FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech volleyball team looks to keep their winning streak alive as they return to action on Wednesday, hosting undefeated and WHAC leader Lourdes University at the Schaefer Center.
 
Indiana Tech (10-6, 6-2 WHAC)
 
Wednesday, Sept. 30, 7 p.m. vs. Lourdes University (13-0, 8-0 WHAC) – Fort Wayne, Indiana (Schaefer Center Gymnasium)
 
Follow Along: Links to live stats will be available at IndianaTechWarriors.com. You can also check the action on Twitter by following @IndianaTechVB and @INTechWarriors.
 
Last Time Out: The junior trio of Cassie Sarabia, Jazmin Alexander and Taylor Kelso all had career afternoons for the Warriors as they defeated Davenport on Saturday in five sets and pushed their winning streak to five. Sarabia notched a career-high 25 kills, two off the program record for a match, and had 15 digs for her second straight double-double. She also hit for a team-high .392 for the day. Alexander also recorded a career-high in kills with 19, while Kelso had 33 digs, one off her career best. Karli Jones and Mara Zell would both dish out 20-plus assists, with Jones recording season-high 39 and Zell tying her career-high with 22.
 
Head Coach Kourtney Wilson: Now entering her fourth year at the helm for the Indiana Tech volleyball team, head coach Kourtney Wilson holds a 65-47 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 record 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: Lourdes – The Gray Wolves are one of the hottest team in the country right now and are currently on a 13 match winning streak to open up the season. They most recently took down #RV Cornerstone in a sweep on Saturday. The trio of Stephanie Ruffing, Molly Shonk and Stephanie Richards all have over 110 kills and 100 digs on the season. Megan Birr leads the WHAC in assists per set with 11.1 and Lexi Curtis is second in the conference in aces with 32.
 
Series History: Lourdes – The Warriors are 5-2 against the Gray Wolves and split the season series last year. Tech picked up a 3-1 win on the road and dropped a 3-1 decision at home.
 
Twice As Nice: The junior duo of Cassie Sarabia and Taylor Kelso repeated as WHAC Attacker and Defender of the Week for the second week in a row, respectively. Sarabia picked up her second career weekly conference award after recording 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 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 last Wednesday.
 
Kelso also picked up her second career WHAC award after recording 81 digs last week, including a season-high 33 against Davenport, her second 30-dig performance of the season. She was one off her career-high and four off tying the program record for a match. The Warriors libero also led the team in digs in the wins over Cornerstone (28) and Lawrence Tech (20) and only made 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. Through her first two seasons, she amassed 1,142 digs and is showing no signs of slowing down. She surpassed 1,500 career digs 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 5.44 digs per set currently ranks in a tie for 17^th in the nation and leads the WHAC, while she is second in the conference in total digs (343) and 25^th 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 (1.25) and third in total blocks (76). Nationally, Staggs ranks tied for 18^th in blocks per set and tied for 19^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 (77).
 
Going the Distance: All three of the Warriors victories last week (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.
 
We're Going Streaking: The Warriors five-game winning streak is their longest since they went 5-0 from Oct. 22-25 last season and is the third-longest current streak in the WHAC, behind only Lourdes 13 match streak and Madonna's eight game stretch.