Volleyball Travels to Middle Tennessee for Conference USA Match

Marshall Volleyball Match Notes

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Marshall volleyball team is back on the road for a Conference USA match at Middle Tennessee. First serve is set for Friday at 7 p.m. eastern, 6 p.m. local time.

The Thundering Herd enters the match 12-5 overall and 3-1 in conference. The Blue Raiders come in at 6-11 overall and 0-3 in league play.

Match Details
Live Stats: SIDEARM
Live Video: ESPN+
Series History: 12th all-time meeting, Marshall leads series 9-2.
Last Meeting: Oct. 14, 2018 in Huntington, Marshall won in three sets.

Marshall is coming off its first loss in conference play at (RV) WKU, which also ended a six-match winning streak. The Herd has been playing very well under first year head coach Ari Aganus. Marshall won its first three C-USA matches with a sweep of Southern Miss (Sept. 27) and four-set victories over FIU (Sept. 29) and on the road at Charlotte (Oct. 4).

The Herd still ranks among the best teams in the country in blocking as the squad is ranked No. 12 in the NCAA with 2.82 per set, also tops in Conference USA. Sophomore Isa Dostal leads the conference and is 27th in the nation with 1.35 blocks per set, while junior Destiny Leon is second in C-USA and 32nd in the country with 1.31 per set.

Staying on defense, senior libero Amber Weber has been exceptional over the last few matches for Marshall including recording 30 digs in the win at Charlotte. Weber was also very instrumental in keeping the ball alive for the Herd after a Charlotte block attempt. The senior now has 1,178 digs in her collegiate career and 1,052 in a Herd uniform.

Redshirt junior Ciara Debell continues to lead on offense with 250 kills, an average of 4.17 per set. Sophomore Sarah Schank is second with 128 kills and Leon is third with 104. Sophomore Mion Weldon (83) needs 17 more kills to become the fourth member of the Herd to hit triple digits for the season. Sophomore Gabrielle Coulter leads the team with 355 assists and junior Sydney Lostumo is next with 254 as Marshall continues to use the two setter rotation. Lostumo leads the Herd with a career-high 20 service aces. Coulter and Schank are next with 15 each.

Opponent
Middle Tennessee has dropped its first three conference matches of the year, all in four sets, to Charlotte, WKU and UAB. The last win for the Blue Raiders was a sweep over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sept. 22. MTSU features three players with over 100 kills for the year in team-leader Urte Neimantaite (202), Dora Peonia (188) and Kayla Henley (112). As a team, the Blue Raiders have a .161 hitting percentage and have been allowing opponents to hit at .202. Taylor Hammill has been the main setter and has 604 assists, an average of 10.07 per set. Marley Banton and Bri Tankesley are tied for the lead in service aces with 18.

On defense, Tankesley leads the team with 242 digs while Peonia and Hammill are tied for second with 164. MTSU is averaging 1.62 blocks per set this season and have been allowing 2.37 blocks per set. Teams have tallied double-digit blocks against the Blue Raiders three times with MTSU coming away with the win in two of those contests.

Up Next
Following the match at Middle Tennessee, the Herd returns to the Cam Henderson Center to face No. 22 Rice (Oct. 18) and North Texas (Oct. 20).

For all the latest information about Marshall volleyball, follow @HerdVolleyball on Twitter and Marshall University Volleyball on Facebook.

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Volleyball Travels to Middle Tennessee for Conference USA Match

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Players Mentioned

Gabrielle Coulter

Ciara DeBell

Isa Dostal

Destiny Leon

Sydney Lostumo

Sarah Schank

Amber Weber

Mion Weldon

Marshall University Athletics