Volleyball Wraps Up BIG EAST Road Swing at Providence

Saturday, October 20

Providence, R.I.

1 p.m.

Xavier University

Providence

Volleyball Wraps Up BIG EAST Road Swing at Providence

10.19.18 | Volleyball

Watch Live Live Stats

First serve is slated for 1 p.m. ET

By: Greg Lautzenheiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier volleyball concludes its four-match BIG EAST road swing at Providence on Saturday, Nov. 20. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. ET from Alumni Hall.

The Musketeers are coming off a five-set loss at No. 10 Creighton on Thursday night, while the Friars lost their seventh straight match to Butler in three sets.

THE MATCHUP AT PROVIDENCE

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (6-15, 4-6) at PROVIDENCE FRIARS (7-13, 1-8)
Match Info - Saturday, Oct. 20 - 1 p.m. ET - Alumni Hall
Live Video - bit.ly/2yNsvs6
Live Stats - bit.ly/2Ep7zOp

ABOUT PROVIDENCE

2018 Record: 7-13 (1-8 BIG EAST)
2017 Postseason: None
Series History: Xavier leads, 9-1
Last Meeting: XU 3, PC 0 - 9/28/18

NOTABLES
• Providence was picked to finish ninth in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll after posting a 17-16 (6-12 BIG EAST) record last season.

SERIES HISTORY - PROVIDENCE

• Xavier leads the all-time series with the Friars, 9-1. Xavier won the first meeting against Providence this season, 3-0, on Sept. 28.

LAST TIME OUT VS PROVIDENCE

• Xavier defeated Providence in three set (26-24, 25-20, 25-16) in the first meeting this season. Sophomore Audrey Adams posted a team-high 11 kills to go along with a .917 hitting percentage. The middle blocker added three blocks.

• Senior Morgan Finn also had a team and season-high 11 kills. The outside hitter posted a .455 hitting percentage to go along with two digs and one assist.

• Senior Laura Grossman posted seven kills and a match-high 17 digs. Classmate Meredith Klare added 16 digs.

• Senior setter McKena Estes posted a team-high 21 assists to go along with four digs. Sophomore setter Nadia Dieudonne added 15 assists and 10 digs.

BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• Senior Laura Grossman was named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. The outside hitter led the team in kills (34), averaging 4.25 kills per set. She also led the team in digs (32), averaging 4.00 digs per set.

• The San Juan, Puerto Rico native added a .287 hitting percentage, two assists, nine blocks and one ace. Grossman had 13 kills and eight digs against DePaul on Wednesday and posted a career-high 21 kills to go along with 24 digs on Saturday at Butler.

KLARE - RECORD WATCH

• Senior Meredith Klare has 1,812 career digs to rank second all-time in program history. Stephanie Vorherr (2009-12) holds the program record with 2,152 digs.

• The Union, Ky., native posted 520 digs a year ago, the fourth most in single-season school history.

NOTABLES

• Senior Meredith Klare leads the team in digs (4.36 d/s) this season. The libero led the BIG EAST in digs per set (4.37) last year and finished the year ranked 88th nationally in total digs.

• Freshman Jayda Carlton leads the Musketeers in blocks with 82, while ranking 68th nationally. The middle blocker is averaging 1.22 blocks per set to rank third in the BIG EAST. In conference only matches, she is averaging 1.57 digs per set to rank second in the BIG EAST.

• Audrey Adams leads the BIG EAST in hitting percentage (.367), while ranking 44th nationally. The middle blocker has increased her hitting percentage to .412 in conference matches. She also ranks second on the team in kills (2.15 k/s).

• Senior outside hitter Laura Grossman ranks 10th in the BIG EAST in points per match (3.46) and kills per set (2.96).

• In BIG EAST only matches, Xavier ranks second in the conference in blocks per match (2.5) and third in digs per match (16.6).

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

• Freshman Jayda Carlton posted a match-high 12 blocks against St. John's, tying the school record for single-match blocks. Alexis Newsome posted 12 blocks against St. John's last season on Oct. 7. The 12 blocks are also the most by a BIG EAST player this season, while ranking 10th in the NCAA.

• Xavier posted 11 more total team blocks (21-10) than the Red Storm. The 21 total team blocks are the second-most by a BIG EAST team this season, while ranking seventh in the NCAA.

• Freshman Mackenzie Mangette had five aces in the four-set win at Seton Hall. The five aces rank tied for second in single-match aces in the BIG EAST this season.

FIRST SERVE

• Xavier played its first eight matches on the road. The Musketeers traveled to the Puerto Rico Clásico on Aug. 31-Sept. 2 and the Purdue Tournament on Sept. 7-8.

• The Musketeers hosted their own tournament at Cintas Center on Sept. 14-15. Xavier faced Indiana, Eastern Kentucky and crosstown rival Cincinnati during tournament action.

• Xavier will only play one non-conference match outside of tournament action. The Musketeers play host to rival Dayton on Monday, Nov. 5 at Cintas Center.

OPPONENT BREAKDOWN

• Xavier will play three teams that finished the year ranked in the AVCA Coaches' Poll: No. 16 Creighton, No. 18 Purdue and No. 20 Missouri.

• The Musketeers take on five teams that participated in the 2017 NCAA Tournament (Missouri, Purdue, Louisville, Creighton and Marquette). Twelve of the Musketeers 21 opponents posted a winning record last year.

• The Musketeers' 21 opponents combined to post a 351-292 last season with a .546 winning percentage. Xavier's opponents averaged 16.7 wins a year ago.

• Xavier will face teams from 11 different conferences this year, including teams from the Big Ten, ACC, PAC-12 and Big 12.

• The Musketeers will face three teams for the first time in program history this fall: Oklahoma, Arizona State and Indiana. The meetings with Northern Illinois and Towson will only be the second meetings in school history.

ABOUT THE TEAM

• Xavier graduated five seniors in Lauren Frilling, Samantha Foti, Kristen Massa, Alexis Newsome and Mackenzi Humm.

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

• Xavier added six newcomers to the 2018 roster in Jayda Carlton, Ellie Chaffee, Kelly Franxman, Mackenzie Mangette, Norah Painter and Ryan Shannon.

• Xavier players have earned AVCA All-American honors nine times in the last 13 years. Abbey Bessler most recently earned AVCA All-American honorable mention team honors in 2016.

BIG EAST NOTES

• Xavier opened BIG EAST play on Sept. 21 at St. John's. Seven of Xavier's first 11 conference matches are on the road.

• Xavier has posted a 70-42 record in BIG EAST play since joining the conference in 2013. The Musketeers have advanced to the conference tournament in three of their four seasons in the BIG EAST.

• Creighton will host the 2018 BIG EAST Tournament after being held at Marquette in 2017.

NEW ASSISTANT COACHES

• Xavier added two new assistant coaches during the offseason in Katie Meyer and Ali Butcher. Meyer was named an assistant coach in January of 2018 after spending three seasons as an assistant coach at Ursuline College.

• Butcher was named a volunteer assistant coach in August of 2018. She previously worked at Elevation Volleyball Club for two years, serving as an assistant to the club directors while also working as a club coach.

PRESEASON POLL

• The Musketeers were picked to finish tied for sixth in the preseason BIG EAST Coaches' Poll. Xavier was tied with St. John's in sixth place, while Marquette was picked to win the conference title.

UP NEXT

• Xavier returns to action Friday, Oct. 26 against Seton Hall. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. from Cintas Center.