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

SOMERS, Wis. (Oct 30, 2013)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside volleyball squad closes out its non-conference slate on Thursday, making the short drive to Milwaukee to face NAIA Cardinal Stritch University.

The Rangers and Wolves will hit the floor at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Stritch Fieldhouse.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (14-9, 5-6 Great Lakes Valley Conference) looks to extend its win streak to four games after finishing the 2013 Mizuno GLVC-GLIAC Crossover Tournament undefeated. The Rangers opened the tournament in Aurora, Ill., with a pair of 3-0 victories against University of Findlay and Malone University on Friday before edging Lake Superior State University 3-1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-9, 25-15) on Saturday to finish the tournament as the only unbeaten GLVC team.

Kendyl Danelski turned in a huge performance for the Rangers at the Crossover, finishing with 24 kills, 12 blocks (one solo, 11 assisted), six digs, two aces and one assist while hitting .538 over the two days to land a spot on the All-Tournament team. The sophomore middle blocker was additionally honored as the GLVC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, securing the award for the first time in her career.

With the three victories over the weekend, the Rangers improve their non-conference record to 9-3 on the season. Cardinal Stritch will be the first non-Division II squad the Rangers have faced all season.

Makenzie Fahnestock leads the Rangers in kills with 198 on the season (2.6 per set) while Bridget Nickel leads the team in kills per set at 2.9. Lauren Hickson has accounted for 692 of the Rangers' 903 assists this season, averaging 8.5 per set while also leading the team and ranking third in the GLVC in service aces with 31 on the year.

Danelski has a team-best 56 blocks on the season (eight solo, 48 assisted) while Meghan Conley has 51 (seven and 44). Sarah Mlachnik leads the team in digs and is fourth in the GLVC, averaging 5.1 per set.

About the Wolves: Cardinal Stritch (24-10, 13-2 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference) heads into Thursday's clash having won 13 straight games and sit in first place in the CCAC North Division.

The Wolves last tasted defeat on Oct. 5, falling 3-2 to Indiana University-South Bend. Since then Stritch has been on a roll, winning 13 straight, including seven three-set sweeps. The Wolves tallied four wins over the weekend, downing Olivet Nazarene University (3-2), Trinity Christian College (3-1), Purdue University-Calumet (3-0) and Purdue University-North Central (3-1) at the CCAC Crossover on Friday and Saturday while defeating CCAC rival Roosevelt University 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-22) on Tuesday night.

Monique Morris leads the Wolves in kills, averaging 3.5 per set while Jenna Jehlicka adds 2.2 per set. Tori Burke leads the team in assists with 604 on the season (5.7 per set) while Kelsey Johnson lead the team in average per set at 6.0. Melissa Murphy paces the defensive efforts, averaging a shade under five digs a set while Jasmine King leads the team in blocks with 132 on the season (20 solo, 112 assisted).

The Rangers and Wolves did not face each other in 2012 with the last meeting taking place on Oct. 8, 2011 inside DeSimone Gymnasium. In that match, UW-Parkside dropped the opening two sets before claiming the last to earn the 3-2 victory (19-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-20, 15-10).

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 113-73 and a 50-35 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, sinking five spots to 20th. UIndy, Lewis and Rockhurst University all appear in the "others receiving votes" section.