Denver-North Texas Match Notes (.pdf)
DENVER, Colo. ? The University of South Alabama women’s volleyball team will begin a three-match road trip Friday night when the Jaguar women take on Denver at 7 p.m. (MT) at Hamilton Gym. Live stats will be available at denverpioneers.com. On Sunday, USA will take on West Division leader North Texas at 1 p.m.
“Right now on the west side of the conference, North Texas is in a three-way tie for first with Denver right behind them, so this is definitely going to be a challenging weekend,” said South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock. “The positive for us heading into this weekend is that last Friday night against UALR, I felt like we probably played one of the best matches that we have played in a while. If we continue to play like that, I think it will be a competitive two matches and anything is possible.”
LAST TIME OUT: The University of South Alabama volleyball team went 0-2 last weekend. USA dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to Arkansas-Little Rock on Friday and fell 3-0 (21-30, 25-30, 27-30) to Arkansas State Saturday night in Sun Belt Conference action at Jag Gym. Offensively, the Jags were led by Jenna Swilley’s 10 kills. Taylor Irvin, Jennifer Johnson and Brittany Blackwelder also had seven kills each for USA against the Indians. ASU placed a pair of players in double digit kill tallies, led by Mandy DeWalt’s 14.
Swilley continues to lead the club offensively, averaging over three kills a game with 3.05. On the defensive side of the net, Summer Pilgrim paces the club with a team-high 65 block assists and 1.10 blocks per game. Junior libero Shannon VanAntwerp also leads the team in digs with 3.20 per game.
SCOUTING THE LADY PIONEERS: Denver enters the contest against USA on Friday night with a 12-9 overall record on the season. The Lady Pioneers are 5-4 in conference play, including taking two out of three matches last week. DU fell 3-2 to New Orleans last Friday in Denver, but bounced back with a 3-1 and 3-2 victory over UL-Lafayette and UL-Monroe to close out the week. Preseason all-SBC selection Lisa Hunter paces the Pioneers offensively. The senior outside hitter comes into conference play this weekend with 4.06 kills per game, which ranks sixth in the Sun Belt. Junior middle blocker Kim Muller is the defensive stopper, averaging 1.00 blocks per game. As a team in conference matches, Denver leads the SBC in digs with 15.72 per SBC match.
Denver is the defending West Division champs and was the preseason pick to repeat in the division.
DENVER VERSUS THE LADY JAGS: South Alabama and Denver will meet for the 15th time on Friday. DU holds a dominant 13-1 lead in the all-time series. South Alabama’s lone victory against Denver came back during the 2000 season when the Jags defeated the Pioneers 3-0 in Mobile. Last season, DU defeated USA 3-0 (30-19, 32-30, 30-28) in Mobile and 3-1 (30-20, 34-36, 30-15, 30-25) in Denver.
SCOUTING THE MEAN GREEN: North Texas enters Sun Belt action this weekend with a 15-10 overall mark and is in a three-way tie with New Orleans and Arkansas State for the top spot in the West Division with a 6-3 in conference mark. The Mean Green enters play on the strength of four straight conference victories. Tara Hooser leads a balanced offensive attack with 3.09 kills per game. In SBC action, she has bettered that to 3.66 kpg. UNT junior Brooke Engel has been deadly from the service line this season with an amazing 79 aces for the season and 0.91 per game. Her tally leads the nation. Junior libero Jesica Hulsebosch, a two-time SBC Defensive Player of the Week selection, ranks second in the conference in digs with 5.71 per game. Her total also ranks 21st nationally in that category. As a team, North Texas tops the Sun Belt in digs with a league-best 17.25.
NORTH TEXAS VERSUS THE LADY JAGS: South Alabama and North Texas will meet for the 15th time on Sunday. UNT holds a 11-4 lead in the all-time series. Last season, North Texas took the first match 3-2. USA held a 2-1 match lead versus UNT before the Lady Eagles took the final two games to get the match victory. In the second meeting last season, the Jags fell 3-0 in Denton. South Alabama’s last victory against UNT came back in the 2001 season when the Jags defeated North Texas 3-2 in Denton.
NEXT UP FOR THE LADY JAGS: South Alabama will close out the three-match road trip at in-state rival Troy on Oct. 28 at Noon, before returning to Mobile to take on Middle Tennessee on Nov. 3. at 7 p.m.
