Xavier Travels to Chicago for Loyola Tournament

CINCINNATI, OH - Xavier Volleyball travels to Chicago to take on SIUE, Eastern Kentucky and Loyola at the Loyola Invitational on September 3-4. Play begins against SIUE at 11:00 AM ET.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (1-2) vs SIUE (1-2)
Match Info - Friday, September 3 - 11 a.m. ET - Gentile Arena
Live Stats - https://bit.ly/3DCqxM1

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (1-2) at EASTERN KENTUCKY (1-2)
Match Info - Friday, September 3 - 6 p.m. ET - Gentile Arena
Live Stats - https://bit.ly/38BAs6c

XAVIER MUSKETEERS (1-2) vs LOYOLA (1-2)
Match Info - Saturday, September 4 - 3:30 p.m. ET - Gentile Arena
Live Stats - https://bit.ly/3yEkyCo
Watch Live ($) - https://es.pn/3jDkJd1

ABOUT SIUE

2021 (Fall) Record: 1-2
2021 (Spring) Record: 10-4 (10-4 Ohio Valley)
Series History: 0-0
Last Meeting: N/A

NOTABLES
• Friday will mark the first meeting between the Musketeers and the Cougars.
• SIUE is 1-2 to start the season, with a five-set victory against the hosts of the Purdue Fort Wayne Invitational between losses against Evansville (0-3) and Kent State (1-3).
• The Cougars were picked to finish fourth in the Preseason OVC Coaches' Poll, and Outside Hitter Savannah Christian was named to the Preseason All-Conference Team.
• Kendall Paulus is in her fifth season as head coach. She has amassed a 56-46 record over that span, including a trip to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship in 2016.

ABOUT EASTERN KENTUCKY

2021 (Fall) Record: 1-2
2021 (Spring) Record: 2-14 (2-14 ASUN)
Series History: Xavier leads, 7-6
Last Meeting: Xavier 3, EKU 0 (Sep. 14, 2018 - Cincinnati, OH)

NOTABLES
• Xavier holds a 7-6 advantage in the series history vs the Colonels, having won the last six meetings in four sets or less. In 2018, Xavier was led by Laura Grossman's 9 kills and 3 blocks to take the team to a 25-23, 25-16, 25-17 victory in their last meeting.
• EKU enters the tournament at 1-2 on the season. They lost their season opener against Appalachain State 2-3, before rebounding to a five-set victory over UNC Greensboro. However, they dropped the tournament finale to Radford, 1-3.
• Eastern Kentucky was picked to finish 12th in the Preseason ASUN Coaches' Poll. This is their first year in the conference, having competed in the Ohio Valley previously.
• Johnna Bazzani enters her third season at the helm of Eastern Kentucky. She owns a record of 12-37 since taking over as head coach, and has recruited two players that have landed on the Freshman All-Conference team.

ABOUT LOYOLA

2021 (Fall) Record: 1-2
2021 (Spring) Record: 11-9 (8-8 MVC)
Series History: 0-0
Last Meeting: N/A

NOTABLES
• Saturday will be the first meeting between the Musketeers and the Ramblers.
• Loyola opened the season with a 3-1 win against Oakland in the Golden Dome Invitational before falling to Western Kentucky (1-3) and hosts Notre Dame (0-3).
• Loyola was picked third in the Preseason Missouri Valley Coaches' Poll after making it to the Conference Championship Game in the Spring.
• Amanda Barkley is in her fourth season as head coach of the Ramblers, having produced four MVC All-Freshman team selections.

PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST HONORS

• Junior Carrigan O'Reilly was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team on Aug. 8.

• O'Reilly ranked second in the BIG EAST in assists per set (10.69) last season, while ranking 30th in the NCAA. The All-BIG EAST performer recorded 631 total assists to rank 73rd in the NCAA. She added 69 kills, seven aces, 146 digs and 29 blocks.

• The Westerville, Ohio, native also earned AVCA All-East Region Honorable Mention Team honors.

SCHEDULE NOTES

• Xavier will play 11 non-conference matches and compete in three tournaments. The Musketeers opened the season at the Charlotte Tournament on Aug. 27-28, taking on South Carolina State, Charlotte and Colorado. Xavier will travel to the Loyola Tournament on Sept. 3-4, taking on SIUE, Eastern Kentucky and Loyola.

