FIRST SERVE
William Jewell volleyball looks to get back on track this weekend with a three-game tournament appearance at the Harding Invitational. The Cardinals will take on East Central out of Oklahoma, along with Ouachita Baptist and Arkansas Monticello.
FOLLOW THE CARDINALS
You can follow the Cardinals all season across the team's various social media platforms. Find the team on Instagram and Twitter with the handle @WJCVolleyball. On Facebook, search for William Jewell Volleyball.
SERIES HISTORY
The Cardinals will take on three opponents that they have seen before, including Missouri Southern whom they swept in a non-conference match up last season. Jewell faced off with Northwestern Oklahoma most recently in 2019 in a 3-2 loss while it's been nearly a decade since the last meeting with Newman (9/7/2013), where the Cards lost 3-0. Jewell will take on Southwestern Oklahoma first the first time in the NCAA era.
LET'S RECAP
The Cardinals are coming off an impressive 3-1 weekend at the Kentucky Wesleyan Invite. Jewell downed Purdue Northwest, 3-1, before sweeping KWC and Shorter University. After trailing by two sets Northern Michigan came roaring back to defeat the Cardinals in five sets to close the weekend and snap a five game winning streak.
DISHING IT OUT
The setters have been on target through the first two weeks of the season, handing out 393 assists, tops in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Samantha Thompson is sixth in the league with 6.94 per set while Drew Baxter adds 4.33 and Hannah Cope, 4.00. The Cardinals are third in the conference in assists per set which has led to more than 13 kills per set and a hitting percentage of better than .200, both of which rank among the top-eight in the league.
MIDDLE ATTACK
The Jewell attack from the middle has been at its best in the early going of 2022. Tatum Ernt and Alex Dvorak are combining for nearly five kills per set while hitting .396 and .366, respectively, which rank second and fourth in the GLVC. The freshman Dvorak also enters the week averaging 0.84 blocks per set to lead the team.
BIG BELLA SWING
Bella LaPorta has shown an ability to take over games in a hurry this season, already putting up more than half of her total kills from a year ago. The sophomore enters the week ranked first in the GLVC and ninth in Division II with 126 kills and 20th nationally with 4.68 points per set.
BAADE CLOSING IN ON MILESTONE
Libero Haidan Baade is inching towards a career milestone, sitting 177 digs from 1,000 entering week three, and would become the fourth Cardinal of the NCAA era to reach the plateau. The senior is currently ranked fifth in the GLVC with 4.35 digs per set this season having moved into sixth in the NCAA era in total career digs, surpassing Alix Weigel (2014-17).
50 YEARS OF WOMEN'S VARSITY SPORTS
The 2022-2023 academic year marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX and the 50th year of women's varsity sports of the William Jewell campus. Volleyball was one of the original five sports, joining basketball, tennis, swimming and field hockey. Jewell will be celebrating the growth and accomplishments of women's athletics throughout the year, headlined by an all-women's Hall of Fame class, to be inducted on September 23 which includes the 1981 volleyball team which was the first women's team to win a conference championship in school history.
