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

SOMERS, Wis. (Oct. 9, 2013)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside volleyball team closes out its five match homestand this weekend with a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference matches inside DeSimone Gymnasium. The Rangers host Bellarmine University on Friday on Dig Pink Night before taking on the University of Southern Indiana on Saturday.

The Rangers hit the floor at 7 p.m. on Friday against the Knights while first serve is slated for 3 p.m. on Saturday. Live stats and video will be available for both contests.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (9-7, 3-4 GLVC) looks to return to the win column after falling 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-15, 25-16) to GLVC East Division leader Lewis University on Tuesday night. In that contest, the Rangers led early in the opening set before falling 25-23 and claimed the second set 25-23 to tie the match. The visiting Flyers won the next two sets to secure the win and send the Rangers their first home loss of the season to a non-Top 25 squad.

Makenzie Fahnestock leads the Rangers in kills with 138 while Bridget Nickel is second (109), leading the squad in kills per set at 3.21. Lauren Hickson is fourth in the GLVC in service aces (0.39 aces/set) and 10th in assists (8.11 per/set) while Sarah Mlachnik ranks third in the league in digs per set (5.05).

About the Knights: Bellarmine (8-5, 4-3 GLVC) comes into DeSimone after dropping a five set match at home against Southern Indiana. The Knights won the opening set 25-22 before losing the next two. BU rallied with a 25-23 decision to force a decisive fifth set but was outclassed 15-6 by the visiting Screaming Eagles.

BU leads the GLVC in service aces, averaging 1.52 per set while the Rangers are not too far behind, checking in at No. 3 with 1.40 per set. Krista Gibson leads the league in kills, tallying 3.66 per set while Jaclyn Ohlmann leads the GLVC in digs with 6.54 per set.

About the Screaming Eagles: Southern Indiana (11-4, 5-2 GLVC) rolls into Lewis on Friday having won five of its last six games, including a 3-2 win at the expense of Bellarmine on Tuesday. The Eagles lone loss during that span was a 3-2 decision on the road against the University of Indianapolis on Oct. 5.

US's Erica Oberbroeckling leads the conference in service aces at 0.43 per set while teammate Abbey Winter paces the league in blocks, averaging 1.33 per set with eight solo and 69 assisted blocks on the year.

DeSimone Advantage: Over the past four seasons, UW-Parkside has compiled a record of 31-10 in home games at DeSimone Gymnasium. The Rangers are 7-3 in home games this season with two of the three 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 108-71 and a 45-33 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 fifth edition of the Top 25 AVCA Poll.  The Bulldogs climbed one spot to No. 17 while the Greyhounds slid one spot to No. 25. Lewis and Rockhurst also received votes.