Volleyball Hosts DePaul, Marquette to Close Out Regular Season

Friday, November 18

Cincinnati, Ohio

7 p.m.

Xavier University

DePaul

Volleyball Hosts DePaul, Marquette to Close Out Regular Season

11.16.16 | Volleyball

Xavier will recognize its senior class on Saturday prior to the start of the match

By: Greg Lautzenheiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier volleyball closes regular-season action on Nov. 18-19 at Cintas Center, playing host to DePaul and Marquette. The Musketeers will hold their Senior Day ceremony prior to the start of Saturday's match versus Marquette.

Xavier has qualified for the four-team BIG EAST Tournament held at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Nov. 25-26. The Musketeers will be either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed and will take on Marquette in the semifinals at 3:05 p.m.

THE MATCHUP VS DEPAUL

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (17-12, 11-5) vs DEPAUL BLUE DEMONS (13-15, 7-9)
Match Info: Friday, Nov. 18 - 7 p.m. - Cintas Center
Live Stats: http://bit.ly/1UjZhTG
Watch Live: http://bit.ly/2fZlR8M

ABOUT DEPAUL

2016 Record: 13-15 (7-9 BIG EAST)
Series History: Xavier leads, 14-5

NOTABLES
• DePaul ranks fifth in the BIG EAST in hitting percentage (.239) and 10th in both opponent hitting percentage (.250) and digs (11.45). The Blue Demons also rank third in service aces (1.40).
• DePaul has thee of the top nine players in the conference in hitting percentage. Jasmine King leads the BIG EAST with a .406 hitting percentage, while Caitlyn Coffey ranks third (.356) and Brittany Maxwell ranks ninth (.324).
• Brittany Maxwell also ranks fifth in kills (3.57) and fourth in service aces (0.31).
• The Blue Demons have lost four straight and eight of their last 10 matches. DePaul's last win was on Oct. 28 at Georgetown, 3-1. DePaul is 4-6 in road games this season.

SERIES HISTORY

• Xavier is 14-5 all-time against the Blue Demons and have won nine of the last 10 meetings between the two schools. Xavier is 7-1 against DePaul since joining the BIG EAST in 2013.

LAST MEETING: Xavier 3, DePaul 1 - Oct. 12, 2016 (Chicago, Ill.)
• Morgan Finn had 10 kills and a .571 hitting percentage, while Samantha Foti posted a career-high five service aces.
• Senior Sofia Peterson posted a match-high 16 kills to go along with a .444 hitting percentage. The right side hitter also added three blocks and one dig.
• Senior Abbey Bessler chipped in 11 kills and 10 digs, while Meredith Klare had a match-high 15 digs.
• Xavier matched its season-high in service aces with seven. The Musketeers also had one more total team block (8-7) than DePaul with Alexis Newsome pacing Xavier with four blocks.

THE MATCHUP VS MARQUETTE

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (17-12, 11-5) vs MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES (22-6, 12-4)
Match Info: Saturday, Nov. 19 - 6 p.m. - Cintas Center
Live Stats: http://bit.ly/2eBIvkY
Watch Live - BEDN: http://bit.ly/1sjW14c

ABOUT MARQUETTE

2016 Record: 22-6 (12-4 BIG EAST)
Series History: Xavier trails, 10-7

NOTABLES
• Marquette ranks in the top half of all seven major BIG EAST statistical categories. The Golden Eagles lead the conference in digs (16.07), while ranking second in hitting percentage (.262), opponent hitting percentage (.176) and blocks (2.52).
• Jenna Rosenthal ranks second in the BIG EAST in hitting percentage (.370) and blocks (1.32), while Taylor Louis ranks second in kills (4.34). Lauren Houg also ranks second in digs (4.60).
• Marquette is coming off a five-set loss to St. John's at home on Nov. 13, ending a four-game winning streak. The Golden Eagles are 8-2 in road games this season.

SERIES HISTORY

• Xavier trails the all-time series, 10-7.

LAST MEETING: Marquette 3, Xavier 0 - Oct. 5, 2016 (Milwaukee, Wis.)
• Senior Sofia Peterson posted a match-high 13 kills to go along with a team-high .550 hitting percentage. Classmate Abbey Bessler added eight kills and 10 digs.
• Meredith Klare recorded a match-high 12 digs. Samantha Foti and McKena Estes both chipped in five.
• Mackenzi Humm dished out a team-high 22 assists, while McKena Estes had 11.

BIG EAST WEEKLY HONORS

• Senior Brooke Betts was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday afternoon for her on-court performance over the weekend. She helped the Musketeers post a 2-0 record as they clinched a spot in the four-team BIG EAST Tournament on Nov. 25-26.

• Betts averaged 3.86 points and 2.29 kills per set over the two matches with a .448 attack percentage. The middle blocker also led the team in blocks (1.71 b/s) and service aces (5).

