Panthers Prepare For Midwest Region Crossover On Friday

COLUMBUS, Ohio – On Friday and Saturday, the Ohio Dominican volleyball travels to Hammond, Indiana for the annual Midwest Region Crossover between the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, the Great Lakes Valley Conference, and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic conference.

The Panthers swept Homecoming weekend with a 3-1 victory over Lake Erie and a 3-0 win over Ursuline, to move to 9-7 overall and 6-4 in the G-MAC. ODU currently sits in second in the South Division and sixth overall.

About Ohio Dominican

For the third time this season, a member of the Black and Gold was awarded G-MAC Athlete of the Week. Sophomore Jenna Peters (Vermilion, Ohio) was awarded South Division Offensive Athlete of the Year after recording 28 kills, an average of 4.00 kills per set, this past weekend. Joining Peters with 20+ kills was Lauren Lucas (Grove City, Ohio) with 21. Lucas has the sixth most kills on the conference at 201.

Senior Kelsey Shoup (Dalton, Ohio) tallied 40 digs in seven sets. Shoup now has the third most digs in the conference with 299. The senior averages 4.33 digs per set. Fellow senior, Alexis Keipert (Burlington, Ky.), notched 16 digs, bringing her season total to 163. Keipert averages 2.40 digs per set this season.

Setters Saige Avery (Yorkville, Ill.) and Gabrielle Kirker (Tallmadge, Ohio) average over 4.50 assists per set with Avery averaging 4.94 and Kirker averaging 4.90. Avery has a total of 341 assists this season after collecting 33 this weekend. Kirker collected 37 assists to bring her season total to 294.

About Upper Iowa

The Peacocks enter the Midwest Regional with a 7-8 record and a 3-2 mark in the GLVC. They are currently seventh in the Great Lakes Valley standings. Upper Iowa most recently defeated Drury, 3-1, and Southwest Baptist, 3-2.

Leading the way for UIU is Zoe Semelroth with 206 total kills. Semelroth averages 3.61 kills per set. Nicole Pozorski has posted 581 assists this season. Pozorski averages 10.02 assists per set. In the back row, Kaci Beesecker averages 4.02 digs per set, a total of 229 digs. Following her is Pozorski with 133 digs.

Upper Iowa and Ohio Dominican have met only once with the Peacocks sweeping the Panthers, 3-0, at the Middle of Everywhere Classic in Missouri in 2017.

About Missouri S&T

The Miners are 9-7 overall and 2-4 in the GLVC, sitting at 10^th in the conference standings. S&T lost to Rockhurst, 3-2, and took a 3-0 victory over William Jewell.

Senior Madelyn Mason leads the team with 213 total kills. Mason averages 3.28 kills per set. Annie Arand and Elise Mehaffy split time dishing out assists for the Miners. Arand averages 5.66 assists per set and Mehaffy averages 4.91 assists per set. Libero, Meiko Pearson, averages 3.02 digs per set.

The Miners and the Panthers have played once, dating back to 2017 where S&T swept ODU 3-0.

 

About Wayne State

The Warriors are 5-12 overall with a 2-7 GLIAC record, placing the ninth in the standings. Most recently, WSU lost to Lake Superior State and Grand Valley State, 3-0 both times.

Molly Miller has the fourth most kills in the GLIAC with 194 on the season. Miller posts an average of 3.18 kills per set. Kayla Giroux has the second best hitting percentage in the conference at .354. Libero Kendyl Andrews is second in the conference in digs, 257, and third in digs per set, 4.15. With 572 assists is Kayla Dulgar. Dulgar averages 9.38 digs per set.

Dating back to 2010, the Warriors hold a 10-2 record over the Black and Gold. WSU has won the last five matches. The two last met in 2021 at the Midwest Regional crossover, where Wayne State won 3-2.

Game Times

Ohio Dominican will battle Upper Iowa on Friday afternoon at 12:30 PM on court 1. They return on Saturday at 12:30 PM to take on Missouri S&T on court 4 and Wayne State at 5:30 PM on court 2.