Sept. 27, 2012

Match Notes 

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss volleyball team hits the road for weekend series against Conference USA foes East Carolina and Marshall.

Southern Miss (5-9, 1-1) is coming off a 1-1 opening weekend with a win over Tulane before a road loss at UTEP.

Three Golden Eagles are averaging 3.00 kills per set led by sophomore Jasmine Crowell with 165 kills followed closely by freshman Lydia Bonner (160) and senior Halie Ecker (146). Elizabeth Rinaudo and Alex Pfefferle patrol the back row as the duo are averaging 3.90 and 2.47 digs respectively. Kristen Fleming is guiding the offense with a 10.56 assist per set average. As a team, USM is averaging 12.82 kills on .208 hitting, 13.78 digs and 1.94 team blocks per set.

East Carolina (1-13, 0-3) is coming off a pair of losses at SMU and at Tulsa. The Pirates are led offensively by Nicole Willis who owns a team-best 138 kills for a 3.73 per set average. Willis also has 110 digs (2.97 dps). Shelby Beasley leads the team on defense with 195 digs (3.90 dps) while Zarah Cecich and Kasey Kavanaugh have handled the setting duties. Cecich leads the team with 286 assists with Kavanaugh has 128. Kelly Derby has totaled 65 blocks for a 1.30 per set average. As a team, ECU is averaging 9.84 kills on .099 hitting, 14.54 digs and 2.28 blocks per set.

This is the 20th meeting between the two schools in a series that began in 2001. Southern Miss leads the overall series 12-7.

Marshall enters the weekend with a 12-5 record overall and 2-1 in league play. The duo of Laura Der and Katy Schad paces the Herd offensively with 214 (3.96 kps) and 212 (3.59 kps) kills, respectively. Dorothy Rahal leads the team in digs 263 (4.24 dps) followed closely by Schad with 207 (3.51 dps). Sammie Bane guides the offense with 10.16 assists per set. The team is averaging 11.97 kills, 15.56 digs and 1.45 blocks per set.

This is the 16th meeting between the Golden Eagles and Marshall. The series began in 2005. The Herd leads the overall series 10-5 over the Eagles.

Following the weekend, Southern Miss returns home to host Tulsa (10/5) and SMU (10/7).