University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Volleyball faces big road challenge with WKU on Friday
10/5/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss volleyball team will set out for its third consecutive road match this weekend, taking on No. 27 WKU on Friday night at 6 p.m. CT.
The action can be followed via live video on CUSA.tv with live stats available here.
Southern Miss (12-7, 2-1 C-USA) has taken care of business so far on the swing, knocking off Marshall (3-1) and sweeping Jackson State on Monday. WKU has won each of the three meetings the two teams have shared since becoming C-USA foes in 2014.
Last season's matchup was a tight one early. Kylie Grandy posted a kill to put the Golden Eagles at set-point in the first set, but the Lady Toppers roared right back to ultimately win 27-25. Southern Miss won the second, 28-26, but fell 25-20 in each of the next two. Overall, five Golden Eagles finished with double-digit kills in the defeat to No. 25 WKU, led by Chanel Joyce's 14.
Monday's Jackson State match featured a community effort from the squad. Breleigh Favre and Ashley Berry led the way with six kills apiece in the three sets. Sarah Bell had 28 assists, putting her at 778 on the season and 3,415 for her career. She is 101 away from the No. 5 spot and 117 from No. 4 on the all-time list at the school.
The Golden Eagles on Monday hit .307, its highest since Sept. 2 versus Alabama (.337).
WKU (17-2, 4-0 C-USA) joins UTSA as the only schools to have two top-10 places on the kill leaderboard. Both of the Lady Toppers to hold that distinction, Rachel Anderson and Alyssa Cavanaugh, hold .423 and .386 hitting percentages, respectively, and they are led by defending Setter of the Year Jessica Lucas, who is fifth in the league with 11.05 assists/set. Defensively, WKU is No. 3 in blocks with 2.33 per set.
The Lady Toppers have swept each league foe (Charlotte, LA Tech and Middle Tennessee) with the exception of a five-setter at Florida Atlantic on Sept. 22.
