Musketeers Travel to Colorado State Tournament

CINCINNATI – Xavier volleyball travels to the Colorado State Tournament on Sept. 15-16 to wrap up non-conference tournament action. The Musketeers (4-6) will face Colorado (7-1), No. 22 Colorado State (8-1) and Albany (0-9) over the weekend.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Friday, Sept. 15 - Xavier at Colorado at 9 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 16 - Xavier at No. 22 Colorado State at 3 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 16 - Xavier vs Albany at 7 p.m.

ABOUT COLORADO

2017 Record: 7-1
2016 Postseason: None
Series History: First Meeting

NOTABLES
• The Buffaloes went 1-1 last weekend at the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge. Colorado dropped a three-set match to No. 3 Penn State on Sept. 8 and defeated Illinois in five sets on Sept. 9. Colorado also has wins over Seton Hall, Oklahoma and Wake Forest this season.
• Colorado was picked to finish ninth in the Pac-12 Preseason Coaches' Poll after posting a 14-16 overall record last season.
• Colorado leads the Pac-12 in hitting percentage (.308), while ranking eighth nationally. Junior Naghede Abu leads the conference in hitting percentage (.439), while ranking 17th nationally.

ABOUT COLORADO STATE

2017 Record: 8-1
Ranking: No. 22 in AVCA Coaches Poll
2016 Postseason: NCAA Tournament (First Round)
Series History: Xavier trails, 1-0
Last Meeting: Colorado State 3, Xavier 1 - 09/07/91

NOTABLES
• The Rams have won eight straight matches since a season-opening loss to Duke. Colorado State has wins over two nationally ranked teams in No. 15 Florida State (Sept. 2) and No. 16 Michigan (Sept. 8) - beating both teams in three sets.
• The Rams went 21-9 (15-3 Mountain West) last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament before being defeated by Kentucky in the first round.
• Colorado State was picked to win the Mountain West Conference in the Preseason Coaches' Poll. Sanja Cizmic, Kirstie Hillyer and Katie Oleksak were named to the preseason team for the first time, while senior Alexandra Poletto was named to her second preseason team.
• The Rams rank nationally in the top-35 of three statistical categories: assists per set (13.48 a/s - 22nd), blocks per set (2.89 b/s - 18th) and kills per set (14.09 k/s - 35th). Individually, Katie Oleksak ranks eighth nationally in assists (12.18 a/s), while Kirstie Hillyer ranks eighth nationally in hitting percentage (.475).

ABOUT ALBANY

2017 Record: 0-9
2016 Postseason: None
Series History: First Meeting

NOTABLES
• Albany is winless this season with losses against No. 16 Michigan and BIG EAST foes St. John's and Villanova.
• The Great Danes were picked to finish second in the Preseason American East Coaches' Poll after posting a 16-10 (9-3 American East) record last season.
• Akuabata Okenwa leads the team in kills (3.31 k/s), while ranking second in total blocks (15).

NOTABLES

• Xavier leads the BIG EAST in digs (17.18 d/s), while ranking 28th nationally. The Musketeers also rank 25th nationally in total digs (653).

• Xavier also ranks third in the BIG EAST in blocks (2.49 b/s), while ranking 56th nationally. Individually, Lauren Frilling ranks seventh in blocks (1.08 b/s) and Alexis Newsome ranks 10th (1.00 b/s).

• Kristen Massa ranks sixth in the BIG EAST in points (4.04 p/s). The senior also ranks ranks ninth in kills (3.39 k/s) and 13th in digs (3.18 d/s).

• Meredith Klare ranks second in the conference in digs (4.53 d/s), while ranking 89th nationally. The junior libero also ranks 58th nationally in total digs (172).

• Xavier has posted 27.5 more blocks (94.5-67.0) than its opponents this season. Four players have 20 or more blocks this year in Kristen Massa (22), Lauren Frilling (41), Alexis Newsome (38) and Laura Grossman (21).

• Senior Kristen Massa is 39 kills away from recording her 1,000th career kill at Xavier. Classmate Mackenzi Humm ranks 10th in school history in assists with 1,687.

LAST TIME OUT

• Xavier is coming off an 0-3 weekend at the Georgia Tech Invitational. The Musketeers were defeated by Georgia Tech, Kansas State and North Florida.

• Senior Kristen Massa led Xavier in kills (33) last weekend, while adding 19 digs and three aces. Classmate Lauren Frilling added 19 kills, nine blocks and two aces.

• Meredith Klare led the team in digs (40), while adding three aces. Samantha Foti chipped in 30 digs and two aces.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

• Alexis Newsome was named to the Georgia Tech Invitational All-Tournament Team for her on-court performance over the two-day tournament. The middle blocker led the team in hitting percentage (.345) and blocks (13), while ranking second on team in kills (26). She added three digs.

PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST

• Senior Kristen Massa was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Massa, a 2015 All-BIG EAST First Team selection, ranked third on the team in kills (292) last season, while adding 47 blocks and 63 digs. The Cincinnati native had 10 or more kills in 16 matches.

PRESEASON POLL

• The Musketeers were picked to finish fourth in the BIG EAST Preseason Poll as selected by conference head coaches. The Musketeers finished tied for second in the BIG EAST standings a year ago and advanced to the conference tournament championship match before being defeated by No. 21 Creighton.

SCHEDULE NOTES

• Xavier will play nine of its first 13 matches of the season on the road. The Musketeers will also travel to Georgia Tech (Sept. 7-8) and Colorado State (Sept. 16) for non-conference tournaments.

• Xavier faces seven teams that participated in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Seventeen of the Musketeers 23 opponents posted a winning record last year.

• The Musketeers' 23 opponents combined to post a 433-289 record last season with a .600 winning percentage. Xavier's opponents averaged 18.8 wins a year ago.

BIG EAST NOTES

• Xavier opens BIG EAST play on Sept. 20 against DePaul at Cintas Center. Five of Xavier's first seven conference matches will be played at home.

• Xavier has posted a 51-19 record in BIG EAST play since joining the conference in 2013. The Musketeers have advanced to the conference tournament in all four seasons.

• The BIG EAST Tournament will be hosted by Marquette after being held at Butler in 2016.

ABOUT THE TEAM

• Xavier posted a 20-13 (13-5) record last season under head coach Christy Pfeffenberger. The 20-win campaign was the 21st in program history.

• The Musketeers overall record of 20-13 last year was the programs 19th consecutive season with a .500 or above record.

• Head coach Christy Pfeffenberger has posted a 42-31 overall record in two seasons with the Musketeers, including a 27-9 mark in BIG EAST play.

• Xavier players have earned AVCA All-American honors nine times in the last 12 years. Abbey Bessler earned AVCA All-American honorable mention team honors last year.

• The Musketeers return 11 letterwinners from last year, including nine upperclassmen. Xavier will have four seniors on the team this fall.

• The Musketeers graduated three seniors, including All-BIG EAST First Team selections Abbey Bessler and Sofia Peterson. Both players also earned AVCA East Region First-Team honors.

• Xavier added four newcomers in the offseason in Lauren Hanlon, Nadia Dieudonne, Moriah Hopkins and Maya Krause.

UP NEXT

• The Musketeers return to Cintas Center on Wednesday, Sept. 20 against DePaul. First serve is slated for 4 p.m.

Schedule

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