GAMEDAY CENTRAL
No. 4 IUP Crimson Hawks (24-9, 15-3 PSAC)
vs. No. 5 West Chester (24-8, 12-6 PSAC)
Thursday, November 30, 2017 | 5:00 p.m.
Wheeling, W. Va. | Alma Grace McDonough Center
*Rankings reflect Atlantic Region seeds
 
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Tournament Information: Tournament Central | Bracket | Scoreboard 

WEEKEND AT A GLANCE
IUP returns to action this week as they head to the NCAA Championships for the first time in seven years. The Crimson Hawks face off against a familiar opponent in West Chester in the first round of 64. West Chester comes into the matchup sitting at 24-8 overall on the year.

STORYLINES / WHAT TO WATCH FOR
*IUP will be in their first action since November 14 when they suffered a tough loss in a five-set match to Edinboro in the first round of the PSAC Championship tournament
*IUP is one of six teams from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) to earn a berth in the eight-team Atlantic Region Championships. Other first round matchups involving conference opponents include No. 2 seed Gannon against No. 7 seed Shippensburg, and No. 3 seed Pitt-Johnstown against No. 6 seed Seton Hill
*IUP had a plethora of Women's Volleyball award winners; Natalie Cignetti (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) was awarded PSAC Athlete of the Year, CoSIDA Academic All-District and first team All-PSAC as an outside hitter...teammate Gabby Egler (Pittsburgh, Pa./Barack Obama Academy) was also awarded first team All-PSAC as a middle blocker...Head Coach Scott Pennewill took home PSAC Coach of the Year
*IUP has faced West Chester previously in the season, defeating the Golden Rams in three sets highlighted by; 13 kills by Natalie Cignetti (Indiana, Pa./Indiana), 12 kills by Gabby Egler (Pittsburgh, Pa./Barack Obama Academy), and 37 assists by Katie Miller (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead)
*IUP is at the top in the PSAC in Opponent service aces (0.79 per set) while being in the top five in;
Hitting percentage (.209) - 3rd in PSAC
Assists per set (12.47) - 2nd in PSAC
Kills per set (13.02) - 2nd in PSAC
Blocks per set (2.13) - 4th in PSAC
Service aces per set (1.73) - 5th in PSAC
Opponent hitting percentage (.128) - 3rd in PSAC
Opponent kills per set (10.76) - 4th in PSAC
Opponent blocks per set (1.54) - 3rd in PSAC
and Opponent digs per set (15.81) - 5th in PSAC
*IUP is 14-2 all-time against West Chester
*Sr. OH Natalie Cignetti (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) continues her dominant senior season and enters this weekend as the PSAC's leader in kills per set with an incredible 4.34; Clarion's Taylor Braunagel is second with 4.06
*Sr. S Katie Miller (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) continues to be a staple in the Crimson Hawks offensive output as she ranks first in the conference with 11.09 assists per set; She had a career-high 54 assists in four sets against Slippery Rock; Shippensburg's Emily Hangen ranks second in the PSAC with 10.60

RECORD WATCH
*Cignetti is currently averaging 4.34 kills per set; keeping this pace would place her at fourth overall in a season in the IUP record books; With her 469 kills so far this season, Natalie is currently sixth on the all-time list for kills in a season; Cignetti slid her way up in the record books and is currently fourth all-time in kills with 1,283 through her career now on the chase for third which is held by Michelle Jones with 1,395
*Miller is currently sitting at 1,209 assists through 33 matches; keeping this pace would help her crack the top-ten with assists in a season; with her 1,209 assists thus far, Miller moved into fifth place all-time in assists in IUP history with 1,854
*Jr. L Jess Marut (Painesville, Ohio/Riverside) keeps climbing the record books; with her 503 digs this season, she now sits at third on the all-time IUP record books in digs with 1,705; next Marut shoots for Sarah Rosenberry who has 1,752 digs in her career; if Marut keeps this pace, she will crack the top-10 with digs in a season
*Sr. MB Gabby Egler (Pittsburgh, Pa./Barack Obama Academy) finds herself in the top-10 in blocks all-time sitting in eighth in program history with 307; next up is Heather Bauer with 309; Egler is also on pace to crack the top-20 with hitting percentage in a year as she sits with a .313 in 531 total attempts
*Sr. OH Alexis Anderson (Cleveland, Ohio/Mayfield) sits with 955 career kills; over the weekend she moved into sixth place; next up she chases Marcy Stutzman who is fifth with 961 career kills.