VOLLEYBALL2017 POSTSEASON MEDIA GUIDE ABOUT THE LADY WARRIORS TOURN. NOTES 3 JOURNEY TO THE TOURNEY No. 11 Midland University is appearing in its fifth straight NAIA National Championship Tournament, having received an automatic bid to the final site in Sioux City for the fifth year in a row. Only five others can make that claim as the Warriors are joined by Columbia, Georgetown, Lindsey Wilson, Madonna, and Park. Midland finished fourth in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) this year and advanced to the semifinals for the seventh straight year. Midland received an at-large bid to THE ‘PAC IS WHERE IT’S AT the tournament this year. They enter the tournament The Great Plains Athletic Conference was once with a 19-9 record, having only suffered losses to again one of the toughest conferences in the nation. teams ranked higher than them after the opening This year five teams, No. 3 Hastings, No. 4 Dordt, weekend. No. 5 Northwestern, No. 11 Midland, and (RV) Morningside, will all be playing in Sioux City. Last NATIONAL TOURNAMENT HISTORY year Hastings, Dordt, and Midland finished 1-2-3 in Last year, Midland made their longest postseason the final NAIA Volleyball Coaches’ Poll after they all run in school history advancing to the National reached the national semifinals and then Hastings Semifinals. They went 3-0 in pool play, defeating defeated Dordt in the championship match. Oklahoma City, Bellevue, and Mobile while dropping only two sets over the first three days. In the round 54 AND COUNTING of 16 they were taken to the edge by Montana Tech, The Lady Warriors have been ranked in each of winning in five sets advancing to the Elite 8. They the last 54 NAIA Volleyball Coaches’ Top 25 Polls. defeated Lindsey Wilson in four sets to punch their Their streak dates back to the beginning of the ticket to the final day. They were joined by fellow 2013 when they were ranked 13th in the preseason GPAC schools, Hastings and Dordt, as well as poll. Only one school has a longer streak. During Park, in the semifinals. The Warriors would fall to their streak, they have been ranked in the top ten Dordt and ended their season 31-4. In the history 39 times and were ranked No. 1 from September the national tournament Midland is 12-7 overall, 6, 2016 to October 5, 2016. The top five longest including an 8-4 record during pool play. active winning streaks are: Lindsey Wilson (55), Midland (54), Park (54), Georgetown (44), and TO BE THE BEST, Eastern Oregon (39). YOU HAVE TO PLAY THE BEST Midland routinely plays one of the toughest schedules in the country year in and year out. This year was no exception as 18 of the Warriors’ 28 matches were against teams either ranked or receiving votes in the coaches’ poll. Of those 18 matches, 13 were against teams in the national tournament. Over the last five years, Midland is 53-29 against Top 25 teams as the time of the match. WWW.MIDLANDATHLETICS.COM 2017 VOLLEYBALL POSTSEASON MEDIA GUIDE 4 TOURN. NOTES ABOUT THE LADY WARRIORS WIKERT EVENT CENTER - HOME OF THE WARRIORS EVENT CENTER ELECTRICITY STANDOUTS IN THE CLASSROOM During Midland Volleyball’s rise as one of the nation’s Midland has established their program both on the most successful programs, they have become a court and in the classroom over the past few years. staple on campus and in the Fremont community. Concluding the 2016-17 academic year, the Lady The Warriors drew over 11,000 fans for the second Warriors were named a NAIA Scholar-Team and straight year over 10 homes matches this season at also earned the honor of being the NAIA Scholar- Wikert Event Center. Over 1,000 fans packed into Team of the Year. They finished with the highest the gym on six occasions to watch Midland take on team GPA in the nation (3.90) along with Arizona some of the best teams in the country. Last year, Christians’s women’s cross country team and the Warriors drew a WEC record 2,088 fans for Indiana Tech’s women’s golf team. a match with Hastings College. Midland’s average attendance of 1,139 this year would have ranked HOMEGROWN TALENT 41st among all NCAA Division I volleyball teams Midland’s full roster consists of 31 student- based on November 16th data. They averaged more athletes, 26 of which call Nebraska home. Two fans than NCAA Top 25-ranked Missouri State, states make up the rest of the Warrior Nation as Baylor, and San Diego. four players come from neighboring Iowa and one from neighboring South Dakota. Fifteen of the 16 O’WOW players on the national tournament rosters are from Junior middle blocker, Priscilla O’Dowd, leads the the Husker State. GPAC in hitting efficiency (.396) and ranks fourth nationally. She also ranks 40th in both kills per GOING STREAKING game (3.51) and blocks per game (1.05). Since The Warriors had a streak of 14 consecutive wins this arriving on campus in 2015, she has been a pillar year. After a tough opening weekend in Wisconsin to the Warriors’ success. She is a two-time NAIA they started their run which included 11 sweeps and All-American and was named National Freshman of only two matches that went the distance. In 2015, the Year in 2015. Midland had a streak of 22 consecutive victories as well as 17 straight in 2016. 