Volleyball Opens BIG EAST Play at St. John's, Seton Hall

Friday, September 21

Queens, N.Y.

7 p.m.

Xavier University

St. John's

Volleyball Opens BIG EAST Play at St. John's, Seton Hall

09.20.18 | Volleyball

Match Notes (PDF)

By: Greg Lautzenheiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier volleyball opens BIG EAST play on Sept. 21-22 at St. John's and Seton Hall. The Musketeers (2-9, 0-0) take on the Red Storm (11-5, 0-1) on Friday and the Pirates (5-9, 0-1) on Saturday.

THE MATCHUP AT ST. JOHN'S

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (2-9, 0-0) at ST. JOHN'S RED STORM (11-5, 0-1)
Match Info - Friday, Sept. 21 - 7 p.m. - Carnesecca Arena
Live Video (BEDN) - bit.ly/2xlFOQF
Live Stats - bit.ly/2NpfxLk

ABOUT ST. JOHN'S

2018 Record: 11-5 (0-1 BIG EAST)
2017 Postseason: None
Series History: Xavier leads, 10-1
Last Meeting: XU 3, SJU 2 - 11/17/17

NOTABLES
• The Red Storm lost their conference opener at Georgetown on Wednesday night in five sets (21-25, 25-17, 17-25, 25-20, 14-16). Freshman Efrosini Alexakou led the team in kills (15), while adding 11 digs. Sophomore Kayley Wood added 10 kills and junior Erica Di Maulo paced the team in assists with 36.
• St. John's leads the conference in total aces (105), while ranking third in opponent hitting percentage (.195) and fifth in hitting percentage.
• Junior Nia Diaz leads the BIG EAST in hitting percentage (.383). Junior setter Erica Di Maulo ranks fourth in the conference in assists, averaging 9.52 assists per set.

SERIES HISTORY - SJU

• Xavier leads the all-time series with St. John's, 10-1. The two teams split the series last year with the road team winning each match. Both matches went to five sets.

• Xavier posted five more total blocks (29-24) than St. John's in the series last season. Moriah Hopkins had 16 kills and 11 blocks, while Audrey Adams posted 21 kills. Laura Grossman added 2.67 kills per set in the series and Meredith Klare paced the team in digs (4.60 d/s).

THE MATCHUP AT SETON HALL

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (2-9, 0-0) at SETON HALL PIRATES (5-9, 0-1)
Match Info - Saturday, Sept. 22 - 7 p.m. - Walsh Gymnasium
Live Video - bit.ly/2Nm4hzt
Live Radio - bit.ly/2yr6cqf
Live Stats - bit.ly/2ckDOj0

ABOUT SETON HALL

2018 Record: 5-9 (0-1 BIG EAST)
2017 Postseason: None
Series History: Xavier leads, 7-3
Last Meeting: XU 3, SH 2 - 11/18/17

NOTABLES
• Seton Hall ranks fourth in the conference in hitting percentage (.224) and fifth in assists (11.82 a/s).
• The Pirates are coming off a four-set loss (25-23, 21-25, 20-25, 23-25) at Villanova on Wednesday night in the team's BIG EAST opener. Abby Thelen led the Pirates with 20 kills, while Caitlin Koska added 13 kills and 13 digs. Koska was one of four players with 10 or more digs.
• Abby Thelen ranks fourth in the conference in kills (3.67 k/s) and ninth in hitting percentage (.278).

SERIES HISTORY - SHU

• Xavier leads the all-time series with Seton Hall, 7-3. The two teams split the series last year with the road team winning each match.
• Laura Grossman led the team in kills (2.88 k/s), while adding seven digs and five blocks. Meredith Klare led the team in digs, averaging 4.00 digs per set.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW

• Xavier wrapped up non-conference tournament action with a 1-2 record at the Queen City Classic. The Musketeers lost to Indiana and Cincinnati over the weekend and defeated Eastern Kentucky.

• Senior Laura Grossman led the team in kills (3.30 k/s) last weekend, while ranking second in digs (2.50 d/s). The outside hitter added six blocks (five assist, one solo).

• Senior Morgan Finn added 21 kills and sophomore Moriah Hopkins chipped in 18. The two players combined for eight blocks.

• Senior Meredith Klare paced the team in digs, averaging 3.90 digs per set. The libero added four assists and one ace.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

• Sophomore setter Nadia Dieudonne was named to the Queen City Classic All-Tournament Team. The Louisville, Ky., native led the Musketeers in assists (56), averaging 5.60 assists per set. She added two aces, 16 digs and three kills.

KLARE - RECORD WATCH

• Senior Meredith Klare has 1,621 career digs to rank third all-time in program history. The libero is now 107 digs away from moving into second place with Beth Osterday (1996-99). 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 (3.78 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 Norah Painter ranks second on the team in kills (2.26 k/s), while ranking third in the conference among freshmen in the category. The outside hitter has added a nine blocks.

• Freshman Jayda Carlton leads the Musketeers in blocks with 35. The middle blocker is averaging 0.95 blocks per set, the second most by a BIG EAST freshman this season.

• Audrey Adams ranks seventh in the BIG EAST in hitting percentage (.306). She also ranks third on the team in kills (1.91 k/s).

• Senior Laura Grossman ranks ninth in the BIG EAST in kills, averaging 3.14 kills per set. She also ranks ninth in total points per set (3.61).

• Xavier ranks fifth in the conference in digs (1.84 d/s).

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 opens 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 59-29 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 continues BIG EAST action on Friday, Sept. 28 against Providence. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. from Cintas Center.