Volleyball Heads Down I-64 for Morehead Invite

MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Marshall volleyball team heads back out on the road for one more early season tournament, Sept. 16-18. The Herd takes a short trip west down I-64 to the Morehead Invitational, hosted by Morehead State. Marshall will take on the Morehead State Eagles, No. 4 Pittsburgh Panthers and Toledo Rockets.

The Thundering Herd is 3-7 entering the weekend. The Eagles are 3-5, the Panthers sit at 8-0 while the Rockets enter at 8-2.

Match Details
Marshall Match Notes
Thursday Sept. 16, 6 p.m.
Marshall at Morehead State: LIVE STATS | LIVE STREAM ESPN+
Friday Sept. 17, 2 p.m.
Marshall vs. #4 Pittsburgh: LIVE STATS
Saturday Sept. 18, 11 a.m.
Marshall vs. Toledo: LIVE STATS
Series History
Morehead State – 68 all-time meetings, Morehead State leads 45-23
Last Meeting: Sept. 19, 2019 – Morehead State won 3-2 in Morehead, Ky.
Pittsburgh – 5 all-time meetings, Pittsburgh leads 4-1
Last Meeting: Sept. 9, 2006 – Marshall won 3-0 in Pittsburgh
Toledo – 12 all-time meetings, Marshall leads 8-4
Last Meeting: Sept. 9, 2017 – Toledo won 3-2 in Huntington

Marshall is coming off a five-set victory over former Conference USA member Memphis on Saturday. The win ended a six-match losing skid for the Herd as the team has been playing against some very solid competition to begin the year. And this upcoming weekend will not be any different.

Against the Tigers, graduate Ciara Debell tallied a season-high 20 kills and also recorded her 1,200th kill in a Marshall uniform. Debell, who leads the team with 142 kills in 2021, is eighth all-time and needs just seven kills to move head of Kellie Beckelheimer (1998-01) for seventh place, and 25 to surpass Laura Der (2010-13) for sixth place in program history. Debell's double-double streak came to an end this past weekend, however she tallied two more double-doubles on Saturday against Arkansas State and Memphis. She now has eight in 10 matches and 35 in her career.

Fifth-year senior Sydney Lostumo put up a season-high 53 assists against Memphis and now has 1,400 in her Marshall career. Lostumo needs just 92 more assists to move her way into the Herd's all-time top 10. The Gilbert, Ariz., native also recorded the 100th service ace of her collegiate career. Lostumo has 77 during her time with Marshall and had 23 in two seasons at Fresno State.

Senior libero Sarah Schank continues to be the floor leader for the Herd and leads the team with 210 digs. She ranks second in the NCAA and leads Conference USA in total digs. Schank is now up to 912 in her career, recording her 900th in the win over Memphis. The countdown for Schank to reach 1,000 digs is nearing as the senior has tallied 20 or more in 8-of-10 contests this season.

Junior Megan Taylor played great for the Herd in the final two matches of the SEMO Invite. Taylor put up a career-high 17 kills against Arkansas State and another 13 versus Memphis. She added three total blocks in each match as well and was named to the SEMO Invitational All-Tournament Team.

As a team, Marshall still leads the NCAA in total team blocks with 124. Fifth-year senior Destiny Leon leads the team with 57, which is good for second the league and the nation. Leon has tallied a block in 52-straight matches. Junior Lydia Montague has also been a great contributor at the net as she is second on the team with 52 blocks, which is also good for third in C-USA and sixth in the NCAA. Eleven different players have recorded at least two blocks this season for the Herd.

Marshall also ranks in the top 20 in the NCAA in team digs (2nd – 710), team attacks (2nd – 1,581), kills (9th – 519), assists (13th – 473) and blocks per set (18th – 2.82).

Following the three-match tournament at Morehead State, the Herd will begin Conference USA play on the road at No. 23 WKU. The teams will play two contests set for Sept. 24-25.

The Opponents
Morehead State
The Eagles have also had a tough schedule to begin the year. Morehead State has suffered losses to Georgia, No. 22 Pepperdine, Evansville, and two to No. 23 Tennessee. The Eagles have wins over Winthrop, Cleveland State and Radford. Morehead State finished the 2020-21 season with a 17-2 record, won the Ohio Valley Conference Title, then defeated Creighton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 6 Florida in the second round. Olivia Lohmeier is back as a fifth-year senior and is fourth all-time in team history with 1,644 kills. She leads the team this year with 135 with an average of 4.66 per set. Setter Bridget Bessler leads the squad with 244 assists, an average of 9.76 per set. Allison Whitten is tops in digs with 131 (4.52 per set) and McKenzee Wagener leads with 27 blocks (0.93 per set). Head coach Dr. Jaime Gordon is in his 19th season and has 329 wins at Morehead State. He also serves as the Athletic Director for the Eagles.

Pittsburgh
The Panthers made its deepest run in the NCAA Tournament in program history this past season, advancing all the way to the Elite 8. Now the Panthers are 8-0 to begin 2021 and its highest ranking of the year at No. 4. Pitt has four wins over ranked teams with defeats of No. 23 Rice (3-2), No. 18 Washington State (3-1), No. 9 Baylor (3-2) and No. 12 BYU (3-1). The Panthers also grabbed a five-set win over Tennessee before the Volunteers reached the top 25. Pitt is averaging 13.84 kills per set as a team with four players averaging over 2.00 kills per set. Kayla Lund is the leader with 105 (3.39 per set) with Chinaza Ndee right behind at 100 (3.13 per set). Ndee was just named ACC Player of the Week. The Panthers use a two-setter rotation with Kylee Levers (200 assists) and Lexis Akeo (157 assists). Five players average 2.00 or more digs per set with Ashley Browske leading with 95 total and 2.97 per set. Pitt is putting up 2.25 blocks per set with Serena Gray leading the team with 33 total blocks. Head coach Dan Fisher is in his ninth season in Pittsburgh and has 205 wins with the Panthers.

Toledo
The Rockets are off to a good start after going through a rough season in 2020-21 with a 6-14 record. Toledo has only suffered two losses coming at Virginia Tech (3-0) and versus Valparaiso (3-2). The Rockets are coming off a sweep over Purdue Fort Wayne on the road. Toledo is averaging 13.70 kills per set and have four players averaging over 2.00 kills per set. Taylor Alt leads the team with 136 and 3.78 per set. In the 2020-21 season, Alt tallied two of the top three kills totals in a single match with 29 (2nd-most) against Ball State and 28 (3rd-most) versus Bowling Green. Alt also leads the team with 19 aces as Toledo has recorded 69 total service aces and 1.86 per set. The Rockets also use a two-setter rotation with Elaine Redman (241) and Payton Morman (144). Ryann Jaqua leads the team in digs with 160 and 4.85 per set. Toledo averages 2.28 blocks per set and Olivia Vance leads with 34 total. Head coach Jason Oliver is in his fourth season with the Rockets and has 32 wins.

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

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Players Mentioned

Ciara DeBell

Destiny Leon

Sydney Lostumo

Lydia Montague

Sarah Schank

Megan Taylor

Marshall University Athletics