Volleyball heads to Iowa for weekend action

Friday, September 9

Ames, IA

12 PM

Wright State University

Iowa

Photo by: Joseph Craven

9/8/2022 10:35:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

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DAYTON — The Wright State volleyball team treks west to Iowa this weekend for the Cardinal & Gold Challenge, hosted by Iowa State, as the Raiders look to continue their winning ways. Wright State opens the weekend by taking on Iowa on Friday at noon before a meeting with Drake later Friday afternoon. The Raiders end the trip with a Saturday matchup against Iowa State Saturday afternoon. All three matches are expected to be available on ESPN+.

MATCH INFORMATION
Friday, September 9 - vs. Iowa - 12 p.m. - Watch - Live Stats
Friday, September 9 - vs. Drake - 5 p.m. - Watch - Live Stats
Saturday, September 10 - at Iowa State - 12 p.m. - Watch - Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT
Wright State continued its early season success with three wins at the Western Michigan Invitational. Taylor Bransfield led the Raiders with nine kills in the opener against North Dakota, while Aaliyah Byers recorded eight kills of her own. Sam Ott recorded a career-high 24 kills in the win over Western Michigan before finishing with a match-high 19 kills against Indiana State as Callie Martin turned in her second double-double effort of the season with 18 kills and 16 digs.

ALL-TOURNAMENT
The trio of Sam Ott, Jenna Story and Lainey Stephenson were recognized on the Western Michigan Invitational All-Tournament Team last Saturday, with Ott named tournament MVP after finishing with 49 kills (4.45 kills/set), including a career-high 24 against Western Michigan, while Stephenson passed out 85 assists, a 12.14 assist per set average, while playing in the two Friday matches and Story averaged 6.27 digs per set (69 total) while adding 15 assists and five service aces to her weekend stat line.

CARDINAL & GOLD CHALLENGE
Wright State begins weekend action with a fourth all-time meeting with Iowa, while the matches with Drake and Iowa State will be the first time the Raiders have faced off with either of those foes.

KNOW THE FOES
- Iowa is 2-3 so far in 2022 with three straight losses after going 6-24 overall last season with a 4-16 mark in Big Ten play. The Raiders and Hawkeyes have met three times previously, in 1993, 2004 and 2017, with the 1993 meeting taking place at Iowa in tournament action.
- Drake has opened the season 5-1 to date after finishing the 2021 season with an 11-15 overall record and a 6-12 mark in Missouri Valley action, grabbing a September win over HL foe Green Bay. This will mark the first-ever meeting between the Raiders and Bulldogs.
- Iowa State is off to a 2-4 start this fall after going 16-12 overall with an 8-8 mark in Big 12 action last year, falling in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. This will be the first time that the Raiders and Cyclones meet in program history.

4,000 HANDOUTS
Lainey Stephenson notched her 4,000th career assist on September 2 in the match against North Dakota and currently sits sixth all-time in Wright State program history with 4,070 assists in her career entering this weeken'd action. Mandy Gels (1999-2002) is the program leader with 5,044 assists in her career. Next on the ladder for Stephenson is Maddie Lohmeier (2014-17), who is fifth with 4,190 assists.

OTT EARNS HL HONORS
Sam Ott was named the Horizon League Player of the Week on Sept. 7 after leading Wright State to three wins at the Western Michigan Invitational. Ott recorded a career-high 24 kills in the four-set victory over tournament host Western Michigan before following that with 19 kills against Indiana State.

NATIONAL MARKS
Through two weekends of action, Wright State leads the country with its 14.68 assists/set mark, aided by Lainey Stephenson's 12.20 assists/set average, which is No. 2 nationally. In Stephenson's absence, Katie Meyer passed out a career-high 52 assists on Sept. 3 against Indiana State. The solid setting has led the Raiders to the No. 3 mark nationally with a 15.16 kills/set average, while their 38.00 attacks/set ratio is No. 14. Defensively, Wright State is No. 5 nationally with a 18.47 digs/set average, led by Jenna Story's 5.84 digs/set (No. 4 nationally) and her 111 total digs (No. 28 nationally).

KILLIN' IT
Sam Ott notched a new career-best 24 kills in the Sept. 2 match against Western Michigan, while Taylor Bransfield tied a career-high with 16 kills in the season-opener against Evansville (Aug. 26), a mark she also tallied last November at Oakland.