University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Volleyball Opens Conference USA Play, Hosts Rice
9/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 23, 2010
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Southern Miss (7-4, 0-0) begins defense of its 2009 Conference USA regular-season title on Friday, Sept. 24, against Rice (6-7, 1-0). The two teams will play again on Saturday as part of two-match series and a new format in which each team will play a 20-match schedule. The regular season champion will get the NCAA automatic berth.
The Golden Eagles are coming off a 3-0 sweep of instate rival Mississippi State. Junior Ashley Mell tallied 19 kills in the win. Mell continues to lead the Eagles offensively with 196 kills, while Halie Ecker is next with 137. Kelsea Seymour guides the offense, averaging 11.15 assists per set while Lisa Knecht heads the defense with 4.49 digs per clip.
As a team, USM is averaging 13.93 kills per set to go with 15.46 digs per set. The Eagles are out hitting their opponents, .248 to .205.
Friday is the ninth meeting between Southern Miss and Rice with the Owls leading the overall series 6-2. USM is 1-2 against Rice in Hattiesburg and 1-4 against the Owls on the road or at a neutral site.
Rice enters the weekend play with a 6-7 overall record and 1-0 in the league after sweeping Houston in its conference opener Tuesday. Rice has won its last three matches and it is led offensively by Ashleigh McCord, who is averaging 4.34 kills per set. Rice ranks third in the league kills per set (13.49) and fourth in digs (15.77). Tracey Lam leads the Owls in digs, averaging 5.57 digs per set.
