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

SOMERS, Wis. (Oct. 4, 2013)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside volleyball team opens up a five-match homestand this weekend, hosting the University of Illinois Springfield on Friday and McKendree University on Saturday.

The Rangers hit the court inside DeSimone Gymnasium at 7 p.m. on Friday while action is slated to get underway at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Live stats and video will be available for both matches.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (7-6, 1-3 GLVC) embarked on its first GLVC road swing of the season last weekend, returning from Saint Louis empty handed after falling 3-2 to University of Missouri-St. Louis and 3-0 to Maryville University.

Against UMSL last Friday, the Rangers dropped the opening two sets before charging back to tie the match and force a decisive fifth set. The Tritons ultimately prevailed with a 15-11 win in the fifth set as UW-Parkside committed a season-high 29 attack errors and 14 service errors.

On Sunday, the Rangers led Maryville 24-23 in the first set before the host Saints rattled off three consecutive points to secure the set. MU would roll 25-12 in set two and weathered a late Ranger rally to win set three 25-20 to secure the three set sweep.

Bridget Nickel leads the team and ranks second in the GLVC in kills per set, averaging 3.6 while Lauren Hickson is second in the GLVC in service aces (20) while Sarah Mlachnik is fourth in digs per set (5.1).

About the Prairie Stars: Illinois Springfield (4-7, 2-2 GLVC) heads to Somers fresh off a 3-0 (25-12, 25-10, 25-10) exhibition win over Robert Morris University-Springfield on Wednesday. The Prairie Stars were firing on all cylinders in that contest, with 38 of the squad's 72 attacks ending in kills. 

Last weekend UIS fell 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-14) to nationally-ranked Truman State University before rolling Quincy University 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-19) on Sunday.

Sara Baker leads the Prairie Stars offense, averaging 3.2 kills/set while JoAnna Hoffman leads the squad averaging 8.8 assists/set. Defensively, Kayla Katarzynski paces UIS, averaging 2.9 digs/set.

The Rangers and Stars last met on Oct. 9, 2011, with host UW-Parkside prevailing 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 26-24, 25-23).

About the Bearcats: McKendree (3-10, 1-3 GLVC) heads into Friday's match with Lewis having lost two straight GLVC contests and still searching for its first road win of the season.

The Bearcats downed local rival Lindenwood University 3-0 in a non-conference match on Tuesday to snap a two-game slide. Before Lindenwood, McKendree had dropped eight of its previous nine matches, the lone win a 3-2 decision at the expense of Maryville.

The Rangers and Bearcats met twice last season with each team prevailing on their home floor. UW-Parkside won the first encounter 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-12) on Sept. 29 in Somers while McKendree returned the favor a month later on Oct. 26, earning the 3-2 (28-30, 25-23, 25-17, 18-25, 16-14) victory.

DeSimone Advantage: Over the past four seasons, UW-Parkside has compiled a record of 29-9 in home games at DeSimone Gymnasium. The Rangers are 5-2 in home games this season with both 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 106-70 and a 43-32 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 and Indianapolis are the lone two GLVC volleyball teams that were recognized in the fourth edition of the Top 25 AVCA Poll.  The Bulldogs held steady at No. 18, while the Greyhounds slipped to the No. 24 spot.  Rockhurst and Lewis also received votes.