Marshall University Athletics
Herd Volleyball Set for Second CSTV Match of 2006
10/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 19, 2006
HUNTINGTON - The Marshall Thundering Herd volleyball team will be making its second national television appearance on CSTV of the season against the University of Houston at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Cam Henderson Center.
The match will be Marshall's second Olympic sports match to be televised in school history and second of the season. Marshall head coach Mitch Jacobs said he was thrilled for another national television match.
"It is exciting to be playing once again on national television," he said. "It will be great to be representing Marshall on national TV and we hope to give Houston a great match."
Friday's match will be tape-delayed for television and will feature a repeat of the 2005 Conference USA Championship between the Herd and Cougars, a match which went to Marshall 3-2.
This season both teams find themselves in the middle of the C-USA hunt with an identical conference record of 6-3 and are tied for third in the conference standings. The only separation between the two teams is in the overall record, where Houston holds a 15-9 while the Herd is 14-9. With a half game separating both teams from second and fifth place the match will have added importance as both squads wind-down conference play.
"It is a very high-stakes match," Jacobs said.
The Herd has won four of its past five and faces a Houston team that has taken six victories in its past eight. Jacobs said the Herd will have to be ready for the Cougars.
"Houston has a nice team and they are playing good volleyball right now," he said. "They are a good team and well coached. They run a lot of different block schemes and we have to be prepared."
Over the past five matches Marshall's net defense has put the block on opposing teams with Uche Ndubisi and Chelsea Lazar leading the way with 18 total blocks each. Christin Bimberg has contributed with 16 and Kelly-Anne Billingy has put up nine. Jacobs said the Herd's net defense will have to adjust to Houston's top hitters.
"They have some big hitters, especially in (Justine) Farmer and (Kelly) McAnelly, they can really pound the ball," he said. "(Becca) Sartori is a super middle especially when she gets behind the setter on the slide. I don't know how many stuff blocks you are going to get against a team that has those kinds of hitters but you need to get in the way to help your back row play."
Jacobs said each team's passing would be one of the most significant factors of the match.
"Houston has some good ball control and we hope we can get them out of system with some good service game but they could be on, but hopefully they are not," he said.
"It is going to be incredibly important since they do run some strong block schemes. If you are not in system then they are going to have the upper hand."
Admission to the match is free with promotions and giveaways planned.
The Marshall/Houston match will be a tape-delayed match to be aired at 6 p.m. on Sunday. In live action on Sunday the Herd will be taking on the Rice Owls at the Henderson Center at 1 p.m.