• The Musketeers host the Xavier Tournament on Sept. 10-11. Three of the four teams competing in the tournament participated in the NCAA Tournament last spring: Louisville, Purdue and Lipscomb. Purdue finished the year ranked No. 7 in the AVCA Top-25 Poll, while Louisville ranked 11th.

• Xavier takes on crosstown rival Cincinnati on Sept. 16 at Fifth Third Arena. The two teams split the two-match series last year with the road team winning each match.

• The Musketeers take on teams from 10 different conferences during non-conference action (MEAC, C-USA, Pac-12, OVC, A-SUN, MVC, Big 10, MAC, AAC, A-10). Xavier will face two new opponents for the first time in program history in SIUE and Loyola.

• Xavier opens its 18-match BIG EAST schedule on Friday, Sept. 24 vs Providence. The Musketeers play four of their first six BIG EAST matches at Cintas Center.

• Xavier closes its BIG EAST schedule with back-to-back road matches at UConn (Nov. 19) and Butler (Nov. 21).

ABOUT THE MUSKETEERS

• The Musketeers posted a 7-7 (3-3 BIG EAST) record during the COVID-19 shortened spring 2021 season. Xavier had wins over rival Cincinnati, Big 12 member Kansas and AVCA Top-50 team UIC.

• Xavier returns AVCA All-East Region Team member, Carrigan O'Reilly. The junior setter picked up honorable mention team honors, becoming the first Musketeer to earn the honors since Sofia Peterson and Abbey Bessler in 2016.

• O'Reilly also earned All-BIG EAST honors. She averaged 10.71 assists per set, ranking second in the BIG EAST and 28th in the NCAA. She added 69 kills, 29 blocks, 146 digs and seven aces. The Westerville, Ohio, native had seven double-doubles and one triple-double.

• The Musketeers also return All-BIG EAST honoree and BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, Delaney Hogan. She was the first Musketeer to earn "Freshman of the Year" honors since Aubree Smith picked up the accolades in 2011 (Atlantic-10 Conference). She was also the first Xavier player to earn a major award from the BIG EAST since Abbey Bessler in 2015 (BIG EAST Player of the Year).

• Hogan led the BIG EAST in hitting percentage this season (.356), while ranking 100th in the NCAA. The middle blocker also led the Musketeers in total kills (131) and total blocks (45) this season. She averaged 2.38 k/s and 0.82 b/s and had 10 or more kills in eight matches.

• Xavier only graduated one player in Lauren Hanlon. All told, the Musketeers return 13 letterwinners and welcome four newcomers to the roster.

PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST HONOREES

Preseason BIG EAST Volleyball Player of the Year
Efrosini Alexakou, St. John's, Sr., OH

Preseason All-BIG EAST
(listed alphabetically by institution, then last name)

Melody Davidson, Butler, R-Sr., MB
Caylee Parker, Connecticut, Sr., OH
Naomi Hickman, Creighton, Sr., MB
Jaela Zimmerman, Creighton, Sr., OH^
Savannah Rennie, Marquette, Gr., MB^
Taylor Wolf, Marquette, Gr., RS/S^
Allison Barber, Providence, Gr., S
Efrosini Alexakou, St. John's, Sr., OH^
Rachele Rastelli, St. John's, Sr., RS
Tsvetelina Ilieva, Seton Hall, So. OH
Averi Salvador, Villanova, Gr., L/DS
Carrigan O'Reilly, Xavier, Jr., S/RS

^ denotes unanimous selection

PRESEASON COACHES' POLL

1.	Creighton (8)	97 pts.
2.	Marquette (3)	93
3.	St. John's	83
4.	Xavier	68
5.	Villanova	56
t-6.	UConn	48
t-6.	DePaul	48
8.	Providence	44
9.	Butler	31
10.	Seton Hall	27
11.	Georgetown	10

First-place votes in ()

UP NEXT

• Xavier prepares for their regular season home opener at the Xavier University Tournament on September 10-11. Play will feature Lipscomb, Purdue and Louisville.

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