Xavier University Athletics
Tough Test Ahead of Musketeers
09.15.05 | Volleyball
Sept. 15, 2005
CINCINNATI - Xavier travels to West Lafayette, Ind. this weekend to compete in the Mortar Board Premiere tournament hosted by Purdue University. This weekend is the biggest test for the Musketeers so far in 2005 as XU will take on three teams who advanced to the NCAA tournament in 2004. Making up the field will be No. 16 Tennessee, Ohio and the host Boilermakers.
Last weekend, the Musketeers traveled to the University of Miami to play in the Hurricanes Invitational. After taking a 3-0 match against Jacksonville State, Xavier fell to Miami 3-2 in the championship match to claim runner-up honors.
Xavier against Tennessee...
This will be the first meeting between the Musketeers and the Lady Vols. Tennessee comes into today's match with a 5-1 record overall and a 1-0 record on a neutral court with the only blemish coming against #21 Missouri. UT is currently ranked No. 16 in the USA TODAY/CSTV Top 25 Coaches Poll. Since the 2000 season, Xavier is currently 0-6 against Top 25 teams. This season XU already fell to #6 Minnesota in three games at the Diet Coke Classic in Minneapolis, Minn. on September 3.
Xavier against Purdue...
Purdue holds a 1-0 advantage in the all-time series against Xavier with the last meeting coming on Sept. 10, 1999 in Flagstaff, Ariz. on the campus of Northern Arizona. In that meeting, XU fell to the Boilermakers 3-1 by scores of 8-15, 4-15, 15-4 and 12-15. Purdue comes into the weekend narrowly missing the Top 25 by only 20 votes and could vault into the poll with a good showing. PU is currently 1-0 when playing at home and was 9-6 at home in 2004.
Xavier against Ohio...
The Musketeers hold a slim 9-7 advantage over the Bobcats with the last meeting between the two schools coming during the 1999 season. XU defeated Ohio 3-0 at Schmidt Fieldhouse by scores of 15-3, 15-5 and 15-10. In the series, Xavier holds a 6-1 advantage when playing at home, while the Musketeers are 2-5 when playing at Ohio and the series is even at 1-1 at a neutral site. The only neutral site meetings came in 1989 when XU and OU played twice on neutral courts. Since 1990, Xavier head coach Floyd Deaton is 4-2 all-time against OU.
Xavier is scheduled to take on the Lady Vols on Friday night at 5:00 pm CT and follows with two games on Saturday against Purdue at 10:00 am CT and Ohio at 5:00 pm CT.
Xavier Notes...
- Xavier started the season 5-0 marking the fifth time under head coach Floyd Deaton that XU began with a perfect mark. The last time the Musketeers started 5-0 was during the 2003 season. - On the season, the Musketeers have served up 24 more aces than their opponents, including a 42-14 advantage in the five-game win streak to open the season.
- XU has pulled the sweep on five of the eight opponents faced this season and five of the six wins were of the 3-0 variety.
- Three Xavier players are currently eyeing history in the XU record books. Seniors Kate Duchek and Jordan Brightwell along with junior Astyn Bjorklund are all trying to make their mark in Xavier volleyball history.
Duchek is on the verge of breaking into the Top 10 for kills in a career as the St. Louis, Mo. native stands only 52 kills away from Julie Robinson in 10th place. She currently has 1,131 kills on the season. The senior also jumped into the Top 10 for attempts in a career as well. She holds the 10th best mark for attempts in a season and trails 9th place Gwen Zang by 243 attempts and currently has 2,943.
Brightwell has also carved a spot in the record books as the libero is now 4th all-time for digs in a career. She came into the season in 7th place and currently has 1,295 digs for her career. Only 43 kills separate her from third place held by XU Hall of Fame member Sally Schulte. Brightwell also holds the 6th and 7th positions for digs in a season with 415 and 404, respectively.
Bjorklund came into the season in third place all-time for hitting percentage in a career and has improved her percentage to .303 after eight matches this season. The Nicollet, Minn. native only trails former teammate Kim Cockerel by .008 percent, who stands in second at the moment.
- Freshman setter Jenn Welsh made her collegiate debut by dishing out 29 assists and also recording her first collegiate kill and ace, while adding eight digs in XU's 3-0 win over Air Force. Since that time, the Goodland, Ind. native has set career-highs for assists (63 vs. Miami), aces (2 - four times), digs (12 vs. Jacksonville State) and kills (3 vs. Miami). The last time head coach Floyd Deaton started a freshman setter came during the 2001 season when XU captured the A-10 tournament title and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.
- Xavier senior outside hitter Kate Duchek has led XU in kills in five out of eight matches this year and posted a season-high 19 kills against Miami on 9/10. The match before she posted her season-high hitting percentage as she recorded a .484 after 17 kills on 31 swings with only two errors. Duchek also leads the Musketeers in aces this season as well. She has 15 on the season and averages 0.58 per game to lead the Atlantic 10 Conference.
- Junior outside hitter Danielle Skrajewski currently has 21 double-doubles in her career, which is 17 more than anyone currently on the XU roster (Carley Horvath has four career double doubles). During 2005, Skrajewski already has recorded two double doubles this season coming in back-to-back games against UNC-Wilmington (14 Kills and 16 Digs) and Central Florida (13 Kills and 10 Digs).
- Libero Jordan Brightwell is currently tops on the team for digs and digs per game. The senior from Louisville, Ky. has 111 digs on the season and is averaging 4.44 per game. She has recorded 14 or more digs five times this season including a season-high 18 against both #6 Minnesota and Miami. Seven out of the eight matches this season she has notched double digit kills.
