FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech volleyball team returns to Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) play this week as they host Lawrence Tech on Wednesday before traveling to Adrian, Michigan, for the Siena Heights Crossover and taking on #22 Madonna and the host Saints.
 
Indiana Tech (19-11, 11-5 WHAC)
 
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 7 p.m. vs. Lawrence Tech (8-24, 5-11 WHAC) – Fort Wayne, Indiana (Schaefer Center)
Sunday, Nov. 1, 12 p.m. vs. #22 Madonna University (25-5, 14-2 WHAC) – Adrian, Michigan (Siena Heights Fieldhouse)
Sunday, Nov. 1, 3 p.m. at Siena Heights (16-9, 8-8 WHAC) – Adrian, Michigan (Siena Heights Fieldhouse)
 
Follow Along: Links to live video and stats will be available for the Lawrence Tech and Siena Heights matches at IndianaTechWarriors.com. You can also check out the action on Twitter by following @IndianaTechVB and @INTechWarriors.
 
Last Time Out: The Warriors defeated University of the Cumberlands to go 3-1 on the weekend at the Liz Lykowski Memorial Tournament. Tech knocked off the unbeaten Patriots in three sets to capture runner-up honors to IU East. Katelyn St. Martin picked up her eighth double-double of the year as she led the Orange and Black in kills (16) and digs (16). Paige Doellman added 13 kills, while Taylor Kelso notched 13 digs. Autumn Stokes and Karli Jones combined for 35 of the teams 42 assists.
 
Head Coach Kourtney Wilson: Now entering her fourth year at the helm for the Indiana Tech volleyball team, head coach Kourtney Wilson holds a 74-54 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: Lawrence Tech – The Blue Devils have lost three in a row and eight of their last 10 coming into Wednesday's match. LTU dropped all three matches over the weekend at Williams Woods University, dropping two games to the hosts and falling to No. 13 Evangel University. Mary Armstrong leads the WHAC in kills (480) and kills per set (4.0) and leads the team in blocks with 94. Makenna Stunk leads the conference in aces with 50 and Josie Queary has 904 assists.
 
Madonna – The 22^nd ranked Crusaders face off with Siena Heights on Wednesday in Livonia before traveling to Adrian on Sunday for the SHU Crossover. Madonna has not lost a match at home this season and is 5-3 at neutral sites. Miranda Fuerst leads the team in hitting percentage (.364) and is fourth in kills with 206. Nicole Oestrike and Breanna Geile are tied for the team lead in digs with 506 each, while Oestrike's 287 digs tops the Crusaders.
 
Siena Heights – The Saints take on Madonna Wednesday at home before hosting Tech, Concordia and the Crusaders on Sunday. Siena Heights is on a five game winning streak and has swept all five opponents. Lexi Vukaj leads a balanced offensive attack with 237 kills and is hitting at a .300 clip and sets the tone at the net on defense with 93 total blocks. Nicole Morgan leads the team in digs with 384 and Carly Tillotson has 773 assists.
 
Series History: Lawrence Tech – The Warriors are 5-1 against the Blue Devils since 2012, most recently defeating LTU back on Sept. 23 in five sets. Cassie Sarabia would finish the match with 13 kills, while Katelyn St. Martin and Jazmin Alexander finished right behind with 12. St. Martin would also add 15 digs for her sixth double-double of the year. Gabby Staggs finished with a game-high 10 blocks and Taylor Kelso racked up 20 digs, while Karli Jones and Mara Zell dished out 23 and 22 assists, respectively.
 
Madonna – Tech is 8-19 since 2005 against the Crusaders and has not recorded a win in the series since 2011. Back on Oct. 2, the Warriors were swept by Madonna, then ranked 15^th, in Livonia. Cassie Sarabia and Katelyn St. Martin led the Orange and Black with seven kills apiece, with Sarabia added seven digs as well. Taylor Kelso had a game-high 18 digs, while Karli Jones dished out 13 assists.
 
Siena Heights – The Warriors are 17-1 in the series with the Saints since 2005, most recently suffering their first defeat back on Oct. 3 as they fell in three sets. Taylor Kelso had 20 kills for her ninth straight double-digit performance and 18^th of the year. Jazmin Alexander led the Orange and Black with nine kills, while Katelyn St. Martin had six. Karli Jones recorded 12 assists.
 
