Marshall Spikers Set For C-USA Road-Trip

Oct. 24, 2007

HOUSTON, Texas - The Marshall University volleyball team will travel to Houston, Texas for a pair of Conference USA matches this weekend. The Herd will square off against Rice, Friday, Oct. 26 at 7:00 p.m. E.T. and will take on the University of Houston, Sunday, Oct. 28.

Following Marshall's first conference loss of the season to UAB, Oct. 12, the Herd has won three straight matches, and enters Friday night's contest against Rice with a 16-8 overall record and is atop the C-USA standings with a 9-1 conference record.

Marshall swept East Carolina University this past weekend with a 3-1 win Friday at the Cam Henderson Center, and a 3-2 victory Sunday in Greenville, N.C.

In Friday's match, the Herd had four players tally 10 or more kills and had five players finish with double-digit digs. Senior outside hitter Kelly-Anne Billingy registered a match-high 17 kills and 14 digs, while senior outside hitter Stephanie Cahill finished with 15 kills and 10 digs on the night. Freshman setter Elizabeth Fleming also posted a double-double in the match as she tallied a match-high 63 assists and added 11 digs.

Fleming continued to set well on Sunday, as she handed out a career-high 72 helpers the Herd's thrilling 3-2 victory over the Pirates. Billingy notched 24 kills and recorded her second double-double of the weekend, while Cahill and junior middle hitter Jalicia Ross added 18 kills apiece in the Herd's third consecutive win.

For her efforts over the weekend, Fleming earned C-USA Co-Setter of the Week honors for the second time this season.

Cahill, currently third on Marshall's all-time kills list, is 28 kills shy of claiming the second spot on that list. The senior has totaled 308 kills this season, and 1,323 during her tenure with the Herd. Cahill has also amassed 1,223 career digs (250 so far on the season) to place her fourth in the all-time digs category, and just eight shy of the third slot.

Rice enters Friday night's contest with a 10-12 record overall and is 5-5 in C-USA action on the season. The Owls have conference wins over Southern Miss., UCF, Houston, UTEP and most recently UAB.

The Herd is 2-0 all-time against the Owls, with its last meeting resulting in a 3-0 sweep Oct. 22, 2006 in Huntington.

In Sunday afternoon's match with the Blazers, Rice sophomores Natalie Bogan and Jessie Boulavsky combined for 31 of the Owls' 55 kills to help lift Rice to a 3-0 sweep of UAB. Bogan is second on the team in kills on the season (228) behind junior Jessica Holderness who has totaled 269 on the season.

Houston (11-10 overall, 6-4 C-USA) hosts ECU Friday night before squaring off against the Herd Sunday. The Cougars are on a two-match losing skid and will look to rebound against the Pirates. Houston has conference wins over Rice, UCF, Southern Miss., SMU, Tulane and UTEP.

Marshall leads the all-time series with the Cougars 3-1. Houston defeated the Herd 3-2 in the first round of the C-USA Championship Nov. 17, 2006 in Houston.

In a hard-fought 3-2 loss to UAB Friday, junior Justine Farmer blasted 34 kills while freshman Amanda Carson recorded 25 digs. Farmer has amassed a team-leading 451 kills on the season while Carson has tallied 344 digs in 2007 for the Cougars.

Marshall will host the 2007 Conference USA Championship on Nov. 15 to the 18th at the Cam Henderson Center and ticket prices are as follows:

Adult Advance:

$8/Day

$25/Tournament

Adult Walk-up

$10/Day

$30/Tournament

Youth Advance:

$6/Day

$20/Tournament

Youth Walk-up

$8/Day

$25 Walk-up

$15 Tournament Pre-Sale Group Rate (Groups larger than 10)

Marshall University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Kelly-Anne Billingy

Stephanie Cahill

Elizabeth Fleming

Jalicia Ross

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