Marshall University Athletics
@HerdVolleyball Hosts Middle Tennessee Wednesday
10/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall volleyball hosts Middle Tennessee on Wednesday at the Cam Henderson Center for a 6 p.m. first serve. This will be the first match of two that the Herd and Blue Raiders will have this season with the second being the final match of the regular season (Nov. 14).
WEEKEND OF MILESTONES
When Marshall traveled to Texas this past weekend, junior libero Allie Kellerman (Louisville, Ky.) and coach Mitch Jacobs set milestones, as Kellerman recorded her ninth dig in Set 2 against UTEP to give her 1,000 in her Herd career, while Jacobs notched his 100th Conference USA win against UTSA.
KELLERMAN NAMED C-USA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kellerman was named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week as the Herd came from behind to defeat UTEP on Friday and handed UTSA its first home C-USA loss since joining the conference on Sunday.
Kellerman, who ranks No. 1 in Conference USA in digs per set, improved her average over the weekend. In her first match, the junior libero had 24 digs, which allowed her to surpass the 1,000-dig milestone in her Marshall career. Kellerman followed her performance at UTEP with 20 digs at UTSA on Sunday. Kellerman has 416 digs this season and is just 34 digs shy of tying her total from last season.
HAVE YOU HERD?
Ally Kiekover (Grand Rapids, Mich.) was back to her efficient self over the weekend in Texas, as she had a .426 hitting percentage, which included 26 kills on 54 attacks on only three errors. In the first match of the weekend, Kiekover had 18 kills that helped propel the Herd to rally to win in five sets. The junior middle blocker had eight kills against UTSA, while hitting at .667 percent. Kiekover ranks second in Conference USA with a .395 hit percentage this season.
Sophomore setter Kayla Simmons (Gainesville, Fla.) has been dealing this season for the Herd with 819 assists over 87 sets played. Simmons ranks sixth in the C-USA with 9.41 assists per set.
Cassie Weaver (Huntington, W.Va.) leads the Herd in kills with 301. Weaver, who ranks ninth in C-USA with 3.46 kills per set, is eight kills shy of 800 in her career.
SCOUTING THE BLUE RAIDERS
Despite the 5-17 record overall, Middle Tennessee is in the mix for a berth in the eight-team Conference USA tournament with a 3-5 record, which puts them in ninth place. The Blue Raiders have defeated UAB, Louisiana Tech and Rice.
Pacing the Raiders is Murfreesboro, Tenn., native Chelsea Ross, who has 369 kills with a .229 hitting percentage and averages 4.79 kills per set, good for second in C-USA. Delaney Taylor leads the team in assists with 492, while Jacqueline Lux has a team high 267 digs.
PROMOTIONS
It will be Maniacs Pizza Party night as all members of the Marshall maniacs will find free pizza (from Mancini's) when they attend Wednesday's 6 p.m. match. It will also be social media night for fans. Herd volleyball fans will get the chance to participate in various social media contests throughout the match in order win some great prizes. Fans will have to follow @HerdZone on Twitter.
UP NEXT
The Herd travels south to visit the Charlotte 49ers on Friday at 6 p.m. Marshall and Charlotte met earlier this season with the Herd winning in five sets.
