Musketeers Open Five Match Homestand on Friday Against Seton Hall

Friday, October 26

Cincinnati, Ohio

7 p.m.

Xavier University

Seton Hall

Musketeers Open Five Match Homestand on Friday Against Seton Hall

10.25.18 | Volleyball

Live Stats Watch Live

First serve is slated for 7 p.m. at Cintas Center

By: Greg Lautzenheiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier volleyball opens a five-match homestand on Friday, Oct. 26 against Seton Hall. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. from Cintas Center.

The Musketeers continue its weekend homestand on Saturday, Oct. 27 against St. John's. The match will serve as the team's Dig Pink match.

THE MATCHUP VS SETON HALL

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (7-15, 5-6) vs SETON HALL PIRATES (8-16, 3-7)
Match Info - Friday, Oct. 26 - 7 p.m. ET - Cintas Center
Live Video - bit.ly/2z0xPZq
Live Stats - bit.ly/2BQZu3r

ABOUT SETON HALL

2018 Record: 8-16 (3-7 BIG EAST)
2017 Postseason: None
Series History: Xavier leads, 8-3
Last Meeting: XU 3, SHU 1 - 9/22/18

NOTABLES
• Seton Hall ranks third in the BIG EAST in hitting percentage (.219) and fifth in digs (14.95).
• Abby Thelen ranks fourth in the conference in kills (3.54), while Haylee Gasser ranks ninth in hitting percentage (.295).
• The Pirates are 1-7 in road matches this season.

SERIES HISTORY - SETON HALL

• Xavier leads the all-time series against the Pirates, 8-3. The Musketeers are 2-1 at home against the Pirates since joining the BIG EAST.

LAST TIME OUT VS SETON HALL

• Xavier won the first meeting between the two schools this year, 3-1, on Sept. 22 in South Orange, N.J. Sophomore Audrey Adams led the Musketeers with 13 kills and a .435 hitting percentage. The middle blocker added two blocks. Classmate Moriah Hopkins chipped in a season-high 12 kills and three blocks.

• Freshman Mackenzie Mangette posted eight kills and a .571 hitting percentage. The middle blocker added five aces.

• Senior Laura Grossman posted seven kills and 11 digs. Classmate Morgan Finn chipped in six kills and a .312 hitting percentage.

• Senior setter McKena Estes recorded a team-high 28 assists to go along with two digs and two aces. Sophomore Nadia Diedonne added 17 assists.

• Senior Meredith Klare posted a match-high 16 digs on the night. The libero added two assists.

THE MATCHUP VS ST. JOHN'S

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (7-15, 5-6) vs ST. JOHN'S RED STORM (18-8, 7-4)
Match Info - Saturday, Oct. 27 - 6 p.m. ET - Cintas Center
Live Video - bit.ly/2JeHZdw
Live Stats - bit.ly/2BQZu3r

ABOUT ST. JOHN'S

2018 Record: 18-8 (7-4 BIG EAST)
2017 Postseason: None
Series History: Xavier leads, 10-2
Last Meeting: SJU 3, XU 2 - 9/21/18

NOTABLES
• The Red Storm ranks second in the BIG EAST in opponent hitting percentage (.191). St. John's also ranks third in aces (1.60) and fourth in digs (15.12).
• Nia Diaz ranks second in the conference in hitting percentage (.367). Amanda Sanbia also ranks second in the BIG EAST in digs (5.12).

SERIES HISTORY - ST. JOHN'S

• Xavier leads the all-time series with St. John's, 10-2.

LAST TIME OUT VS ST. JOHN'S

• Xavier dropped the first meeting of the season between the two schools in five sets in Queens, N.Y., on Sept. 21. Freshman Jayda Carlton posted a match-high 12 blocks, tying the school record for single-match blocks.

• Freshman Norah Painter led Xavier with a match-high 16 kills. She was one of three Xavier players with 10 or more kills as senior Laura Grossman and sophomore Audrey Adams both chipped in 13 kills.

• Xavier posted 11 more total team blocks (21-10) than the Red Storm. Sophomore Moriah Hopkins added nine kills and and seven blocks. Audrey Adams chipped in seven blocks and Morgan Finn collected four. Finn added six kills.

• Senior McKena Estes posted a season-high 31 assists to go along with eight digs. Sophomore Nadia Dieudonne added 26 assists and seven digs.

• Laura Grossman recorded a career-high 25 digs. Senior Meredith Klare added 22 digs.

BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• Senior Meredith Klare was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday. She's the second straight Xavier player to earn player of the week honors as classmate Laura Grossman was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 23.

• The libero the team in digs (51) last week, averaging 5.67 digs per set. She added seven assists and one kills. The Union, Ky., native had 29 digs in the five-set loss at No. 10 Creighton on Thursday night and added 22 digs in the four-set win at Providence on Saturday.

KLARE - RECORD WATCH

• Senior Meredith Klare has 1,834 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 (4.41 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 89, while ranking 45th nationally overall and ninth among freshmen. The middle blocker is averaging 1.25 blocks per set to rank second in the BIG EAST. In conference only matches, she is averaging 1.59 blocks per set to lead the BIG EAST.

• Audrey Adams leads the BIG EAST in hitting percentage (.373), while ranking 34th nationally. The middle blocker has increased her hitting percentage to .417 in conference matches. She also ranks second on the team in kills (2.25 k/s).

• In BIG EAST only matches, Xavier ranks second in the conference in blocks per match (2.63) and digs per match (16.37).

Xavier has posted double-figure kills in six straight matches. All told, the Musketeers have seven matches with 10 or more kills this season.

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 71-42 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 on Saturday, Oct. 27 against St. John's. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. from Cintas Center.