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

SOMERS, Wis. (Nov. 6, 2013)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside volleyball squads closes out the regular season with five straight road matches, beginning this weekend with a pair of interdivisional showdowns against Great Lakes Valley Conference foes Drury University and Missouri University S&T.

The Rangers head to Springfield, Mo., on Saturday to face the Panthers at 5 p.m. inside the O'Reilly Family Event Center before heading to Rolla, Mo. on Sunday to square off against Missouri S&T at 1 p.m. inside the Gale Bullman Multi-purpose Building.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (16-10, 6-7 GLVC) embarks on its longest road swing of the season as the Rangers look to make one final surge to return to the GLVC Tournament for the third time in as many years. The Rangers sit in fifth place in the GLVC East. The top three from each division automatically qualify for the GLVC Tournament with two extra wild cards filling out the eight-team bracket.

UW-P had its five-match win streak snapped on Sunday as Rockhurst University rallied past the Rangers 3-1 (17-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-21) to spoil Senior Day. Earlier in the week, the Rangers downed non-conference nemesis Cardinal Stritch University 3-1 (25-16, 25-15, 22-25, 25-19) in Milwaukee on Halloween before rolling William Jewell 3-1 (18-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-20) inside DeSimone Gymnasium on Nov. 2.

Makenzie Fahnestock leads the club in kills with 236 averaging 2.71 per set. Bridget Nickel averages 2.7 kills per set while Lisa Gregerson adds 2.21 per set. Lauren Hickson leads the squad in assists, averaging 8.3 per set while Kendyl Danelski leads the Rangers in blocks with 71 (eight solo, 63 assisted).  Hickson additionally leads the team in service aces with 32 on the year and ranks third in the conference, averaging 0.38 aces per set . Rebecca Roembke is second in aces with 22 while Sarah Mlachnik leads the defense, averaging 5.2 digs/set.

About the Panthers: Drury (13-13, 6-7 GLVC) finds itself in a similar situation as the Rangers, looking to make a late move and secure one of the available slots for the eight-team GLVC Championship Tournament.

The Panthers earned a road split last weekend, falling 3-2 (25-22, 23-25, 28-26, 13-25, 15-8) to McKendree University on Nov. 2 before rebounding with a 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 26-24, 25-22) victory over the University of Illinois Springfield the next day.

Sara Borneman powers the Panther attack, averaging 3.33 kills per set while Kaleigh Cole adds 2.44 per set. Brooke Antenen leads Drury in assists, averaging 8.8 per set while Alexis Dutt adds 7.8 per set. Laynie Timmons leads the squad with 83 blocks (27 solo, 56 assisted) while Bridget Justis averages just over 5.0 digs per set to lead the team.

The Rangers and Panther last met on Oct, 7, 2012 with the visiting Rangers securing a 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-23, 25-14) victory over Drury.

About the Miners: Missouri S&T (13-13, 8-5 GLVC) heads into the weekend in third place in the GLVC West. It's been a rough two weekends for the Miners, dropping four of their last five matches. The lone win during the stretch was a 3-0 (25-20, 28-26, 25-19) win over University of Illinois Springfield on Nov. 2.

S&T is just 8-12 away from Rolla but is a stellar 5-1 inside the Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose Building with the lone setback coming at the hands of non-conference foe University of Central Missouri (3-0).

Krista Haslag and Hayley Wright lead the Miners in kills, both averaging 2.46 per set while Allie Plunk leads the team in assists with 8.4 per set. Haslag leads S&T in blocks and ranks second in the GLVC with 118 (24 solo, 94 assisted) while Gracey Moon has 85 on the year (nine solo, 76 assisted). Wright has 26 service aces on the year while Cydney Denning leads the team in digs, averaging 3.6 per set.  

The Rangers and Miners last met on Oct. 6, 2012 in Rolla with the host Miners dispatching the Rangers in straight sets (25-17, 25-20, 25-22).

DeSimone Advantage: Over the past four seasons, UW-Parkside has compiled a record of 33-12 in home games at DeSimone Gymnasium. The Rangers are 9-5 in home games this season with two of the five 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 115-74 and a 52-36 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: Two GLVC squads are ranked in the most recent Top 25 Poll. Truman State University leads the way, dropping one spot to No. 21 while Rockhurst University climbs into the poll at No. 25 after spending last week in the "others receiving votes" section. The University of Southern Indiana, Lewis University and the University of Indianapolis are all receiving votes in this week's poll.