FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech volleyball team returns to the court this weekend and looks to get back to their winning ways when they faceoff with #15 Madonna and Siena Heights on the road.
 
Indiana Tech (10-7, 6-3 WHAC)
 
Friday, Oct. 2, 7 p.m. at #15 Madonna University (18-3, 9-0 WHAC) – Livonia, Michigan (The Activities Center)
Saturday, Oct. 3, 1 p.m. at Siena Heights University (7-6, 4-5 WHAC) – Adrian, Michigan (Siena Heights Fieldhouse)
 
Follow Along: Both games will have live stats available, while the Siena Heights match will have live video as well. Links for both matches can be found at IndianaTechWarriors.com. You can also check the action on Twitter by following @IndianaTechVB and @INTechWarriors.
 
Last Time Out: The Warriors had their five-match winning streak snapped on Wednesday evening at the Schaefer Center, losing to undefeated Lourdes, 3-0, (25-22, 27-25, 25-16). Tech was led by Cassie Sarabia's 11 kills and eight digs, while Taylor Kelso recorded 20 digs for her 16^th double-digit performance of the year. Karli Jones dished out a team-high 18 assists and Jazmin Alexander had nine kills.
 
Head Coach Kourtney Wilson: Now entering her fourth year at the helm for the Indiana Tech volleyball team, head coach Kourtney Wilson holds a 65-48 record, the second most wins in program history. Last season, Wilson led the Warriors to an 18-17 record, finishing eighth in the WHAC with a 9-13 mark before losing to #15 Davenport in the WHAC Tournament quarterfinals. She has coached 18 WHAC All-Academic team members, 10 All-Conference selections, nine NAIA Scholar-Athletes, one All-Freshman team selection in Taylor Kelso, and one NAIA All-American, Kelsey Cox.
 
In her first season at the helm, Wilson led her squad to a 25-12 record with a 9-2 mark in conference play. The Warriors finished the year third in the WHAC standings and advanced all the way to the conference tournament semifinals.
 
Scouting the Opposition: Madonna – The Crusaders have opened WHAC play 9-0 and are currently on a 10-game winning streak and ranked 15^th in the country. Nicole Oestrike leads the team in kills with 207, while Miranda Fuerst is hitting at a .387 clip. Oestrike also leads the Crusaders service game with 27 aces. Defensively, Breanna Geile has 313 digs, while Emily Johnson leads the team with 58 total blocks.
 
Siena Heights – The Saints host Marygrove on Friday night before welcoming the Orange and Black to town, but are currently on a two-match losing streak, falling to Aquinas, 3-0, on Wednesday. Leze Vukaj leads the team in kills with 143 while hitting at a .294 clip. She also leads the Saints in total blocks with 52, including 13 solo. Nicole Morgan has 197 digs and Carly Tillotson paces the team in assists (410) and aces (20).
 
Series History: Madonna – The Warriors are 8-18 since 2005 against the Crusaders and have not recorded a win in the series since 2011. Tech lost both matchups at home a season ago, a 3-2 decision on Oct. 3 to the ninth ranked Crusaders and a 3-1 loss on Nov. 1 when Madonna was the #17 team in the country.
 
Siena Heights – Tech is 17-0 since 2005 against the Saints and swept both meetings last year in Fort Wayne. Katelyn St. Martin had 20 digs, 15 kills and seven aces in the two meetings a season ago.
 
National Acclaim: Junior outside hitter Cassie Sarabia made Indiana Tech history this week when she was named the NAIA National Attacker of the Week on Sept. 29. Sarabia is the first Tech player to garner the national award and is coming off back-to-back WHAC Attacker of the Week Awards as well. The Rossford, Ohio native had 57 kills for the week of Sept. 21-27, including a career-high 25 kills against Davenport, two off tying the program record for a match. She recorded her second straight double-double against the Panthers with 15 digs and also hit a team-high .392. In the Warriors victory win against Cornerstone, she had a game-high 19 kills while also picking up 13 digs for her first double-double of the season and also had a team-high 13 kills in the win over Lawrence Tech on Sept. 23.
 
Twice As Nice: Junior libero Taylor Kelso picked up her second straight WHAC Defender of the Week Award on Sept. 28, joining classmate Cassie Sarabia as repeat winners. Kelso recorded 81 digs for the week of Sept. 21-27, including a season-high 33 against Davenport, her second 30-dig performance of the season. She was one off tying her career-high and four away from tying the program record for a match. The Crestline, Ohio native also led the team in digs in the wins over Cornerstone (28) and Lawrence Tech (20), and made only five reception errors in 15 sets of play. Kelso has recorded double-digit digs in every match except one this year.
 
Digging It: Taylor Kelso has made a living diving on the floor over her three years with the Warriors. She recently surpassed 1,500 digs for her career and moved into third place all-time at Tech on Sept. 26 when she recorded a season-high 33 against Davenport. She has only failed to break double-digit digs once this year, when she only notched nine against Concordia on Sept. 9. Kelso has reached 30 or more digs four times in her career. Her 5.50 digs per set currently ranks in 16^th in the nation and leads the WHAC, while she is second in the conference in total digs (363) and is tied for 21^st in the nation.
 
Block Party: Freshman Gabby Staggs has made her living at the net this season. She ranks first in the WHAC in blocks per set (1.22) and third in total blocks (78). Nationally, the Goshen, Indiana native ranks 19^th in blocks per set and tied for 20^th in total blocks. She reached the double-digit plateau for the first time this season against Lawrence Tech as she finished with 10 total blocks. She has played in all but two sets this fall and ranks fourth on the team in kills (83).
 
Going the Distance: All three of the Warriors victories for the week of Sept. 21-27 (Lawrence Tech, Cornerstone, and Davenport) went five sets. The wins over the Golden Eagles and Panthers also came within 24 hours of each other. The last time the Warriors had a three-match streak of playing all five sets came in 2013 when they opened the season with three straight five-setters at the St. Thomas (Fla.) Invitational. That fall they opened with a 3-2 victory over the hosts before dropping the next two matches to #19 Lindsey Wilson and #RV Kansas Wesleyan.