Making Her Way into the Record Books: Junior libero Taylor Kelso made history Oct. 17 at the Concordia Crossover. In the come-from behind five-set victory, Kelso recorded 37 digs to tie former standout Kayla Hartman's record. The Colonel Crawford High School product now has 528 digs on the season and needs 190 more to reach the programs single season record, also held by Hartman.
 
We're Going to Need a Bigger Shelf: Kelso picked up her third WHAC Defender of the Week Award on Oct. 19 after recording 81 digs over three games for the week of Oct. 12-18. Kelso tied the program record for digs in a match with 37 on Saturday against Aquinas and picked up 24 against Davenport and 20 in the win over Concordia. She is the first player in the league to win the weekly award three times this year.
 
A Look at the Standings: With only six conference games left on the slate, the Warriors find themselves tied with RV Cornerstone for third place at 11-5. If the season ended today, Tech would face off with Siena Heights in the WHAC Tournament quarterfinals. Undefeated and 17^th ranked Lourdes sits atop the WHAC standings at 16-0 and 22-0 overall, while No. 22 Madonna has only two blemishes on its conference record at 14-2. The Orange and Black hold a two-game lead over Davenport while Siena Heights sits three back of Tech. The Warriors remaining WHAC schedule includes Lawrence Tech, Madonna, Siena Heights, Lourdes, Cornerstone and Northwestern Ohio. The top eight teams will make the WHAC Tournament, which will be held Nov. 13-14 at the location of the regular season champion.
 
Hitting Machines: The trio of Cassie Sarabia, Jazmin Alexander and Katelyn St. Martin all rank in the top-20 in the WHAC in total kills. Sarabia leads the team with 342, third most in the conference, while Alexander is 14^th with 252 and St. Martin has 248 kills and is tied for 16^th. Sarabia and St. Martin also rank in the top-20 in kills per set at fifth and 17^th, respectively, while Alexander is right outside the top-20 at number 22.
 
All-Around Player: Senior Katelyn St. Martin finds herself all over the floor for the Warriors and shows up all over the stat sheet for the Orange and Black. The Zionsville, Indiana, native ranks first on the team in aces (32), second in digs (316) third on the team in kills (248) and is seventh in total blocks (21). She's recorded 20-plus digs in three straight matches from Oct. 14-17, even leading the team with 23 against Concordia on Oct. 14, which was the first time all season Taylor Kelso did not lead the Warriors in that category. The Hamilton Southeastern High School product recently passed 1,000 career kills as well.
 
Sharing the Rock: Setters Karli Jones and Mara Zell have combined for 963 of the Warriors 1,269 assists and the Orange and Black rank 25^th in the nation. Tech's 11.64 assists per set ranks 37^th in the country as well. Those numbers are good for third and fourth in the WHAC, respectively.
 
National Acclaim: Junior outside hitter Cassie Sarabia made Indiana Tech history when she was named the NAIA National Attacker of the Week back on Sept. 29. Sarabia is the first Tech player to garner the national award and was 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: Juniors Cassie Sarabia and Taylor Kelso were chosen at the WHAC Attacker and Defender of the Week, respectively, for two weeks in a row on Sept. 21 and 28. Sarabia had 91 kills over the two weeks and had two games where she hit over .300. Kelso had 132 digs over the same stretch.
 
Digging Force: Taylor Kelso has made a living diving on the floor over her three years with the Warriors. She has 1,769 digs for her career and moved into third place all-time at Tech on Sept. 26 when she recorded a then 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 five times in her career. Her 5.57 digs per set currently ranks 15^th in the nation and leads the WHAC, while she also leads the conference and is ranked ninth in the nation in total digs with 607.
 
Block Party: Freshman Gabby Staggs has made her living at the net this season. She ranks second in the WHAC in total blocks (106) and fifth in the WHAC in blocks per set (1.00). Nationally, the Goshen, Indiana, native ranks in a tie for 38^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 three sets this fall and ranks fourth on the team in kills (159).
 
This and That: The Warriors are ranked in the top-50 in six categories and have three players ranked in the top-50 in four different categories. They are 25^th in total assists (1,269), 33^rd in total kills (1,369), tied for 37^th in assists per set (11.64), tied for 42^nd in kills per set (12.56), 43^rd in total digs (1,759) and tied 49^th in total blocks (204). Individually, Taylor Kelso is ninth in total digs (607) and 15^th in digs per set (5.57), while Gabby Staggs is tied for 38^th in total blocks (106) and Cassie Sarabia cracks the top-50 at 47^th in total kills with 342
 
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.