Marshall University Athletics
Herd Volleyball Climbs to No. 2 in Midwest Region
10/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 4, 2005
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Thundering Herd volleyball team reached its highest ranking of all-time when it climbed to No. 2 in the AVCA Midwest Regional Rankings Monday. C-USA rival Rice is No.1 in the region.
Marshall has an RKPI (Equivalent to the NCAA's RPI) of 50 as it enters the week with a record of 11-4 overall and 3-0 in Conference USA. With its 3-0 mark, the Herd sits atop the C-USA standings.
The Thundering Herd is dominant in several statistical categories in the conference. Marshall leads the league in hitting percentage (.260), blocks (2.56/game), assists (14.98/game), blocks (2.56/game) and kills (16.02/game). The Herd is third in limiting opponents hitting percentage (.161) and fourth in service aces with 2.16 per game.
Individually, the Herd has several players at the top of C-USA. Senior setter Katie Stein leads the league with with 14.18 assists per game. Preseason Player of the Year Kelly-Anne Billingy is first in kills with 5.63/game. Stein and Stephanie Cahill are second and third respectively with 26 aces a piece (.58 and .57/game). Nickie Sanlin and Billingy are third and sixth in the conference in hitting percentage at .372 and .326, respectively. Amber Sims is third in the league in blocking with 1.18 per game on the season. Cahill is also ninth in the league in kills per game with 3.78 on the year.
In Conference only matches, Sanlin leads the league with a .556 hitting clip and Billingy tops C-USA with 6.67 kills per contest. As a team, Marshall leads in hitting percentage (.338), opponent hitting percentage (.139), assists (17.22/g), blocks (3.33/g) and won-lost percentage (1.000). The Herd is also second in kills (18.33/g) and fourth in aces (1.89/g).
On a national level, Billingy and Stein are both fifth in the NCAA Division I Volleyball standings in kills and assists per game with their numbers.
The Herd will play host to the Southern Miss Eagles and the UCF Golden Knights this weekend at the Cam Henderson Center where the Herd is 3-0 on the season and 27-4 since the arrival of head coach Mitch Jacobs in 2002.
NEWS and NOTES:
- Stephanie Cahill is second in C-USA with nine double-double performances with kills and digs. The leader has 10.
- Katie Stein needs just three service aces to break the all-time Marshall record for her career. Bridget Repsher holds the current mark with 170. Also, with her 635 assists on the season, Stein is just 282 short of breaking the all-time program record of 5,344.
- Amber Sims is just two blocks shy of moving into third place all-time
- Head Coach Mitch Jacobs is one win shy of his 75th with the Thundering Herd. Jacobs is second all-time in school history in wins and tops the school list in winning percentage.
