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

Midwest Region Crossover Tournament Info

SOMERS, Wis. (Oct. 15, 2015)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside volleyball squad takes a breather from Great Lakes Valley Conference play this weekend, heading to suburban Chicago for the eighth-annual Midwest Region Crossover Tournament at the Great Lakes Center.
 
The Rangers begin the two-day tournament in Aurora, Illinois, on Friday morning, taking on the University of Findlay at 11:30 a.m. before capping off the day against Tiffin University at 5:30 p.m. UW-Parkside closes out the event on Saturday afternoon, facing a familiar foe in Michigan Tech University at 1 p.m.
 
About the Crossover: The eighth-annual Mizuno Midwest Region Crossover Volleyball Tournament, the nation's largest collegiate volleyball tournament, features 16 schools from the Great Lakes Valley Conference, 16 teams from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and four institutions from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference with each squad playing three matches over the weekend.
 
The two-day tournament will feature 54 matches conducted on nine courts at one of the top volleyball facilities in the country. The event, designed to increase interconference competition between teams from the three leagues in the NCAA Division II Midwest Region, has previously been held in Indianapolis, Ind. and Lansing, Mich. 2015 will mark the first Crossover Tournament to feature the G-MAC with the top four teams from the eight team circuit making the trek to Aurora.
 
Crossover History: UW-Parkside has gone 8-1 at the Crossover Tournament over the previous three seasons. The Rangers lone blemish during that stretch was a 3-2 (20-25, 25-23, 25-19, 20-25, 15-10) setback to Michigan Tech to close out last year's tournament. Parkside was a perfect 3-0 at the tournament in both 2012 and 2013 while claiming wins over Saginaw Valley State University (3-1) and Northern Michigan University (3-0) last season.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (12-6, 6-3 GLVC) is firing on all cylinders, having won six of its last seven matches. The Rangers' loss setback during that stretch was a 3-2 (19-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-21, 16-14) heartbreaker to then 21st-ranked Lewis University on Tuesday. Parkside rebounded from the loss on Friday, downing Bellarmine University 3-1 (25-17, 25-18, 21-25, 25-23) before closing out the team's five-match homestand with a nail-biting 3-2 (25-15, 18-25, 17-25, 25-18, 15-7) win over the University of Southern Indiana.
 
Against Bellarmine, three Rangers finished the match in doubles figures, including a 25-kill, 16-dig performance from Rebecca Roembke. Jackie Langer tallied 15 kills and 12 digs while Lauren Hickson posted a match-high 54 assists along with 13 digs.
 
A day later against Southern Indiana, the Rangers were on the brink of defeat before rattling off a 25-18 win and a 15-7 win over the final two sets, emerging from DeSimone Gymnasium with the five-set victory.
 
Roembke continues to pace the Rangers and the GLVC in kills, averaging 3.8 per set while Langer stacks up fourth in the conference with a 3.4 per set average. Hickson ranks fourth in the GLVC in assists, posting 10.1 per set while Jessi Mainczyk is ninth in the league in service aces with 23 on the season. Defensively Lexi Turek has a team-high 49 blocks while Meghan Conley and Mainczyk averaged 4.3 and 3.3 digs per set, respectively.
 
About the Oilers: Findlay (14-3, 8-1 GLIAC) heads into the crossover tournament riding an eight-match win streak and sits atop the standings in the GLIAC South Division. Findlay's last setback was a 3-1 defeat at the hands of host Ashland University on Sept. 18. Since then, the Oilers have won four of its eight matches in straight sets including a 3-0 sweep of Wayne State University on Saturday.
 
Findlay is a perfect 9-0 inside Croy Gymnasium this season but owns just a 5-3 mark in games away from home, including a 2-2 record in neutral site showdowns.
 
Hannah Tong is the Oilers top attacker, collecting 3.9 kills per set with Amanda Winner adding 3.1 per set. Hailee Olson averages 12.1 assists per game while serving up 24 aces while Becca Shoemaker paces the team on defense with 3.4 digs per set.
 
