Golden Eagles to Host UTSA on Friday Night

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss (1-18, 0-5 C-USA) women's volleyball team will return to the floor on Friday night when they host UTSA (12-7, 5-1 C-USA) at 6 p.m. The Golden Eagles and Roadrunners will meet after both had a week without any midweek matches.

The Last Time Out
The Golden Eagles returned from Texas with losses to No. 21 Rice and North Texas. In Sunday's match against the Mean Green, freshman Gillian Hidalgo smacked a team-high nine kills on 33 attempts. Junior setter Piper Matsumoto dished out 16 assists, four digs, and a solo block. For the seventh consecutive match, junior libero Madison Lawler paced the Golden Eagles with a team-high 12 digs.

Texas native Ashley Berry finished with eight kills in her home state. Freshman Kess Krutsinger added five kills, four digs, and a solo block. Kaile Tuisamatatele, Liana Guillemaud, and Summer Johnson combined for four kills, while Johnson added six assists. Sophomore Kellie Garraway finished her night with eight digs and two assists.

Match Notes

The Golden Eagles are looking for their first-ever win against C-USA foe UTSA.
In last year's four-set loss, Ashley Berry went for eight kills, five digs, and a block. Madison Lawler and Kellie Garraway combined four 16 digs, four assists, and two service aces.

Scouting UTSA
The Roadrunners head to Hattiesburg sporting a 12-7 record and 5-1 C-USA record. UTSA has conference wins over UTEP (two), LA Tech, UAB, and Charlotte. The Roadrunners also lost in straight sets to Rice.

Kirby Smith leads the UTSA offensive charge with 195 kills and is averaging 2.85 kills per set. Courtney Walters has a team-best 466 assists and ranks eighth in C-USA with 6.99 assists per set. Emily Ramirez's 40 service aces rank her second behind Sophia Cerino of WKU, who leads the nation in service aces.

All-Time Series
The Roadrunners are perfect against Southern Miss, going 10-0 since the first meeting in 1994. Head coach Stephanie Radecki and the Golden Eagles will look to change the script after dropping last year's contest, 3-1.

Quotable from Stephanie Radecki
"UTSA is a strong program. They are very balanced and have really strong offensive players across the board that are scrappy. They have some really strong wins and are playing very well right now. I definitely think we have the ability to make it a competitive match."

Match Info
First serve is slated for 6 p.m. at Reed Green Coliseum. Visit southernmiss.com for Live Stats and Live Video.

For all of the latest Southern Miss volleyball news, fans can follow the official Southern Miss volleyball Twitter account (@SouthernMissVB), Instagram account (@southernmissvb) and Facebook account (Southern Miss Volleyball).

Single-game and season tickets are on sale via SouthernMissTickets.com, calling 1-800-844-TICK, or visiting the Pat Ferlise Center during normal business hours.

Golden Eagles to Host UTSA on Friday Night

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Players Mentioned

Ashley Berry

Kellie Garraway

Liana Guillemaud

Gillian Hidalgo

Summer Johnson

Kess Krutsinger

Madison Lawler

Piper Matsumoto

Kaile Tuisamatatele

University of Southern Mississippi Athletics