Volleyball Back on the Road for the Bulldog Invite

WASHINGTON D.C. – The Marshall volleyball team will be back in action Friday and Saturday (Sept. 6-7) at the Bulldog Invite hosted by Georgetown. Marshall will play Georgetown, Stony Brook and Northern Kentucky.

Marshall enters the weekend 1-2.

Live stats will be provided for all matches. There will only be live video for any contests with Georgetown. For all information about the tournament, please visit the Tournament Page.

Georgetown: Friday at 5 p.m.
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=265594
Live Video: http://guhoyas.com/watch/?Live=126&type=Live
Series History: First ever meeting.

Stony Brook: Saturday at 11 a.m.
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=274012
Series History: Marshall leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Sept. 5, 2015 – Marshall won in five sets.

Northern Kentucky: Saturday at 5 p.m.
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=274013
Series History: NKU leads 5-0
Last Meeting: Aug. 27, 2016 – NKU won in four sets.

Marshall finished its first weekend of the coach Ari Aganus era 1-2 after facing tough competition. The Herd stormed out of the gates with a sweep over UT-Martin, then fell in four sets to host Indiana and finally lost in four sets to Santa Clara. The Broncos went 4-0 for the tournament including a sweep of Indiana. Redshirt junior Ciara Debell was named to the Indiana Invitational All-Tournament team after her performance with 45 kills (4.09 per set), 21 digs and eight total blocks. Junior Destiny Leon and sophomore Isa Dostal both recorded 11 total blocks each. Senior libero Amber Weber continues to be the vocal and defensive leader on the floor as she recorded 43 digs and added 11 assists on the offensive side. The Herd rotated two setters with junior Sydney Lostumo and sophomore Gabrielle Coulter. Coulter finished the weekend with 60 assists and Lostumo had 55.

Opponents
The Georgetown Hoyas opened the season with a 3-1 record defeating Rider (3-0), Sacred Heart (3-2), and Central Connecticut (3-0), then losing to Central Arkansas (3-0). The Hoyas finished 2018 with a 17-13 record and just missed out on the Big East Tournament as only the top four teams earn in the invite. However, head coach Toby Rens has the team going in the right direction. Georgetown was 8-22 in 2017, and then had the 9-win improvement during his first season in charge of the program in 2018. Senior Iva Vujosevic leads with 49 kills, an average of 4.08 per set, and is also tops with 41 digs. Freshman setter Emma Plutnicki leads the Hoyas with 96 assists. Freshman middle blocker Makayla Serrett, who went to the same high school as Plutnicki, leads the team with 14 total blocks.

The Stony Brook Seawolves had a rough start to the 2019 season dropping all three matches at the JMU Invitational and then falling in four sets to Hofstra at the home-opener Tuesday night. The Seawolves finished 2018 with a 21-9 record, won the America East Championship and then played in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, losing to BYU. Stony Brook, as back-to-back league champs, was selected as the favorite yet again in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll. Head coach Kristin Belzung took over the team in 2017 after the Seawolves went 8-21 in 2016, and led the squad to the back-to-back titles. Senior Liz Pulver and freshman Amiyah De'Long lead the team with 25 kills each. Senior setter LeAnne Sakowicz leads with 70 assists. On the defensive side junior libero Kiana Kerstetter is tops with 56 digs and senior middle blocker Kendra Harlow leads with nine total blocks.

The Northern Kentucky Norse come in at 2-1. NKU finished the 2018 season with a 21-10 record, lost to Green Bay in the Horizon League Championship game, but earned an invite to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship tournament. This season, the Norse have wins over South Alabama and Purdue Fort Wayne, and a five-set loss to Western Michigan. NKU was picked to finish second in the Horizon League Preseason Coaches' Poll. Senior outside hitter Laura Crawford leads the team with 45 kills and is second in digs with 31. NKU has also been using a 2-setter rotation with sophomore Miranda Wucherer (65 assists) and senior Shelby Olsen (60 assists). Junior libero Ashton Terrill leads the team with 53 digs and junior middle blocker Bailey Western is tops on the squad with 15 total blocks.

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

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Volleyball Back on the Road for the Bulldog Invite

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Players Mentioned

Gabrielle Coulter

Ciara DeBell

Isa Dostal

Destiny Leon

Sydney Lostumo

Amber Weber

Marshall University Athletics