Marshall University Athletics
Volleyball Hosts Final Two Home Matches
11/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 5, 2009
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The MU volleyball team plays its final two home matches of the season, with the first being against UAB on Friday night at 7 p.m. The home finale will take place at 1 p.m. on Sunday vs. Memphis.
The Herd has protected the Cam Henderson Center in 2009, posting a 6-1 home record on the season. The lone loss came on Oct. 16, 2009, to the hands of the Tulane Green Wave. Since 2002, the MU volleyball team has collected an impressive 62-16 (.795) record under head coach Mitch Jacobs.
Marshall (19-7, 7-5 C-USA)
MU secured a spot in the eight-team Conference USA tournament last weekend and is now playing for its playoff seed. The Herd volleyball squad has made the C-USA tournament all five seasons since joining the league in 2005. MU captured the regular season championship in 2005 and 2007, winning the C-USA tournament in '05. This year the league takes its top eight teams to Houston, Texas for a Nov. 20-22 championship. The three-day event will be hosted by Rice University.
This weekend will be the final two home matches for seniors Kristin Marcum and Emily Sullivan.
Marcum surpassed the 1,000 dig plateau and ranks seventh all-time in Marshall history with 1,055 digs during her four-year career. She has totaled double-doubles in nine matches in 2009, including a 12-kill, 11-dig outing in a four-set victory against WVU on Sept. 23, 2009. Marcum collected a career-high 24 digs at SMU on Oct. 3 and has produced 14 matches of 10-or-more kills and 18 matches of 10-or-more digs. In 2009 C-USA statistics, Kristin ranks seventh in service aces, 14th in digs and 19th in kills per set.
Sullivan has registered a .355 attacking percentage this season, which ranks second in C-USA and is the fourth-best single-season hitting percentage in MU volleyball history. Her career attacking percentage of .260 places Sullivan third all-time at Marshall. A two-time C-USA Player of the Week recipient, her most recent honor came on Oct. 26, 2009 by leading the offense in sweeping league opponents Southern Miss and UCF.
UAB (14-14, 6-6 C-USA)
The Blazers are fighting to stay in the C-USA playoff picture, currently sitting sixth in league standings. The top-five teams in the conference, including Marshall, have all qualified for the tournament. The Herd will play UAB again in Birmingham, Ala., next Thursday.
Heather Thomas patrols the defensive side for UAB, averaging 4.86 digs/set, which ranks third in the conference. Andrea Lalic connects for 2.92 kills/set to lead the team and is second on the Blazers in service aces with 31.
MU trails 4-5 in the all-time series against the Blazers, with the first meeting taking place in 2005.
Memphis (6-22, 2-11 C-USA)
MU swept the Tigers earlier in the season, 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-20) and Kelley Bugler had a break-out match. Bugler totaled seven block assists and five kills in the victory.
The Tigers are led offensively by Altrese Hawkins, who tops Memphis with 2.95 KPS and 307.5 points on the season.
Memphis has struggled on the road this season, dropping all eight matches away from home. MU holds a 7-2 all-time series advantage against the Tigers, dating back to 2005.
GameTracker will be available for both matches by logging onto www.HerdZone.com
