LIBERTY, Mo. - The William Jewell volleyball team opens Great Lakes Valley Conference play this week with no easy task as they travel to No. 22 Rockhurst before returning to the Mabee Center for the first time this season and playing host to No. 15 Lewis University.  

ADMISSION 🎟
🟢 Spectators are permitted at both institutions. 

BROADCAST 🎥 
• GLVCSN.com 

LIVE STATS 📊
• Thursday vs. Rockhurst
• Saturday vs. Lewis

CARDINAL NOTES

• The Cardinals are coming off a 1-3 weekend at the strong tournament hosted by UC-Colorado Springs, where they faced off with two nationally ranked opponents. Overall, Jewell enters the week at 4-4 on the season.
• Lily Johnson leads the team with 2.24 kills per set on a career best .215 attack percentage. The senior was named to the Washburn All-Tournament Team in week one after leading the Cardinals in kills, blocks and points. 
• Last week, Bella LaPorta earned All-Tournament Team honors at the Mountain Lion Invite. The freshman is up to 2.11 kills per set on a .241 clip, highest amongst the Cardinal pin hitters. 
• Hannah Cope and Samantha Thompson have run the offense over the last seven games, accounting for 5.10 and 4.96 assists per set. The Cardinals will get a boost this week with the return of Meghan Schneider who had 15 assists in the season opener. 
• Defensively, three players are averaging better than 0.40 blocks per set, led by Johnson's 0.83, including a team high seven solos. Chloe Robison sits at 0.52 per set while Katy Garrison has 0.44, with five solos. 
• Jordan Collard is putting up 3.40 digs per set with a .973 reception percentage, best amongst Jewell's defensive players. 
• McKinzie Thompson has burst out of the gate from behind the service line. The freshman has 11 aces through eight games, with an average of 0.46 per set, seventh best in the GLVC. 
• Paityn Hardison reach the 600-kill milestone last weekend. The senior surpassed Paige Cunningham (2015-17) to move into sole possession of fifth place in the NCAA era. She is still second in the record book with 2.50 kills per set and 12^th with a .140 career attack percentage. 

 
ABOUT ROCKHURST

• Rockhurst enters the weekend at No. 22 in the AVCA national poll but have dropped their last three to Regis, No. 10 Central Missouri and No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul. 
• As a team, the Hawks are seventh in the GLVC with a .209 attack percentage with an average of 11.90 kills per set, 10^th best in the league. Leading the offense is Averi Vomastic's 3.93 kills per set, third most in the GLVC. The senior is the go-to player having taken 350 swings on the season, over 200 more than her next teammate. 
• Gabbie Inman and Sarah Montague share the setting duties and are nearly identical in production numbers at 4.83 and 4.28 assists per set respectively.
• Defensively, Maureen Reilly enters the week ranked eighth in the conference with 3.59 digs per set. 
• The Hawks are the top blocking team in the GLVC with more than 2.3 per set and 67 total. Justice Wingate leads the way with 1.27 out of the middle while Logan Gronewold and Morgan Conner follow behind with 0.87 and 0.86, respectively. 
• Trent Jones is in his second season at the helm of the Rockhurst program after spending nine seasons across the street at Kansas City where he helped the Roos to 145 victories. 
   

ABOUT LEWIS

• Lewis enters the week at No. 15 nationally having played in the same Colorado Premier Challenge as Rockhurst, also going 1-3 on the weekend. The Flyers will host Quincy on Thursday before traveling to Liberty. 
• Lewis is the top offensive team in the GLVC, averaging 13.55 kills per set while hitting .218. Additionally, the Flyers hold their opponents to just a .133 attack percentage and dig up more than 17 balls per set, second best in the league. 
• Leading the defensive effort is fifth year senior libero Jamie Poppen and her 5.43 digs per set. Three other players average more than 2.3 per set, including Megan Schlechte at 3.57. 
• Offensively, Ava Venema hits a team best .370 with 3.31 kills per to rank seventh and fifth in the GLVC, in both categories. 
• Lauren Stenman runs the show with 8.72 assists per set to go along with 10 service aces. 
• Lorelee Smith has built a powerhouse over the last 14 years at Lewis, going 386-90 with 13 appearances in the GLVC Tournament and five GLVC Championships.