2019 AMERICAN VOLLEYBALL RELEASE - OCTOBER 8
CINCINNATI, HOUSTON REMAIN UNBEATEN
And then there were two unbeatens after the first two weekends of American Athletic Conference play. Cincinnati took hold of the East Division and Houston the West Division of The American with matching 4-0 records in conference play. Cincinnati is ahead of UCF by a single game (3-1) in the East standings, with Tulane and Tulsa each one game behind Houston at 3-1 in the West.
INITIAL RPI FEATURES THE AMERICAN PROMINENTLY
A total of six American Athletic Conference teams are ranked among the top 100 in the initial release of the NCAA RPI that was posted as of matches played Oct. 6. UCF ranked 28th in the initial NCAA RPI release, with the team’s 12th-ranked strength of schedule also tops in The American. Cincinnati checked in second in The American with the 31st overall ranking. The Bearcats own the 59th-best strength of schedule in the nation on the strength of three wins against the national top 50.
HORSFALL THE FIFTH OVER 2K CAREER DIGS
Tulsa’s Taylor Horsfall not only claimed American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second straight week, she became just the fifth player in conference history with over 2,000 career digs. Horsfall reached the milestone during last Friday’s contest with SMU. Entering play this weekend with 2,044 digs, only Morgan Heise (2,379; SMU 2013-16), Jordan Pingel (2,259; UCF 2015-18) and current Houston and Tulane stars Katie Karbo (2,144 as of Oct. 7) and Kaylie McHugh (2,115 as of Oct. 7) remain ahead of Horsfall on the all-time league digs chart.
WHERE THE AMERICAN SITS IN THE NATIONAL RANKS
In the fifth full release of NCAA Division I statistics for the 2019 season on Oct. 6, Houston was slotted first in total team attacks and second in team kills, team assists and team digs, and fifth in total team blocks; UCF ranked second in total team blocks and ninth in blocks per set; Cincinnati ranked second in kills per set, third in assists per set and seventh in team hitting percentage. Individually Cincinnati’s Jordan Thompson was first in points, points per set, kills per set and total kills, ranking second in attacks per set. Houston’s Katie Karbo led the nation in total digs, with Tulsa’s Taylor Horsfall sixth in that same statistical category. Cincinnati’s Armania Heckenmueller ranked sixth in total assists, while Tulane’s Kayla Dinkins was slotted fourth and Houston’s Rachel Tullos sixth in total blocks.