STATISTICS
Friday, October 20 Results:
Highlights
-, ECU, USF, SMU and Wichita State
21 walked away with sweep victories tonight, as the league prepares to return to the court for six more matches on Sunday.
- The Mustangs won three straight close sets that came down to at least the final five points to earn their eighth conference victory with the sweep. Three SMU hitters reached the double digits with Lauren Mills leading the way with 13 kills. Kelly Brunstein chipped in with 10 kills, while hitting a .438, as setter Kendall Patterson paced the offense with 43 assists. The league’s points and kills leader, Kayla Williams, earned her 11th double-double with a match-high 16 kills and 10 digs for UConn.
- Wichita State
21 and Cincinnati met for just the second time ever, as the Shockers swept the Bearcats to stay undefeated and in first place in The American standings with a 9-0 record. The all-time series between the two teams is now locked at 1-1 with Wichita State and Cincinnati squaring off again on November 12 in Cincinnati. The Shockers led 11-6 in blocks, as setter Emily Hiebert had 49 assists in the win. Abbie Lehman added 18 kills with a .441 hitting percentage. The Bearcats drop to 6-3 and are in fourth place in league standings. Cincinnati was led by Erica Kostelac and Carly Nolan who had 15 and 14 kills, respectively.
- Temple dropped a narrow 25-22 first set, but won the following frame and refused to look back from there to capture its fourth in a row with a 3-1 win over Tulsa. Kyra Coundourides guided the Owls to hitting a .285 with 46 assists and added seven kills with a .583 hitting percentage on 12 swings with no errors. She also had 19 kills to earn her ninth double-double of the year. Classmate and reigning Offensive Player of the Week Izzy Rapacz added 18 kills and 16 digs for her seventh double-double. Rapacz shared the match-high in kills with Tulsa’s Emily Thorson, who also had a double-double with 12 digs. Temple is tied for third place in league standings with ECU, while Tulsa drops to 3-6 and shares a five-way tie for fifth place with UCF, UConn, Houston and USF.
- ECU picked up its sixth win in a row with a sweep over Memphis on the road. The Pirates powered for a .358 hitting percentage with Shelby Martin, Natalie Montini and Lael Ceriani each putting down 10 kills to lead the way. The team’s hitting percentage tonight is the highest for ECU in its American Athletic Conference history. The Pirates are also off to their best start in league play as a member of The American, winning seven of its first nine contests. Martin hit .471 with 34 assists for a double-double. ECU remains tied for third place with Temple as they each share a 7-2 American record.
- USF bounced back from a two-match setback with a 3-0 win over Tulane in New Orleans, La. The Bulls used a .333 hitting percentage on the way to victory with middle blocker Clara Payne hitting a .529 and smashing 10 kills. USF led 12-5 in blocks with Payne registering six stuffs. Setter Alex Mendoza added 42 assists and four blocks.
- Both UCF and Houston are 3-6 and tied for fifth in the conference with three other teams after the Cougars handed the Knights a 3-1loss at home. Megan Duncan and Sarah Afflerbaugh each had 15 kills to share the team lead for Houston. Afflerbaugh bumped 17 digs to earn a double-double. Kia Bright earned her 13th double-doubles to share the conference-lead with Cincinnati’s setter Jade Tingelhoff after posting 15 kills and 14 blocks to lead UCF.
Upcoming Schedule/Results
Sunday, October 22
Tulsa vs. UConn • Noon*
SMU vs. Temple • Noon *
UCF vs. Tulane
(ADN) • 1 p.m.*
ECU vs. Wichita State
21 • 2 p.m.*
USF vs. Houston • 2 p.m.*
Cincinnati vs. Memphis • 2 p.m.*
All times Eastern and subject to change
*Denotes conference matches