Marshall University Athletics
Volleyball Set For C-USA Home Opening Weekend
9/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 24, 2008
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall University volleyball team will host the Memphis Tigers in its Conference USA home opener, Friday, Sept. 26. First-serve is slated for 7:00 p.m. at the Cam Henderson Center.
The Thundering Herd will then welcome the UAB Blazers to Huntington, Sunday. Match-time is set for 1:00 p.m. at the Henderson Center.
Marshall owns a 5-1 all-time record against Memphis, sweeping the season series in 2007. The Herd leads UAB 4-2 all-time, and split the 2007 series with the Blazers 1-1.
Marshall enters weekend action 7-4 overall, 0-1 C-USA and is on a two-match winning streak. After dropping a 3-1 decision to East Carolina in the league opener for both teams, the Herd took a 3-1 contest from North Carolina State, before sweeping Morgan State 3-0 at the ECU Invitational. With the win over the Bears, head coach Mitch Jacobs totaled his 139th career victory at Marshall, and is now the program's all-time leader in wins, surpassing former coach Linda Holmes.
Elizabeth Herman (Dunwoody, Ga.) opened invitational action with a 17-kill effort against the Pirates, a match-high, while Kristin Marcum (Arlington, Texas) and Jalicia Ross (Bank Village, Trinidad) added 14 kills apiece in the loss. Elizabeth Fleming (South Bend, Ind.) handed out 47 assists while Jessica Dhoore chipped in 18 digs, both match-bests.
The Herd regrouped against NC State, as Marcum blasted a match-high 19 kills while Herman collected 15 kills. Ross finished with 11 kills, while Emily Sullivan (Cincinnati, Ohio) pitched in 10. Megan Carlson amassed a team-high 17 digs, while Dhoore contributed 13. Marcum recorded a double-double, tallying 12 digs in addition to her 19 kills. Fleming finished the contest with 54 assists.
Marcum led the way again, totaling 10 kills for the Herd, while Herman and Layne Kehl (Mountain Top, Pa.) registered six kills apiece. Fleming dished out 15 helpers while Taylor Tanner (Union, Ky.) notched 12 assists.
Memphis enters Friday's match with a 10-4 overall record (1-0, C-USA) and has won six of its last seven matches including its league opener against UAB. The Tigers were led by last week's C-USA Co-Defensive Player of the Week, Christine Bach, who registered 92 digs in four matches (24, 20, 25, 23 respectively).
Rebekah Strickland's 51 kills helped pace the Tigers to a 3-1 weekend which included wins over UAB (3-1), FIU (3-2) and Chattanooga (3-0). The lone blemish was a 3-1 loss at the hands of Samford. Memphis setter Laura Cote handed out 167 of her 548 total assists during the four-match span.
UAB comes to Huntington on a three-match winning streak and is 9-3 overall (0-1, C-USA). The Blazers have won nine of their last 10 matches after starting the 2008 campaign 0-2. Ivana Bozic leads the UAB charge with 141 total kills while Casey Dent follows that with 122. Dent tallied a team-high 16 kills in a 3-1 decision over FIU.
Blazers setter Nevena Stefanov handed out 32 assists in UAB's 3-0 sweep of Alabama A&M, and 30 in a 3-0 sweep of Troy. Stefanov has collected 443 assists so far this season.
This weekend's matches will be broadcast live on WMUL 88.1. Free GameTracker will also be provided on HerdZone.com.
Marshall returns to action with a 7:00 p.m. contest against UCF, Friday, Oct. 3 in Orlando, Fla. The Herd then travels to Southern Miss for a 1:00 p.m. showdown with the Golden Eagles in Hattiesburg, Miss.
