Volleyball Returns to the Cam to face Florida Atlantic

Marshall Match Notes (PDF)

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall volleyball is back on the court Sunday and Monday, March 14-15, against the Florida Atlantic Owls. First serve from the Cam Henderson Center is set for 12 p.m. on both days.

The Thundering Herd enters the match with a 6-4 overall record and 4-4 in Conference USA. The Owls come in at 1-8 and 1-6 in league play. The Herd currently sits in fourth place in the C-USA East Division standings. Four teams from each division advance to the conference tournament, April 1-3 in Hattiesburg, Miss.

Match Details
Ticket & Attendance Q&A
Live Stats: SIDEARM
Live Stream: paid through HerdVision/CUSAtv Sunday | Monday
Marshall Radio: 88.1 WMUL-FM and online www.marshall.edu/wmul
Series History: 9 all-time meetings, Marshall leads 5-4
Last Meeting: Nov. 22, 2019, Florida Atlantic won 3-0 in the first round of the C-USA Tourn., in Houston

Last Time Out: Split at Middle Tennessee
The Herd got off to a great start in the Sunday match at MTSU taking the first two sets. Marshall then fell behind early and had to battle back, however the Blue Raiders were able to win sets three and four and tied the match. The Herd dominated the fifth set to come away with the win. Redshirt senior Ciara Debell (14) and senior Destiny Leon (12) combined for 26 kills. Leon's 12 was a career-high. Senior setter Sydney Lostumo tallied 40 assists and junior libero Sarah Schank led with 21 digs.

The Monday meeting was a little rougher for Marshall as the team just could not find its rhythm. The Herd won the first set and then fell behind in the next three to fall in four sets. Debell led the team again with 13 kills and 14 digs. The redshirt senior finished with a double-double in both matches. Junior Macy McElhaney recorded 11 kills. Lostumo tallied a double-double with 35 assists and 10 digs.

Debell leads the Herd with 126 kills and an average of 3.15 per set. The Ocala, Fla., native has already surpassed 1,000 kills in her career, but now she is approaching 1,000 during her time at Marshall. Debell has 985 in 66 matches played with the Herd. She also needs just seven more kills to move ahead of Elizabeth Herman (2007-10) for ninth all-time in program history. The all-round player is also second on the team in digs with 130 and third in total blocks with 20.

McElhaney is second on the Herd in kills with 107, her first season over the century mark in her career, and in her first season with Marshall. McElhaney is averaging 2.68 kills per set and is second on the squad in total blocks with 35. Leon leads the team in blocks with 47 total and is approaching 200 in her career. After collecting just nine blocks during her first year at Marshall in 2018, Leon has totaled 177 over the next two seasons and 186 in her Herd career. The senior middleblocker has at least one block in 38-straight contests and is averaging 1.24 blocks per set good for second in the conference.

Lostumo has thrived this season as the lone setter in the Herd rotation and has put up 394 assists, an average of 9.85 per set, good for third in the conference. She has recorded 30 or more assists in 9-of-10 matches this season. Lostumo also leads the team in aces with 15. She has tallied 28 kills, 72 digs and 16 total blocks as well.

Schank is the team-leader in digs with 200, after moving over from outside hitter to libero this year for the first time in her collegiate career. The junior has 20 or more digs in five matches and is averaging 5.00 digs per set, good for tops in the conference and 45th in the NCAA.

Following the two matches against Florida Atlantic, the Herd travels to Old Dominion for the final two contests of the regular season, March 21-22.

The Opponent
The Owls have struggled this season with its lone win coming back on Feb. 14 against Middle Tennessee in five sets. Florida Atlantic is on a four-match losing streak, however the Owls have not been swept in any of those contests. After coming north to play the Herd, Florida Atlantic heads back to Boca Raton to take on FIU for the final meetings of the regular season.

Scherine Dahoue leads the offense with 114 kills, 3.17 per set, and 12 aces. Dahoue is second in digs with 100. Camryn Vogler is second on the team with 97 kills, an average of 2.69 per set. Florida Atlantic has used a two-setter rotation this season between MiaBella English and Stephanie Young. English leads with 176 assists. Young has also been adept on the attacking side as well with 50 kills to go with her 143 assists.

Raine Lynch leads the Owls with 107 digs and Nikola Bartecka is tops in blocks with 24.

As a team, Florida Atlantic is hitting .125 this season and allowing opponents a .262 attack percentage.

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

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Volleyball Returns to the Cam to face Florida Atlantic

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Players Mentioned

Ciara DeBell

Destiny Leon

Sydney Lostumo

Macy McElhaney

Sarah Schank

Marshall University Athletics