The Blue Demons will travel to Fort Wayne this weekend to compete in the IPFW Invitational. They will open the tournament on Friday against Evansville at 5:00 p.m.
Tournament Notes
CHICAGO- The DePaul volleyball team will finish its tournament portion of the schedule this weekend at the IPFW Invitational in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Blue Demons are coming off their third place finish at the Blue Demon Invitational and will face Evansville, future BIG EAST opponent St. John’s and tournament host IPFW during the two-day tournament at the Gates Sports Center (driving directions) on Friday and Saturday.
DePaul, off to a 6-6 start, is led by senior middle blocker Janet Goreham who is averaging a team high .294 attack percentage. She also leads the team with 54 total blocks, 14 solo blocks and 40 block assists. Goreham garnished All-Tournament honors last weekend at the Blue Demon Invitational; she was also named the MVP of the Mizuno Wildcat Classic earlier in the season.
The Blue Demons open the tournament on Friday against Evansville, the match is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. Evansville (6-5) enters the tournament after dropping a 3-2 match to Southern Illinois earlier in the week. The Purple Aces are led by sophomore Megan Spurlock. Spurlock is ranked second in the Missouri Valley Conference in total kills has nailed down 155 in 11 matches. The Blue Demons and the Purple Aces tangled last season and it DePaul who came out on top 3-1.
On Saturday, DePaul will get a taste of 2005 when they face St. John’s (6-4) at 11:00 a.m. Jackie Ahlers leads the Red Storm averaging 5.49 kills per game and a .333 attack percentage. This is the first meeting for the Blue Demons and the Red Storm.
The Blue Demons will close out the tournament on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. against host IPFW (7-4). Mastodon junior Fabiana Souza is currently ranked 21st in the country in kills per game, averaging five per game. Souza also leads IPFW with 46 total blocks. This is the first time the Blue Demons and Masodon’s have met.
IPFW Invitational Presented by US Cellular
Friday, September 24
5:00 DePaul vs. Evansville
7:30 IPFW vs. St. John’s
Saturday, September 25
11:00 St. John’s vs. DePaul
1:30 Evansville vs. IPFW
4:30 St. John’s Evansville
7:00 IPFW vs. DePaul
Opening the Conference USA Season
The Blue Demons will open the C-USA season at home for the first time since 2002. The Blue Demons will welcome nationally ranked Louisville on Friday, October 1 and Cincinnati on Saturday, October 2. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. at the DePaul Athletic Center.
Success in North Carolina
The Blue Demons captured the Mizuno Wildcat Classic Crown on September 5th in Davidson N.C. DePaul defeated Florida Atlantic (3-0), Virginia Commonwealth (3-1) and host Davidson (3-0) to earn the championship honors. The team averaged 16.90 kills, 16.10 assists and 21.20 digs during their three matches.
Goreham Gathers Honors
Senior Middle Blocker, Janet Goreham was named the MVP of the Mizuno Wildcat Classic in Davidson, N.C. The senior compiled a .425 hitting percentage and tallied 38 kills and digs, 16 total blocks and three service aces over during the tournament. At the Blue Demon Invitational September 17-18 Goreham was named to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 4.0 kills per game and notching 13 total blocks.
Down on Dig
The Blue Demons are ranked tops in Conference USA in digs per game. DePaul is averaging 17.64 digs per game. Amy Holmes leads the team and averages 3.59 digs per game and is ranked eighth in C-USA.
More from Moorberg
Junior outside hitter Mandy Moorberg leads the team in total kills, tallying 165 putaways. She is also averaging a team high 3.93 kills per game. Moorberg holds the team’s season best for most kills in a match (25), most attempts (61), most points (26.5), and most service aces (7).
Ace in the Hole
Junior Mandy Moorberg found the defensive holes in the Eastern Illinois defense, notching a season and career high seven service aces. The team notched 11 total aces.
Finding the Hitter
Senior setter Amie West set a new career best “assisting” 71 hitters find the wood against Virginia Commonwealth. West has accumulated 3,107 career assist and is in sole possession of the No. 3 for most career assist. Michelle Vonderheide (1989-1992) is second, she amassed 6,278 assist in her career.
The Amie’s
Seniors Amy Holmes and Amie West were named to the Mizuno Wildcat Classic All-Tournament roster. Holmes finished the weekend with 37 kills, 48 digs and two blocks. West averaged 15.0 assists per game and tallied 135 assists over 10 games.
Undefeated Demons
DePaul opened it season with a perfect 4-0 record for the first time since the 2001 season. The 2001 team started the season 9-0 and finished with a 24-9 record and made the program’s second NCAA Tournament appearance.
The Class of 2008
Red shirt freshman Aly Zavitz was joined by true freshmen Mandi Caputo, Stacy Pando and Maureen Zigulich this season. Zavitz and Pando are middle blockers, Caputo a setter and Zigulich becomes DePaul first true libero.
