Center.
1st Member 1,000 Kill Club
Senior
Noelle Cope became the first member of the 1,000 Kill Club at ECU Oct. 29, 2013 at Northwestern Oklahoma State. Cope now has 1,039 kills in her career and also leads the career marks in attempts (3,025) and points (1,209.5).
Blocking Party
The Lady Tigers are already on pace to have one of the best blocking seasons after their opening two matches of the season. The most blocks in a season by ECU is 245.0 from the 2011 season, which averaged out to 1.93 blocks per set. The Lady Tigers already have 198 blocks, or 1.98 per set. ECU's 1.98 blocks per game (as of Nov. 11) ranks them No. 78 in the NCAA.
Up Next
The Lady Tigers will be heading to the 2013 GAC Championship Tournament. ECU will have to wait until all the league matches for the week are wrapped up Thursday to find out their seed and opponent for the tournament. This is the third-straight season that the Lady Tigers have advanced to the post season.
Tracking the Record Books
While the ECU volleyball program has only been around since 2008, there are several members of the 2013 squad that are at the top or close to the top of several career record categories.
Taylor Brown
- 4th Assists (736)
- 5th Digs (782)
- 5th Sets Played (368)
Noelle Cope
- 1st Kills (1,039)
- 1st Attempts (3,025)
- 1st Points (1,209.5)
- 4th Service Aces (78)
- 4th Block Assists (131)
- 4th Block Solos (27)
- 4th Total Blocks (158)
- 4th Digs (807)
- 4th Matches Played (112)
- 4th Sets Played (391)
Danielle Essix
- 1st Service Aces (91)
- 2nd Attempts (2,924)
- 2nd Kills (896)
- 2nd Points (1,085.0)
- 3rd Matches Played (119)
- 3rd Sets Played (408)
- 3rd Digs (931)
Hayley Gerken
- 3rd Total Blocks (181)
- 3rd Block Assists (156)
- 5th Block Solos (25)
- 5th Attack Pct. (.218)
Sarah Nelson
- 1st Total Blocks (290)
- 1st Block Assists (254)
- 2nd Block Solos (36)
- 5th Matches Played (109)
Madison Seiler
- 5th Assists (427)
Jessica Wilkinson
- 3rd Assists (1,337)
