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Blue Demons Host Green Bay in First Weekday Action of Fall
Sept. 24, 2012
CHICAGO - Fresh off its first BIG EAST weekend, the DePaul volleyball team will take a break from conference competition to host Green Bay in a midweek match on Wednesday, Sept. 26 before getting back to BIG EAST play over the weekend. Match time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT in McGrath-Phillips Arena. The Blue Demons will be looking to snap a three-match losing streak after falling to No. 10 Louisville and Cincinnati over the weekend. 1-2 at home this season, it will be the Blue Demons' first home match since August 25 and their first weekday appearance of the 2012 season. Last Time Out Senior Rachel Aumann led the way for DePaul with 12 kills and an efficient .333 attacking percentage. Junior Natalie Rizzo added eight kills, as Callie Huebener and Vesela Zapryanova supplied seven apiece. On the defensive side of the ball, junior libero Allyson Rooks paced the Demons with 16 digs. Sophomore setter Laura Witt added 12 and was one off her career record with 37 assists on the afternoon, while Zapryanova also reached double-digit digs with 11. On the front line, DPU netted a season-best 27 block assists including a career high-tying seven from Rizzo. Scouting the Phoenix The Phoenix sport a balanced offensive attack with four players all at 120+ kills. Junior outside hitter Monica Anderson is tops with 155 kills, while senior Carmen Leitermann is just behind with 150 kills on an efficient .316 attacking percentage. Junior right side Leah Van Zeeland (129 kills) and outside hitter Lyndsay Zabkowicz (131 kills) also provide offense. Setter Leah Poel runs the show and has 533 assists on the season, while Brittany Groth paces the defense with 322 digs. Double-Double Trouble Over the past two weekends, setters Laura Witt and Aubree Hord have both posted the first assist-dig double-doubles of their Blue Demon careers. For the season, Witt has posted three. Hord picked up her first career double-double (14 assists, 11 digs) at No. 10 Louisville on Friday, Sept. 21. In the Demons' 14 matches, DePaul has gathered 12 double-doubles total and has at least one in 10 competitions -- including each of the past three. By comparison, in 2011, the Blue Demons recorded six double-doubles all season. Senior Lauren Blasi led the Blue Demons with two kill-dig double-doubles (setter Katie Gamsky had four assist-dig double-doubles). Super `Nova Last Monday, Zapryanova was named to the weekly BIG EAST Honor Roll for her performance at the Loyola Rambler Challenge. At the two-day tourney, Zapryanova led the Blue Demons to a pair of sweeps and paced the offense with 3.70 kills per set. It was the first BIG EAST weekly award for DePaul volleyball since Sarah Cullen was selected to the honor roll on October 13, 2008. She leads the team in kills (172), kills per set (3.19) and total attempts (519). The Sofia, Bulgaria-native also ranks second on the team in aces (13) and is third in digs (130). Zapryanova was named to All-Tournament teams over three straight weekends from Aug. 31-Sept. 15 (First State Skyhawk Invitational, Chicago Classic, Loyola Rambler Challenge). New Faces From New Places
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