Marshall University Athletics
Herd Volleyball Plays Host to Xavier
9/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Herd Volleyball Plays Host to Xavier
9/21/2004
HUNTINGTON, W.Va ? The Marshall volleyball team will look to defend its perfect record at home in the Cam Henderson Center this season when it plays host to the Xavier Musketeers of the Atlantic-10 Conference, Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
To do that, the Herd will have to ?X? out a hot Musketeer squad that enters the contest riding a four-match winning streak. Xavier (6-5) is coming off an impressive weekend of play after winning the Blue Demon Invitational championship at the University of DePaul.
?Xavier is a very good team and they?re coming in on an extremely hot roll,? Marshall head coach Mitch Jacobs said. ?They?re very well coached and on fire right now. We?ve got our work cut out for us and know we?ll have to play well.?
The Herd enters the match at an even 5-5 on the season after going 1-2 in the Inn Tower Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin last weekend. Marshall picked up a big win over defending Conference USA champion Cincinnati in a thrilling five-game match to open the tournament and then fell to Big Ten powerhouse Wisconsin and ACC foe Virginia in the second day of competition.
The Thundering Herd is led by freshman Kelly-Anne Billingy (Trincity, Trinidad). The 6?3 outside hitter comes into the match with 186 kills on the season for an average of 5.3 per game. Billingy was named to the Inn Tower Invitational All-Tournament team. She dropped in a career-high 29 kills against Virginia.
The Musketeers are led by Kate Duchek with 159 kills and a .317 hitting percentage. Astyn Bjorkland has 121 kills and a .351 mark for the season. Molly Martin adds 12.5 assists per game for Xavier.
Xavier leads the all-time series with Marshall 11-3 after downing the Herd 3-1 at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati last season.
