Marshall University Athletics
Herd Volleyball Eyes Weekend Matches with East Carolina
9/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 29, 2005
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Thundering Herd volleyball team got the Conference USA era off to a good start by picking up a 3-0 win over UTEP last week. Now the Herd will look to continue its winning ways in C-USA play with a pair of matches this weekend with ECU to try and take sole possession of first place.
Marshall plays host to the Pirates on Friday night at 7 p.m. in the Cam Henderson Center and then travels to ECU on Sunday for a re-match with the Pirates.
The Thundering Herd is 9-4 on the year and 1-0 in C-USA after wins last week against Cincinnati and UTEP. East Carolina comes into Huntington with a record of 8-4 overall and 1-0 in C-USA for the early season C-USA first place match-up.
Marshall is led into the match by C-USA's Player and Setter of the Week. Kelly-Anne Billingy garnered the Player of the Week honor with her 5.88 kills per game on the week as she helped guide the Herd to wins over Cincinnati and UTEP. The outside hitter recorded a double-double with 26 kills and 13 digs against Cincinnati and followed with another double-double performance (21 kills, 11 digs) against the Miners. Billingy also averaged 6.38 points per game, and her .447 hitting percentage against UTEP brought her season average to .309. Katie Stein took home the Setter of the Week accolade after tallying impressive assist totals over the week in the Herd's wins. The senior posted 65 assists against the Bearcats followed by 52 in just three games on Sunday against the Miners. Stein added to her service ace total with four more on the week to bring her season total to 23, just six shy of breaking the Marshall all-time record. Stein is leading C-USA in assist this season with 14.18 per game. Marshall was the first team to sweep the awards in 2005.
East Carolina is paced by Pam Ferris with 4.21 kills per game and Heidi Krug posts 13.44 assists per game for the Pirates. ECU comes into the match on a hot streak winning five-straight against Chicago State, Charleston Southern, Wofford, UTEP and Campbell.
Coming into the match, the Thundering Herd is ranked fourth in the Midwest region in the first AVCA Regional ranking of the season behind Rice, Eastern Kentucky and Houston. East Carolina is ranked ninth in the region.
All-time, the Herd holds a 1-0 lead against the Pirates as Marshall took the only meeting with ECU with a 2-1 win in 1973. The Herd comes into the match 2-0 at home this season and has won 26 of its last 30 matches in the Cam Henderson Center.
First serve is set for 7 p.m.