BIG EAST Weekly Award Winners

Name	Award	Week
Brooke Betts	Honor Roll	Nov. 14
Abbey Bessler	Honor Roll	Nov. 11
Abbey Bessler	Honor Roll	Nov. 7
Mackenzi Humm	Honor Roll	Oct. 27
Abbey Bessler	Honor Roll	Oct. 25
Sofia Peterson	Honor Roll	Oct. 17
Sofia Peterson	Honor Roll	Oct. 10
Abbey Bessler	Honor Roll	Sept. 26
Abbey Bessler	Player of the Week	Aug. 29

NOTABLES

• Abbey Bessler led the team in kills last week as the senior averaged 4.29 kills per set, totaling 30 kills over two matches. She added 2.14 digs per set and five blocks.

• Xavier held a 12-5 advantage in service aces last week and a 21-8 advantage in blocks. Brooke Betts led Xavier in both categories as the senior had five aces and 12 blocks.

• Xavier is 9-2 in its last 11 matches. The Musketeers have hit .262 over those matches, while holding a 55-39 advantage in service aces and a 106-69.5 advantage in blocks.

• Abbey Bessler has averaged 3.88 kills per set over the Musketeers last 11 matches. Sofia Peterson hit .376 in those matches, while averaging 2.71 kills per set. Brooke Betts has totaled a team-high 55 kills in those matches.

• Xavier has posted 64.5 more total blocks (253.5-189) thank its opponents this season.

BIG EAST STATS: XU TOP-FIVE

Hitting Percentage

1.	Creighton	.278
2.	Marquette	.262
3.	Xavier	.244

Assists (a/s)

1.	Creighton	13.57
2.	Villanova	12.90
3.	Butler	12.79
4.	Xavier	12.74

Kills (k/s)

1.	Creighton	14.78
2.	Xavier	13.85

Blocks (b/s)

1.	St. John's	2.89
2.	Marquette	2.52
3.	Xavier	2.28

Individual Hitting Percentage

1.	Jasmine King, DePaul	.406
2.	Jenna Rosenthal, Marquette	.370
3.	Caitlyn Coffey, DePaul	.356
4.	Lauren Smith, Creighton	.353
t-2.	Sofia Peterson, XU	.347

Individual Kills (k/s)

1.	Anna Logan, Butler	4.40
2.	Taylor Louis, Marquette	4.34
3.	Abbey Bessler, XU	3.74

Individual Service Aces (a/s)

1.	Megan Ballenger, Creighton	0.42
2.	Allie Loitz, Villanova	0.39
3.	Margherita Bianchin, St. John's	0.32
4.	Brittany Maxwell, DePaul	0.31
5.	Samantha Foti, XU	0.30

Individual Blocks (b/s)

1.	Danisha Moss, St. John's	1.46
2.	Jenna Rosenthal, Marquette	1.30
3.	*Alexis Newsome, XU*	*1.15*

Individual Points (p/s)

1.	Anna Logan, Butler	5.01
2.	Taylor Lewis, Marquette	4.90
3.	Allie Loitz, Villanova	4.42
4.	Brittany Maxwell, DePaul	4.29
5.	*Abbey Bessler, XU*	*4.16*

NCAA STATS

• Xavier ranks 15th in team kills (1,537) and 24th in team assists (1,414).
• Individually, Alexis Newsome ranks 47th in total blocks (125) and Abbey Bessler ranks 49th in total kills (408).

CAREER RECORD WATCH: BESSLER

KILLS

Rank	Kills	Name	Years
1.	1,779	Sally Schulte	1993-96
2.	1,717	Abbey Bessler	2013-pres.

ATTACK ATTEMPTS

Rank	AA	Name	Years
1.	4,946	Abbey Bessler	2013-pres.

POINTS

Rank	Points	Name	Years
1.	1,944	Abbey Bessler	2013-pres.

DIGS

Rank	Points	Name	Years
4.	1,407	Jennifer Nunn	1989-92
5.	1,362	Abbey Bessler	2013-pres.

PRESEASON POLL

• The Musketeers were picked to finish third in the BIG EAST Preseason Poll as announced by the conference office on Aug. 3. The preseason poll and All-BIG EAST selections were voted on by the conference's 10 head coaches.

PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST

• Three Musketeers were selected to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team in Abbey Bessler, Kristen Massa and Sofia Peterson. Xavier and Creighton were the only two teams with three players each on the preseason team.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

• The Musketeers posted an 18-12 overall record last year, the team's 18th straight year with a .500 or above record.

• Xavier has posted a 49-19 record in BIG EAST play since joining the conference in 2013. The Musketeers have advanced to the conference tournament in all three seasons.

• Xavier players have earned AVCA All-American honors eight times in the last 11 years. Aubree Smith earned the honors last season, while Abbey Bessler picked up the recognition in 2013.