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

SOMERS, Wis. (Sept. 25, 2014)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside volleyball squad hits the road again this weekend, traveling to Illinois to open up divisional play against a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division rivals. The Rangers take on the University of Illinois Springfield on Friday before closing the trip on Saturday against McKendree University.
 
First serve between the Rangers and Prairie Stars is slated for 7 p.m. on Friday in Springfield while the Rangers and Bearcats are set to tangle at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Live stats and video will be available for both contests.
 
About the Rangers: After living a nomadic lifestyle the first two weeks of the season, Parkside (5-4, 2-2 GLVC) finally had a home match last weekend, hosting a pair of GLVC West Division foes inside DeSimone Gymnasium. The Rangers disposed of Maryville University 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-14) in the home opener on Sept. 20, getting nine kills from Jeni Heller while Megan Pekarek had a match-high 29 assists and Jessi Mainczyk tallied 20 digs.
 
UW-Parkside suffered a five set defeat the following day, stumbling 3-2 (25-15, 20-25, 25-21, 24-26, 15-13) to the University of Missouri-Saint Louis. The Rangers owned an early lead in the fifth set before the visiting Tritons scored 13 of the next 20 points to escape Somers with the win.
 
Jackie Langer led the Rangers with 18 kills and 18 digs while Heller finished with 14 kills. Pekarek had 53 assists with Mainczyk adding 24 digs.
 
On the season, Langer leads the Rangers in kills and ranks seventh in the GLVC, averaging 3.3 per set while Rebecca Roembke and Heller average 2.7 and 2.6 kills per set, respectively. Pekarek is the Rangers' primary setter, leading the team and ranking seventh in the GLVC in assists, averaging 9.9 per set.
 
Defensively, Mainczyk averages 4.7 digs per set, leading the Rangers and checking in seventh among the GLVC. Langer averages 2.9 per set while Meghan Conley tallies 2.8 digs per set. Sonja Burnson ranks 10th in the conference in blocks, averaging just over one block a set. As a team, the Rangers rank fifth in the GLVC in blocks, averaging 2.2 per set.
 
About the Prairie Stars: Illinois Springfield (3-5, 1-3 GLVC) continues its five-match homestand on Friday night against UW-Parkside. UIS split a pair of matches last weekend, downing Quincy University 3-1 on Saturday before suffering a 3-1 setback on Sunday to West Division favorite Truman State University. All three if the Prairie Stars; wins have come inside the TRAC while posting an 0-3 record away from Springfield.
 
Ashley Beaton leads UIS offensively, averaging 2.8 kills per set while Shelby Geers and Nora Palermo each add 2.5 per set. Lexi Hall is the Stars top setter with 5.6 assists per set while JoAnna Hoffman adds 4.6 per set.
 
Defensively, Kayla Katarzynski averages a team-best 5.3 digs per set while Beaton adds 2.6 digs/set.
 
About the Bearcats: McKendree (5-5, 2-2 GLVC) heads into Friday's clash against Lewis University looking to snap a three-match slide. The Bearcats woes began on Sept. 20, falling 3-1 to GLVC rival Truman State in the morning before stumbling 3-1 to West Texas A&M University in the evening. McKendree continued to struggle on Tuesday, suffering a 3-0 setback to Missouri University S&T in a non-conference showdown in Lebanon.
 
The Bearcats have actually performed better on the road than at home, owning a 4-2 mark in away and neutral site matches while posting just a 1-3 mark inside the Statham Sports Center.
 
Hannah Wessel leads the McKendree attack, averaging 3.4 kills per set while Arela Williams and Sophire Fairman average 3.1 and 2.7 kills per set, respectively. Breanna Howe and Abby Hanger average 5.3 assists per set while defensively Ashly Schmitt leads the way, averaging 2.8 digs per set.
 
GLVC Preseason Prognostications: UW-Parkside was picked to finish sixth in the East Division in the 2014 GLVC Coaches' Preseason Poll, released on Aug. 26 by the league office. The Rangers collected 58 points in the rankings and was four points shy of fifth place McKendree University. Defending champion University of Indianapolis was picked to win the East Division followed by Lewis University, University of Southern Indiana and Bellarmine University. In the West, Truman State University claimed the top spot followed by Rockhurst University, University of Missouri-Saint Louis and Missouri University S&T.
 
Road Warriors: UW-Parkside's opening seven matches are all on the road along with 12 of the first 14. The schedule balances out towards the end of the season with the final five regular season matches all at home inside DeSimone Gymnasium.
 
DeSimone Advantage: Over the past four seasons, UW-Parkside has compiled a record of 34-13 in home matches at DeSimone Gymnasium. The Rangers were 9-5 at home last season with two of the five losses coming at the hands of nationally-ranked foes.

Parkside's Paciero: Head Coach Christine Paciero begins her fourth season at the helm at UW-Parkside, owning a career mark of 122-81 and a 59-43 record with the Rangers. Paciero compiled a 63-38 record in three seasons at Dominican University (2008-2010) before taking over the reins at Parkside. She notched her 100th career win in the 2013 season opener, downing Anderson University on Sept. 6.
 
All-Academic: The UW-Parkside volleyball squad earned both the Team Academic All-GLVC Award and the AVCA Team Academic Award for the first time in program history during the 2013-2014 academic year. The Rangers boasted a team grade point average of 3.38.