Xavier University Athletics
Volleyball to Kickoff XU Invitational Friday
09.03.09 | Volleyball
Sept. 3, 2009
CINCINNATI - Welcoming three of the top-40 teams in the nation, the Xavier volleyball team is set to kickoff the 2009 Xavier Invitational Friday evening with a 7 p.m. matchup against (RV) Notre Dame in Cintas Center. The three-day event will officially get started Friday afternoon as No. 7 Michigan takes on RV Tennessee at 4 p.m.
Tournament Central | Ticket Info
Xavier is coming off a 1-2 finish at the Middle Tennessee Invitational to open the 2009 season. The Musketeers defeated the Murray State Racers, 3-2, in their first match before falling to Kansas, 3-1, and host RV MTSU, 3-0. Senior Hillary Otte lead XU's offensive attack last weekend, tallying double-digit kills in all three matches including back-to-back 16-kill outings. Otte, along with junior Claire Paszkiewicz, were named to the All-Tournament team for their efforts.
No. 7 Michigan downed two top 25 teams this past weekend at the AVCA Showcase and comes to Cincinnati holding a perfect 2-0 record. The Wolverines swept No. 3 Nebraska, 3-0, on Aug. 28 and followed that with a 3-1 win over No. 22 Kansas State the next day. UM is led by Juliana Paz who averaged 3.86 kills per set last weekend and Sloane Donhoff with 4.71 digs/set. Also noteworthy, current Wolverine assistant coach Amanda Ault is making a return to Cintas Center this weekend as she was an assistant at Xavier for eight seasons.
RV Notre Dame (2-1) also came up with a big win in its first weekend of play, sweeping No. 5 Stanford, 3-0, at its home tournament. The Irish also collected a 3-0 win over Denver before falling to LSU, 3-0, in the weekend finale. Sophomore Kristen Dealy was named to the All-Tournament team for her efforts and was also named to the Big East honor roll on Aug. 31. She averaged 3.67 kills per set for the weekend and Serinity Phillips got under 2.89 digs/set for the Irish as well.
RV Tennessee (3-0) come out on top of the four-team field at its home tournament last weekend. The Lady Vols swept Tennessee Tech before taking Western Kentucky to five sets to get the 3-2 win over the Hilltoppers. On Aug. 30, UT downed Lipscomb, 3-0, to take the Concast Lady Vol Classic title. Tennessee is led by Leslie Cikra who averaged 2.60 kills per set last weekend and Chloe Goldman who passed 3.70 digs/set.
