Marshall University Athletics
Volleyball To Host Tulsa, Sunday
10/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 25, 2008
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall University volleyball squad welcomes Tulsa to the Cam Henderson Center, Sunday, Oct. 26. First-serve of Sunday's Conference USA volleyball match is set for 12:00 p.m.
Marshall (10-10 overall, 3-7 C-USA) looks to snap a two-match winning streak following Friday night's 3-0 loss to SMU. Tulsa (19-6 overall, 6-4 C-USA) is fresh off a 3-1 decision against East Carolina Friday, and has now won five of its last seven contests.
The Thundering Herd and Golden Hurricane split last season's meetings, 1-1, with Marshall claiming a 3-1 victory during the regular season, and Tulsa a 3-2 win in the semi-final round of the C-USA tournament. The Herd's regular season victory over Tulsa marked head coach Mitch Jacobs' 300th career victory. During that match, Jalicia Ross (Bank Village, Trinidad) registered eight kills and a .538 hitting percentage, while Elizabeth Fleming (South Bend, Ind.) dished out 56 assists in the winning effort. During the tournament matchup, Ross collected 18 kills and .583 hitting mark, while Fleming passed out a single-season career high 73 assists.
In Tulsa's victory over East Carolina, Jennifer Eichler drilled 17 of her team-leading 307 kills (3.16 kills per set average), while Hannah Stout and Beth Hodge added 16 and 10 kills respectively. Rachel Vukson paced the Golden Hurricane offense with 54 assists, while Malorey Grove and Thaise Vieira combined for 29 of Tulsa's 54 digs (15 and 14 digs respectively), to guide the Golden Hurricane floor defense. Stout also added six assisted blocks in the match.
Hodge has totaled 252 kills on the season and averages a team-best 3.27 kills per set, while Stout ranks third on the squad with 212 total kills. Vukson, who collected all 54 of the team's assists against the Pirates, now has 740 so far in 2008, averaging 10.14 per frame.
In Marshall's Friday night loss to the Mustangs, Ross downed a match-high 12 kills and recorded a .304 hitting percentage, while Fleming passed out 31 assists while adding three kills and three digs. Taylor Tanner (Union, Ky.) sparked the defensive effort with a match-high 13 digs.
Ross continues to lead the Herd in season kill total (209), and hitting percentage (.445), while contributing a team-high 53 total blocks (6 solo, 47 assisted). Fleming's 10.81 assists per set average and 811 total assists leads the squad, while Jessica Dhoore's (LaPorte, Ind.) 194 digs lead the defensive charge.
Following Sunday's showdown with Tulsa, Marshall takes to the road for the final time during regular season competition. The Herd will square off against Memphis, Friday, Oct. 31 at 8:00 p.m. ET, before traveling to UAB for a 2:00 p.m. ET contest.
GameTracker for Sunday's match will be provided on HerdZone.com.
