Fort Hays State at Panhandle State Tournament Friday, August 31 vs. University of the Southwest - 11 am (Noble Center) vs. Bacone College - 3 pm (Noble Center) Saturday, September 1 vs. Fort Lewis - 9 am (Oscar Williams Fieldhouse) vs. Southern Arkansas - 1 pm (Oscar Williams Fieldhouse) Weekly Notes

The Fort Hays State volleyball team opens its 2012 campaign this Friday and Saturday (Aug. 31 & Sept. 1) at the Oklahoma-Panhandle State Tournament in Goodwell, Okla. At the tournament, the Tigers take on four schools, including two schools for the first time.
 
The Tigers open their season with an 11 a.m. Friday match against the University of Southwest in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. FHSU meets Bacone College at 3 p.m. in their first-ever matchup as well. The Tigers' Saturday slate starts with a battle of the Forts as Fort Hays State takes on Fort Lewis at 9 a.m., and FHSU ends Saturday against Southern Arkansas at 1 p.m. Both venues the Tigers play in this weekend are on the campus of Oklahoma-Panhandle State University.
 
FHSU leads the all-time series against Fort Lewis with a 14-10 record. This is the first matchup between the two since the Tigers left the RMAC after the 2005 volleyball season. Fort Lewis won the 2005 match, 3-1, in Durango, Colo. Previous to that loss, the Tigers won four-straight matches over the Skyhawks.
 
The Tigers also lead the all-time series with Southern Arkansas, going 2-1 in three meetings against the Muleriders, including two-straight wins. The two teams played twice in 2011. The Tigers won 3-1 on Saturday, Sept. 10 at the SBU Purple Bash, and FHSU downed SAU by the identical 3-1 score 20 days later at the UTPB Volleyball Classic on Sept. 30. SAU won the first meeting, 3-0, in 2010 at the Texas A&M-Commerce Tournament.
 
Fort Hays State made a 10-win improvement in 2011, finishing with a 17-16 record in Kurt Kohler's third season as head coach of the Tigers. The winning record was the first time a Tiger team was above .500 since 2005 and the most wins since 2004 when FHSU went 31-5. In 2011, the Tigers snapped their conference losing streak, going 5-13 in the MIAA, and FHSU snapped their losing streak against top 25 teams, defeating No. 24 Truman 3-2 at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
 
The 2012 Tigers look to continue the improvement under Kohler with the 2011 core team intact for 2012. The Tigers only lost one starter from a season ago, All-MIAA libero Tracie Hileman. However, four All-MIAA players return for the Tigers. Two-time All-MIAA selection Madison Schwartz returns on the outside where she led the Tigers in kills with 308 and also ranked third in total points with 330. Sophomore Sara Hewson is also back at outside hitter where she was All-MIAA as a freshman. Hewson did it all in 2011, recording the second-most service aces (28), third-most digs (281), fourth-most kills (227) and fourth-most points (267.0), while missing six games due to injury.
 
Two All-MIAA middle hitters are back, junior Jenna Ulrich and sophomore Kylee Hoagland. Ulrich set FHSU records in 2011 with 37 solo blocks, which is a FHSU rally scoring era record. She also led the team in total blocks with 137 and ranked No. 4 in the MIAA in blocks per set (1.09). Ulrich was reliable on the attack, leading the team with a .259 attack percentage. She was second in kills with 303. Hoagland put up the most points for the Tigers in 2011 with 391.0. She had a team-high 36 service aces, which ranked No. 5 in the MIAA. She set a freshman record in the NCAA Division II era with 64 assisted blocks and totaled 85 blocks on the season.
 
Senior setter Kayla Zoglman returns for the Tigers in 2012. She started all 32 matches in 2011 and led the Tigers with 10.10 assists per set, which ranked No. 4 in the MIAA. She totaled 1262 assists in 2011, the most on the team. She will be pushed for the setter spot by transfer Lauren Lorenz, who comes to Hays after two seasons at Southern New Hampshire University. The Tigers might use both setters in game action this season.

The libero position will be different in 2012, but Makenzie Weinman brings experience after two seasons as a defensive specialist. Weinman was second on the team in digs in 2011 (360). She appeared in all 33 matches, making 15 starts and tying for the team lead in sets played at 126. She was outstanding on service reception, going 11 straight matches without an error from Sept. 30 to Oct. 25, which included 169 straight attempts.
 
After the Oklahoma-Panhandle Tournament, the Tigers travel to the Colorado Mesa Tournament next weekend in Grand Junction, Colo.