Marshall University Athletics
Herd Volleyball Heads to NIU and IPFW
10/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Herd Volleyball Heads to NIU and IPFW
10/7/2004
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. ? The Thundering Herd volleyball returns to conference play Friday night fresh off a non-conference triumph over in-state rival West Virginia. The Herd heads westward to take on the Northern Illinois Huskies at 8 p.m. in DeKalb, Ill.
Marshall enters the match with a 9-6 record overall, 2-1 in the MAC. The Huskies are 7-10 overall and 2-2 in conference play.
Leading the Herd into battle, is current MAC East Division Player of the Week, Kelly-Anne Billingy (Trincity, Trinidad). The 6-3 freshman, outside hitter is averaging 29.3 kills per match after performances of 30, 29 and 29 in the Herd?s first three conference matches against Miami, Akron and Kent State.
Billingy has 303 kills on the season and leads an explosive Marshall offense that is held together by junior setter Katie Stein (Sussex, Wis). In her last outing, Stein put up 58 assists in four games against the WVU Mountaineers. In her last five matches, she is averaging 13.65 assists per contest.
For the season, the Herd is outhitting opponents .244 to .209 with 115 more kills than the opposition.
The Huskies have played 11 of 12 matches on the road and return to Victor E. Court for Friday night?s match with the Herd. The matchup provides plenty of punch with Billingy (No. 8 in the nation with 5.61 kills/game) and the Huskies? Tera Lobdell (No.7 in the nation with 5.63 kills/game).
Saturday at IPFW
The Thundering Herd heads to IPFW to take on the Mastadons Saturday at 8 p.m. EST., in Fort Wayne, Ind.
IPFW is currently 12-6 on the season and are fresh off a 3-1 win against MAC opponent Bowling Green. The match before that, IPFW lost to Eastern Michigan 3-0. The Mastadons are 3-1 against MAC opponents this season.
