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Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Media Relations

Crossover Tournament Official Site

SOMERS, Wis. (Oct 22, 2013)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside volleyball squad takes a breather from its Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule this weekend, squaring off against three Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams at the sixth-annual Mizuno GLVC/GLIAC Crossover Tournament on Friday and Saturday.

The Crossover Tournament, held at the Great Lakes Center in Aurora, Ill., begins on Friday at 11:30 a.m. for the Rangers, facing the University of Findlay before closing the day at 5:30 p.m. against Malone University. UW-Parkside plays just one match on Saturday, hitting the floor at 1 p.m. to face Lake Superior State University.

Mizuno will once again serve as the title sponsor for the regional volleyball event which will pit 16 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) volleyball teams against 16 institutions representing the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).

The two-day tournament will feature 48 matches conducted on eight courts at one of the top volleyball facilities in the country. The event, designed to increase intraconference competition between teams from the two leagues in the NCAA Division II Midwest Region, has previously been held in Indianapolis, Ind. and Lansing, Mich. The GLVC defeated the GLIAC 28-20 last season and has won the last three in the challenge after the GLIAC won the first two events contested in 2008 and 2009.

Last Season: UW-Parkside finished the Crossover with a perfect 3-0 record. The Rangers downed Tiffin University 3-0 to begin the tournament on Oct. 12 while collecting a pair of 3-0 wins the following day at the expense of Malone and Walsh University.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (11-9, 5-6 GLVC) heads to Suburban Chicago having earned splits the last two weekends. The Rangers downed Bellarmine 3-1 (30-28, 20-25, 25-21, 25-16) on Oct. 11 before falling 3-1 (25-20, 15-25, 25-23, 25-23) to University of Southern Indiana a day later to close out a five match homestand. The Rangers had similar results on the road last week, defeating Saint Joseph's College 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-23) on Oct. 18 while stumbling 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-19) on Saturday at the University of Indianapolis.

Makenzie Fahnestock leads the Rangers offense with 171 kills on the season (2.6 per set) while Bridget Nickel leads the team in kills per set, averaging 3.0. Lauren Hickson leads the team in assists, averaging 8.5 per set while defensively Sarah Mlachnik leads the team and ranks third in the GLVC, averaging 5.3 digs/set. Hickson additionally leads the team in service aces with 25 on the season and ranks third in the GLVC in average (0.4 per set) while Rebecca Roembke and Fahnestock have 15 and 12 aces on the year.

About the Oilers: Findlay (12-8, 5-6 GLIAC) heads to the Crossover Tournament looking to snap a three-match slide, getting swept in three sets by Hillsdale College (Oct. 12), Ferris State University (Oct. 18) and Grand Valley State University (Oct. 19). The Oilers began the season by winning 10 of its first 13 matches before experiencing a rocky October, posting a 2-5 record over the course of the month.

Mackenzie Vorst is the Oilers leader in kills at 2.9 per set while Danielle Taflinger adds 2.3 per set. A majority of the team's assists come off the hands of Amanda Calhoun, who averages 9.3 assists per set while on defense; Brittany Hall leads the team with 145 digs on the year (2.1 per set).

About the Pioneers: Malone (9-10, 4-7 GLIAC) enters Friday having dropped seven of its last night matches. The Pioneers split a pair of matches over the weekend, falling 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-14) to Saginaw Valley State University on Oct. 18 before rebounding with a 3-0 (31-29, 25-20, 25-14) victory over Lake Superior State on Saturday.

Taylor Slauterbeck is Malone's leader in kills, averaging 2.9 per set with Lauren Townley chipping in 2.2 kills per set. Kimberly McCracken averages 8.1 assists per set while Anna Hays leads the Pioneers with 29 aces on the year. Katie Hasebein leads Malone with 4.4 digs/set.

This is the second straight season the Rangers and Pioneers will mix it up at the Crossover. UW-Parkside downed Malone 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-22) at the 2012 edition, helping the GLVC win the challenge for the third consecutive season.

About the Lakers: Lake Superior State (2-13, 2-9 GLIAC) descends from Michigan's Upper Peninsula having won two of its last four, forcing a pair of splits over the past two weekends. After 11 straight defeats the Lakers finally climbed into the win column with a 3-0 victory over Tiffin University on Oct. 11. The Lakers' fortunes would not last falling 3-1 to Ohio Dominican University the following day. LSSU hit the road last weekend, edging Walsh University 3-2 on Friday before falling in straight sets to Malone on Saturday.

Emily Snyder leads Lake Superior State in kills, averaging 3.0 per set with Janelle Nagy accruing a team best 9.4 assists per set. Gabrielle Olsen boasts 34 blocks on the season while Meghan Drobish leads the Lakers with 4.4 digs/set.

UW-Parkside and Lake Superior State met last season on Sept. 8 at the Grand Valley State Tournament with the Rangers prevailing 3-0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-21).

DeSimone Advantage: Over the past four seasons, UW-Parkside has compiled a record of 32-11 in home games at DeSimone Gymnasium. The Rangers are 8-4 in home games this season with two of the four losses coming at the hands of nationally-ranked foes.

100-Club: Head Coach Christine Paciero notched her 100th career win in the season opener against Anderson University on Sept. 6. Paciero, now in her third season at UW-Parkside, owns a career mark of 110-73 and a 47-35 record with the Rangers. Paciero compiled a 63-38 record in three seasons at Dominican University (2008-2010) before taking over the reins at UW-P.

Preseason Prognostications: UW-Parkside was selected to finish third in the GLVC East Division by the league's 16 head coaches in the annual preseason poll. The University of Indianapolis was the preseason favorite in the East followed by Lewis University. Truman State was picked to win the West Division with 2012 GLVC Champion Rockhurst University selected to place second.

GLVC in the Top 25: Truman State University is the lone GLVC squad in the Top 25, climbing two spots to No. 15. UIndy, Lewis and Rockhurst University all appear in the "others receiving votes" section.