Volleyball Wraps Up BIG EAST Regular-Season Action at Georgetown, Villanova

Friday, November 16

Washington, D.C.

5 p.m.

Xavier University

Georgetown

Volleyball Wraps Up BIG EAST Regular-Season Action at Georgetown, Villanova

11.15.18 | Volleyball

Xavier, Georgetown and Villanova are all tied for fourth in the conference standings

By: Greg Lautzenheiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier volleyball wraps up BIG EAST regular-season action on Nov. 16-17. The Musketeers (10-17, 8-8 BIG EAST) take on Georgetown (15-13, 8-8 BIG EAST) on Friday and Villanova (15-13, 8-8 BIG EAST) on Saturday.

The three teams are currently in a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference standings. The top four teams in the final regular-season standings advance to the BIG EAST Tournament in Omaha, Neb., on Nov. 23-24.

BIG EAST STANDINGS

TEAM	BE RECORD
1. Creighton	16-0
2. Marquette	14-2
3. St. John's	11-5
t-4. Xavier	8-8
t-4. Villanova	8-8
t-4. Georgetown	8-8
7. Butler	6-10
8. Seton Hall	4-12
9. DePaul	3-12
10. Providence	2-14

THE MATCHUP AT GEORGETOWN

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (10-17, 8-8) at GEORGETOWN HOYAS (15-13, 8-8)
Match Info - Friday, Nov. 16 - 5 p.m. ET - McDonough Arena
Live stats - bit.ly/2QycVIB
Live video (BEDN) - bit.ly/2FiHGjJ

ABOUT GEORGETOWN

2018 Record: 15-13 (8-8 BIG EAST)
2017 Postseason: None
Series History: Xavier leads, 11-1
Last Meeting: GU 3, XU 0 - 10/06/18

NOTABLES
• Georgetown was picked to finish eighth in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll after recording an 8-22 (2-16 BIG EAST) last year. Senior middle blocker Symone Speech was named to the preseason all-conference team.
• The Hoyas have three of the top-10 kill leaders in the BIG EAST: Alyssa Sinnette (6th - 3.25 k/s), Iva Vujosevic (7th - 3.20 k/s) and Symone Speech (10th - 2.96 k/s).
• Georgetown ranks second in the conference in aces (1.72), fifth in assists (11.99) and sixth in both hitting percentage (.203) and opponent hitting percentage (.209).

LAST TIME OUT VS GEORGETOWN

• Xavier dropped a three set match (22-25, 25-27, 23-25) to Georgetown on Oct. 6 at Cintas Center. The loss was Xavier's first ever loss to the Hoyas.

• Senior McKena Estes posted a team-high 12 assists to go along with 10 digs. Sophomore setter Nadia Dieudonne added 11 assists and six digs.

• Senior Meredith Klare posted a team-high 16 digs to go along with eight assists. Classmate Laura Grossman chipped in eight digs and seven kills.

• Sophomore Moriah Hopkins led the Musketeers in kills with nine. Classmate Audrey Adams added eight kills and a team-high .412 hitting percentage.

• Xavier had three more total team blocks (10-7) than the Hoyas, while Georgetown collected five more aces (8-3). Jayda Carlton led the Musketeers in blocks with seven (six assist, one solo).

THE MATCHUP AT VILLANOVA

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (10-17, 8-8) at VILLANOVA WILDCATS (15-13, 8-8)
Match Info - Saturday, Nov. 17 - 7 p.m. ET - Jake Nevin Field House
Live stats - bit.ly/2B2HYqR
Live video - bit.ly/2AZTB1A

ABOUT VILLANOVA

2018 Record: 15-13 (8-8 BIG EAST)
2017 Postseason: None
Series History: Xavier leads, 8-4
Last Meeting: XU 3, VU 2 - 10/05/18

NOTABLES
• Villanova was picked to finish fourth in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll after posting an 18-12 (11-8 BIG EAST) last year. Senior middle blocker Amanda Pedersen-Henry was named to the preseason all-conference team.
• Villanova leads the BIG EAST in digs (17.33), while ranking third in hitting percentage (.218) and opponent hitting percentage (.194).
• Junior Regan Lough leads the conference in digs, averaging 5.40 digs per set.

LAST TIME OUT VS VILLANOVA

• Xavier defeated Villanova in five sets (23-25, 25-27, 26-24, 25-23, 15-13) at Cintas Center on Oct. 5.

• Senior Meredith Klare posted a career-high 40 digs in the win, the third most in single-match history at Xavier. The 40 digs are the second most in a match by a BIG EAST player this season.

• Four Musketeers posted double-digit kills in Laura Grossman (16), Audrey Adams (14), Morgan Finn (13) and Moriah Hopkins (12). Freshman Kelly Franxman added six kills.

• Five Musketeers also had 10 or more digs in Meredith Klare (40), Laura Grossman (25), Madi Kutruff (19), Nadia Dieudonne (16) and McKena Estes (15).

• The Musketeers also had nine more total team blocks (17-8) than the Wildcats. Audrey Adams had eight blocks (seven assist, one solo) followed by Jayda Carlton (five assist, three solo) and Moriah Hopkins(six assist).

• Senior McKena Estes led the team in assists with 31, while sophomore Nadia Dieudonne added 27 assists.

• The match featured 37 ties and 16 lead changes. Villanova had one more ace (4-3) than Xavier on the night.

BIG EAST WEEKLY HONORS

• Senior Meredith Klare was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for her on-court performance last weekend. She earns weekly honors from the conference office for the fourth time this season.

• The libero led the team in digs (32), averaging 4.57 digs per set. She added six assists and two aces.

• Klare posted 20 digs against DePaul on Friday night - her seventh match of the year with 20 or more digs - and 12 digs against No. 18 Marquette.

BIG EAST HONOREES

Nov. 13	Meredith Klare	Weekly Honor Roll
Nov. 6	Laura Grossman	Weekly Honor Roll
Oct. 30	Meredith Klare	Weekly Honor Roll
Oct. 23	Meredith Klare	Defensive Player of the Week
Oct. 16	Laura Grossman	Offensive Player of the Week
Oct. 9	Meredith Klare	Weekly Honor Roll
Oct. 2	Audrey Adams	Weekly Honor Roll
Aug. 28	Laura Grossman	Weekly Honor Roll

KLARE - RECORD WATCH

• Senior Meredith Klare has 1,927 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 (4.51 d/s) this season. In BIG EAST only matches, she ranks third in digs (4.94 d/s). 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 107, while ranking 73rd nationally overall and 15th among freshmen. The middle blocker is averaging 1.19 blocks per set to rank third in the BIG EAST. In conference only matches, she is averaging 1.36 blocks per set to rank third in the BIG EAST.

• Audrey Adams ranks third in the BIG EAST in hitting percentage (.351), while ranking 69th nationally. The middle blocker has increased her hitting percentage to .371 in conference matches. She also ranks second on the team in kills (2.26 k/s).

• In BIG EAST only matches, Xavier ranks second in the conference in digs (16.29) and blocks (2.50) and fifth in opponent hitting percentage (.195).

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 12th 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 ninth 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.

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 76-54 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

• The top four teams in the final regular-season standings advance to the BIG EAST Tournament in Omaha, Neb., on Nov. 23-24.