FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech volleyball will have its annual "Pink" Game on Wednesday when they welcome WHAC foe Michigan-Dearborn to the Schaefer Center before heading to the USF Big Guns Classic this weekend for a pair of matches.
 
Indiana Tech (10-9, 6-5 WHAC)
 
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 7 p.m. vs. Michigan-Dearborn (6-16, 1-10 WHAC) – Fort Wayne, Indiana (Schaefer Center Gymnasium)
Friday, Oct. 10, 11 a.m. vs. Marian University (3-8, 3-7 Crossroads) – Joliet, Illinois – USF Big Guns Classic (Pat Sullivan Center)
Saturday, Oct. 10, 1 p.m. at University of Saint Francis (Illinois) (11-13, 7-2 CCAC) – Joliet, Illinois – USF Big Guns Classic (Pat Sullivan Center)
 
Follow Along: All three games will have live stats available, while the Michigan-Dearborn game will also have live video. Links for all games 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 a tough weekend in Michigan, losing 3-0 to #15 Madonna on Friday night and were swept by Siena Heights on Saturday afternoon. Taylor Kelso had 20 kills against the Saints for her ninth straight double-digit performance and 18th of the year. Jazmin Alexander led the Orange and Black with nine kills on Saturday, while Katelyn St. Martin had six, and Karli Jones recorded 12 assists in the loss. Against the Crusaders, Sarabia and St. Martin led Tech with seven kills apiece, with Sarabia adding seven digs as well. Kelso had a game-high 18 digs, while Jones dished out 13 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 65-50 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: Michigan-Dearborn – The Wolverines head to Fort Wayne on a two-game losing skid, most recently falling to Davenport on Saturday, 3-0. Shayla Smalls leads the team with 214 kills, while Megan Wright paces the team in digs with 253.
 
Marian – The Knight lost their most recent game to #24 Indiana Wesleyan on Saturday, 3-1, and play IU-East on Wednesday before heading the USF Big Guns Classic. Frannie Stephenson leads the team with 132 kills, while Vanessa Lay has 184 digs. Julie Hoying paces the team in aces (24) and assists (333).
 
Saint Francis – The Fighting Saints head into their home tournament on a three-game winning streak, most recently defeating Trinity International in three sets. Alyssa Bridleman and Shelby Kupferschmid each have over 200 kills with 231 and 226, respectively, while Danielle Condrad and Amber Casey have 347 and 312 assists, respectively. Brooke Hartnell leads the team in aces with 32 while Saint Francis has four players with 200 digs or more and six with 100 or more digs.
 
Series History: Michigan-Dearborn – Tech is 16-1 against the Wolverines since 2006 and has won the last 16 in a row. The Orange and Black swept both matchups last year. Katelyn St. Martin had 15 digs and 10 kills, Karli Jones had 42 assists and Taylor Kelso had 20 digs in the two games.
 
Marian – The Warriors are 4-1 since 2006 against the Knights, most recently winning 3-0 last year in the Indiana Wesleyan Wildcat Invitational. Cassie Sarabia had a team-high 10 kills, Taylor Kelso had 12 digs and Karli Jones had 31 assists in the win.
 
Saint Francis – The Orange and Black are 2-2 since 2008 against the Fighting Saints. The Warriors have dropped the last two matchup in the series, including a 3-0 decision last year at the Holiday Inn Express Invitational at Olivet Nazarene University. Katelyn St. Martin had 11 digs, six kills and two aces to lead the team, while Taylor Kelso added 20 digs.
 
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 5.57 digs per set currently ranks in 15^th in the nation and leads the WHAC, while she is second in the conference in total digs (401) 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 (1.19) and second in total blocks (83). Nationally, the Goshen, Indiana, native ranks 23^rd in blocks per set and tied for 21^st 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 (87).
 
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.