Volleyball Hits the Road to Face Charlotte

CHARLOTTE – The Marshall volleyball team is back on the road to take on the Charlotte 49ers, Friday and Saturday Oct. 22-23, in Conference USA action. First serve on Friday is set for 5 p.m., while Saturday's match gets started at 3 p.m.

The Thundering Herd enters the match at 8-13 overall and 4-4 in C-USA. The 49ers have a 10-8 overall record and 3-3 in conference play.

Match Details
Marshall Match Notes (PDF)
Live Stats: Charlotte49ers.com
Friday Live Stream: CUSAtv
Saturday Live Stream: CUSAtv
Series History: 18 all-time meetings – Marshall leads 12-6
Last Meeting: Feb. 7-8, 2021 – The teams split the two matches in Huntington, Marshall won the first match in four sets, Charlotte won the second match in four sets.

Marshall is coming off a two-match battle with the Old Dominion Monarchs, Oct. 15-16. The Herd dropped the first match in five sets but bounced back to take the second match in five sets as well.

The first match featured 24 ties and 12 lead changes as the teams battled. All five sets remained close. When one team looked like it was getting out to a big lead, the other came roaring back. Marshall took the first set 25-20, which ended up being the largest margin of victory in any set. The next three all had finals of 25-23, with Old Dominion tying it up at 2-2 with the 25-23 win in the fourth. The Herd closed the gap with some momentum at the end of the fourth but could not carry it on to the fifth set as the Monarchs won 15-11. Sydney Lostumo had a season-high 54 assists and added 14 digs for a double-double. Ciara DeBell had a double-double as well with 14 kills and 15 digs. DeBell was also the main target of Old Dominion on serves as she finished with just two errors on 57 receptions, good for a .965 percentage. Macy McElhaney (14), Lydia Montague (13) and Essence Clerkley (10) all finished with double-digit kills. Clerkley and McElhaney combined for 11 blocks. Sarah Schank set a career-high with six aces.

On Saturday, Marshall got off to the hot start taking a 2-0 lead and then had to hold off Old Dominion as the Monarchs took sets three and four. However, the Herd took off with an 8-0 run in the fifth set that helped to put the game away. In the fifth, Lostumo tallied four aces during the 8-0 run, and Marshall finished the frame hitting .429 with nine kills and no errors. Olivia Fogo came up clutch for the Herd in the fourth and fifth sets, providing a spark off the bench with four kills and two blocks. DeBell tallied 18 kills and a season-best 22 digs for her 10th double-double of the year. She was also targeted once again on the serve from the Monarchs, only this time DeBell was a perfect 48-of-48 on receptions. Lostumo also recorded her 10th double-double of the year with 52 assists and 15 digs, as well as a season-high five aces. McElhaney tallied her second double-double of the year with 11 kills and 13 digs. Montague came through with 11 kills, hit .389 and tallied six blocks. Schank finished the match with 20 digs and surpassed 1,100 in her career.

Graduate student Ciara DeBell leads the Herd offensively with 283 kills this season, an average of 3.25 per set. DeBell is second on the team in digs with 240, an average of 2.76 per set, second in aces with 20, and fifth in total blocks with 35. The outside hitter is also approaching another great career milestone of 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. DeBell has 1,429 kills in her career and 972 digs. There are only 30 active players across the country that have reached the 1,000 kills/1,000 digs club.

There are only four players in Marshall's history in the 1,000/1,000 Club. The first to reach the double-mark was Bridget Repsher (1991-94) with 1,241 kills and 1,428 digs. Next was Alisha Bable (1995-97) with 1,350 kills and 1,185 digs. The third Herd player to join the club was Stephanie Cahill (2004-07) with 1,451 kills and 1,316 digs. The fourth and final member so far is Laura Der (2010-13) with 1,226 kills and 1,255 digs. DeBell in her Marshall career has 1,343 kills and 903 digs.

Senior Macy McElhaney is second on the team in kills with 154 and averaging 2.17 per set. Graduate student Destiny Leon (128) and junior Lydia Montague (123) both have over 100 kills this season as well.

Graduate student Sydney Lostumo leads with a career-high 727 assists and is averaging 8.36 per set. She is ninth all-time in program history with 1,772 and needs just six to move into eighth place. Lostumo is third on the Herd in digs with 198 and is tied with DeBell for the most double-doubles this season with 10.

Senior libero Sarah Schank is the leader in digs with a career-high 402, an average of 4.62 per set. Schank leads C-USA in total digs and is second in digs per set. She ranks eighth in the NCAA in total digs. Schank is 12th in team history with 1,104 career digs.

At the net, Marshall is now second in the nation in total blocks with 218 now trailing only Maryland. The Herd will see a return from Leon who has missed the last four matches. Despite missing some action, Leon still ranks second in C-USA and 32nd in the NCAA in total blocks with 86. She is third in conference in blocks per set with 1.26. Montague is sixth in the league in blocks per set with 1.07 and is eighth in total blocks with 75. Marshall features 11 players that have registered at least nine blocks this season, seven with 20 or more and four with 50-plus. McElhaney (53) and junior Essence Clerkley (52) are the other two over 50.

Following the two matches at Charlotte, Marshall returns to the Cam Henderson Center for the final two contests of the regular season. The FIU Panthers make the trip to Huntington for Senior Weekend.

The Opponent
The Charlotte 49ers had its off-weekend Oct. 15-16 and are returning to the court for the first time since a split with the Old Dominion Monarchs on Oct. 8-9. Charlotte won the first match in a sweep, and then lost the second contest in a sweep. The 49ers began C-USA play dropping both matches to Middle Tennessee on the road and taking both contests from the Florida Atlantic Owls at home.

Emani Foster and Sydney Rowan have been leading the way on offense yet again. Foster has 261 kills, an average of 4.50 per set, while Rowan adds 222 kills and is averaging 3.52 per set. Amani McArthur (119) and Nalani Lyde (102) both have over 100 kills. McArthur leads the team in blocks with 84, good for third in the conference, and 1.35 blocks per set which leads C-USA.

Charlotte has been using a two-setter rotation with Annika Wetterstrom leading the team with 416 assists and 6.60 per set. Annika Thompson is second with 240 assists and 4.71 per set.

Sophie Whalen is the leader in digs with 259, an average of 4.16 per set.

As a unit, on offense Charlotte has an attack percentage of .254 and is holding opponents to just .183, which ranks second in the league behind WKU (.128 attack percentage against).

Following the matches against the Herd, the 49ers have two more C-USA series with the first at FIU (Oct. 29-30) and then home against No. 19 WKU (Nov. 5-7).

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

To follow all Thundering Herd sports and get live stats, schedules, and free live audio, download the Marshall Athletics App for iOS or Android!

---HerdZone.com---

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Essence Clerkley

Ciara DeBell

Olivia Fogo

Destiny Leon

Sydney Lostumo

Macy McElhaney

Lydia Montague

Sarah Schank

Marshall University Athletics