Week 1 VB Game Notes |
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Live StatsAVE MARIA, Fla. --- After a trio of exhibition matches in the past week concluded the Lady Gyrenes' preseason schedule, Ave Maria is set to open the regular season with four matches this weekend at the Northwood Labor Day Volleyfest.
AMU opens play against McPherson College at 10 a.m. on Friday before taking on Concordia College (Ala.) at 2 p.m. On Saturday, the Blue and Green face off against Edward Waters (Fla.) (10 a.m.) and host Northwood (2 p.m.).
Scouting Ave Maria (0-0, 0-0 TSC)Head Coach: Scott Barbe (First Season) Ave Maria will take the court Friday morning with 10 true freshmen, six sophomores, and three upperclassmen on the roster as they look to improve to 5-2 all-time in season opening matches. The Lady Gyrenes return five of their top six in total blocks led by junior
Ashley St. Hubin (Fort Myers, Fla.) with a team leading 27 total blocks a season ago and
Hannah Wurster (Conestoga, Pa.) with 26 total blocks.
Calee Dineen (Chicago, Ill.) finished the season third on the team with 19 while
Lexie Andric (Tallahassee, Fla.) and
Jessica Sanchez (Miami, Fla.) each recorded 15 total blocks. Senior Mary Eckard returns as the teams' leader in digs, having collected 105 in 2013.
Scouting McPherson College (1-0, 0-0 KCAC)Head Coach: Susan Barton (Seventh Season) McPherson College started the season with a 3-1 (25-20, 25-17, 15-25, 25-17) victory over Manhattan Christian (Kan.) on Tuesday night. Cortlyn Huppe led McPherson with 10 kills while Maci Grimes led the Bulldogs in digs with 13. Taylor Johnson recorded 13 assists, 11 digs, and three service aces in the win. McPherson The 2013 Lady Bulldogs finished the season at 9-9 in the KCAC and 19-18 overall. This is the first meeting between Ave Maria and McPherson.
Scouting Concordia (Ala.) (0-0)Head Coach: Brandon Reeves (Second Season) Concordia (Ala.) is coming off a 2013 season in which the Lady Hornets went 22-5 overall. Concordia brought in five athletes to its 2014 squad in addition to it 10 returning student-athletes. This is the first meeting between Concordia and Ave Maria.
Scouting Edward Waters (Fla.) (0-0, 0-0 GCAC)Head Coach: Marilyn Mack (Ninth Season) Edward Waters finished the 2013 season with a 7-19 overall record and a 2-9 record in GCAC play. Junior Latavia Graham led the Lady Tigers with 39 service aces last season and her 82 kills ranked second on the team. Graham's 0.530 service aces per game ranked 22nd in the NAIA. AMU leads the all-time series 3-0 but this is the first meeting between the Gyrenes and Tigers since Nov. 2010.
Scouting Northwood (2-0, 0-0 TSC)Head Coach: Chris Taylor (Third Season) Northwood is off to a 2-0 start to the season after defeating Trinity Baptist and Trinity College in a trimatch on Aug. 23. The Lady Seahawks won both matches 3-0. Senior middle blocker Sydney Fish leads Northwood this season with 13 kills while fellow senior Jessy Touron has tallied 10 kills. Fish has also recorded eight service aces on the season. Last season, Fish finished with 57 aces which ranked 28th in the NAIA. Northwood won the first seven meetings between the two teams but the Blue and Green have taken the last seven, including all three meetings last season, to pull the all-time series even.