2017 VOLLEYBALL POSTSEASON MEDIA GUIDE twitter: @MIDLAND_SPORTS instagram: @MIDLAND_SPORTS ACCOLADES AND AWARDS AWARDS 5 INDIVIDUAL AWARDS & HONORS JENNY BAIR - 2016 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete - 2017 GPAC All-Conference Honorable Mention GABBY KNOBBE - 2016 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete JORDAN LEMPKA - 2016 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete JESSICA NEKL - 2016 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete - GPAC Defender of the Week (11/06/17) - 2017 GPAC All-Conference 2nd Team PRISCILLA O’DOWD PRISCILLA O’DOWD - 7-time GPAC Attacker of the Week - 2-time NAIA National Attacker of the Week - 2015 GPAC Freshman of the Year - 2015 GPAC All-Conference 1st Team - 2015 Omaha World Herald All-Nebraska NAIA 1st Team - 2015 AVCA-NAIA All-Region (West Central) Team - 2015 NAIA National Championship All-Tournament Team - 2015 AVCA-NAIA Freshman of the Year - 2015 AVCA-NAIA All-America 2nd Team - 2016 GPAC All-Conference 1st Team - 2016 Omaha World Herald All-Nebraska NAIA 1st Team - 2016 NAIA National Championship All-Tournament Team JESSICA NEKL - 2016 AVCA-NAIA All-America 1st Team - 2017 GPAC All-Conference 1st Team JESSICA PETERS - 3-time GPAC Setter of the Week - 2015 GPAC All-Conference 1st Team - 2015 Omaha World Herald All-Nebraska NAIA 1st Team - 2015 Omaha World Herald All-Nebraska NAIA Honorary Captain - 2015 AVCA-NAIA All-Region (West Central) Team - 2015 AVCA-NAIA All-America 3rd Team - 2016 GPAC All-Conference 1st Team - 2016 Omaha World Herald All-Nebraska NAIA 1st Tam - 2016 NAIA AVCA-NAIA All-America 1st Team - 2017 GPAC All-Conference 1st Team JESSICA PETERS WWW.MIDLANDATHLETICS.COM 2017 VOLLEYBALL POSTSEASON MEDIA GUIDE 6 INFORMATION 2017 TV/RADIO ROSTER 3 5 5 8 Jessica Nekl Kalli Brester Taylor Liesenmeyer Jaisa Russell 5’8 // Senior // Libero 5’8 // Freshman // Outside Hitter 5’11 // Senior // Middle Blocker 5’7 // Freshman // Defensive Specialist Shelby, Nebraska Howells, Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska Gretna, Nebraska Shelby Rising City H.S. Howells-Dodge H.S. Minnesota State-Moorhead Gretna H.S. 9 12 13 14 Gabby Knobbe Nicole Skovsende Priscilla O’Dowd Jessica Peters 6’0 // Senior // Middle Blocker 5’7 // Sophomore // Defensive Specialist 6’1 // Junior // Middle Blocker 5’9 // Junior // Setter West Point, Nebraska Elkhorn, Nebraska Omaha, Nebraska Omaha, Nebraska Guardian Angels Central Catholic H.S. Elkhorn H.S. Papillion LaVista H.S. Papillion LaVista H.S. 15 17 19 20 Sydney Morehouse Mackenzie Wecker Shelby Bretschneider Taylor Petersen 5’10 // Freshman // Middle Blocker 5’6 // Junior // Defensive Specialist 5’10 // Sophomore // Right Side 5’11 // Sophomore // Outside Hitter Papillion, Nebraska O’Neil, Nebraska Pierce, Nebraska Auburn, Nebraska Papillion South H.S. Northeast Community College Pierce H.S. Auburn H.S. 22 23 24 30 Jordan Lempka Jenny Bair Maggie Hiatt Bailey Preston 6’2 // Senior // Outside Hitter 5’9 // Junior // Outside Hitter 6’2 // Freshman // Middle Blocker 5’8 // Senior // Setter Sterling, Nebraska Clarinda, Iowa Springfield, Nebraska Omaha, Nebraska Sterling H.S. Clarinda H.S. Louisville H.S. Southwest Community College 2017 VOLLEYBALL POSTSEASON MEDIA GUIDE twitter: @MIDLAND_SPORTS instagram: @MIDLAND_SPORTS 2017 ROSTER/BREAKDOWN INFORMATION 7 NUMERICAL ROSTER NO. NAME POS HT CL HOMETOWN PREVIOUS SCHOOL 3 Jessica Nekl L 5-8 SR Shelby, Neb. Shelby Rising H.S. 5 Kalli Brester OH 5-8 FR Howells, Neb. Howells-Dodge H.S. 6 Taylor Liesemeyer MB 5-11 SR Lincoln, Neb. Minnesota State-Moorhead 8 Jaisa Russell DS 5-7 FR Gretna, Neb. Gretna H.S. 9 Gabby Knobbe MB 6-0 SR West Point, Neb. Guardian Angels Central Catholic H.S. 12 Nicole Skovsende DS 5-7 SO Elkhorn, Neb. Elkhorn H.S. 13 Priscilla O’Dowd MB 6-1 JR Omaha, Neb. Papillion LaVista H.S. 14 Jessica Peters S 5-9 JR Omaha, Neb. Papillion LaVista H.S. 15 Sydney Morehouse MB 5-10 FR Papillion, Neb. Papillion South H.S. 17 Mackenzie Wecker DS 5-6 JR O’Neil, Neb. Northeast CC 19 Shelby Bretschneider RS 5-10 SO Pierce, Neb. Pierce H.S. 20 Taylor Petersen OH 5-11 SO Auburn, Neb. Auburn H.S. 22 Jordan Lempka RS 6-2 SR Sterling, Neb. Sterling H.S. 23 Jenny Bair OH 5-9 JR Clarinda, Iowa Clarinda H.S.