About the Dragons: Tiffin (8-7, 5-4 GLIAC) heads to suburban Chicago having dropped three of its last four matches. The Dragons got off to a hot start to GLIAC play, winning four of its first five matches before having its fortunes reversed in October, dropping three-set matches to Ferris State University on Oct. 2, Grand Valley State University on Oct. 3, and Northwood University on Oct. 10. Tiffin's lone win during October was a 3-0 sweep of host Lake Superior State University on Oct. 9.
 
Amanda Curry and Olivia Cobb power the TU offense, averaging 2.7 kills per set apiece while Emily Weithman oists a team-leading 10.0 assists per set. Taylor Lattimore has tallied 22 aces off the serve while pacing the squad averaging 5.1 digs per set.
 
About the Huskies: Michigan Tech (14-4, 6-3 GLIAC) heads into the crossover having won its last two matches, collecting 3-0 victories over both Walsh University and Malone University. The Huskies have suffered just one loss at home or at neutral sites, owning a 12-1 record in those games. Michigan Tech's lone loss in a home or neutral site environment was a 3-0 setback to Ashland University on Sept. 25. That setback came on the heels of the Huskies first loss of the season, a 3-0 setback at the hands of UW-Parkside on Sept. 22.
 
Aubrey Ficek leads the team with 3.4 kills per set while Mariah Sherman and Lauren Emmert contribute 2.8 and 2.7 digs/set, respectively. Rachel Pohlod averages 11.6 assists per set to pace the team while also adding 3.2 digs per set while Jacqueline Aird averages a team-leading 4.6 digs per set.  
 
Tech x2: This is the second consecutive year UW-Parkside will face Michigan Tech at the Crossover Tournament in a rematch of an earlier season non-conference encounter. In 2014, the Huskies won both matches, prevailing 3-1 in the season opener on Sept. 4 in Houghton, Michigan before sending UW-Parkside its lone Crossover loss in the last three years on Oct. 18, edging the Green and White 3-2.
 
The Rangers already have a leg up on Tech this season, sending the Huskies their first loss of the season on Sept. 22 in a 3-0 sweep inside DeSimone Gymnasium.
 
GLVC Prognostications: The GLVC released its annual coaches' poll on August 26 with UW-Parkside picked to finish fifth in the East Division. The Rangers racked up 64 points in the poll, finishing 14 points shy of fourth place University of Southern Indiana and 14 points clear of sixth place Bellarmine University. Defending East Champion University of Indianapolis secured the top spot, collecting 110 points and seven first place votes. Lewis University nabbed the No. 2 spot with 109 points and five first place nods followed by McKendree University in third with 97 points and four first place votes. Southern Indiana was fourth (78 points), followed by Parkside (64), Bellarmine (50), Saint Joseph's College (32) and University of Illinois Springfield (28).
 
In the West Division, Rockhurst University landed the preseason No. 1 position, raking in 115 points and 10 first place votes. Defending division and tournament champion Truman State University was slotted at No. 2 with 110 points and the remaining six first place endorsements. Missouri University S&T was third with 89 points while the University of Missouri-Saint Louis secured fourth with 77 points. Drury University was fifth with 60 points, followed by Quincy University in sixth (55 points), Maryville University in seventh (38 points), and William Jewell College in eighth (25 points).
 
Parkside's Paciero: Head Coach Christine Paciero begins her fifth season at the helm at UW-Parkside, owning a career mark of 144-97 and a 81-59 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 second straight year this offseason, boasting an impressive 3.44 team grade point average. Additionally returning student-athletes Meghan Conley, Jeni Heller, Lauren Hickson, Rebecca Kuske, Jackie Langer, Rebecca Roembke, and Lexi Turek were all honored as Academic All-GLVC honorees.
 
Three and counting: UW-Parkside posted a winning record for the third consecutive season in 2014, marking the first time since 1990 the program has strung together back-to-back-to-back winning campaigns. The Rangers streak began in 2012, posting a 21-10 record in Head Coach Christine Paciero's second year at the helm. Parkside followed it up with an 18-13 record in 2013 and a 15-13 mark last season. Under the direction of Terry Paulson the Rangers accumulated six consecutive winning seasons from 1985 to 1990, including a program-best 34-win season in 1986.