PREVIEW: Volleyball hosts UD Tournament (9/15-16)
MULTIMEDIA COVERAGE
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FIRST SERVE
The University of Dallas volleyball team plays its first home matches of 2017 with a non-conference tournament on September 15th-16th. Five teams counting the hosts will participate, and the Crusaders will be opposing three of them. Dallas opens the home slate with Brooklyn College at 6 p.m.
The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) will be present that night for its annual #SCAC8in8 tour. There will be plenty of giveaways and donations of any amount will be accepted for t-shirts. All donations will be given to Red Cross in support of Hurricane Harvey victims. Fans are also encouraged to wear white in Friday's nightcap in an effort to "Whiteout" the Maher Center.
Dallas (3-5) wraps up the home weekend with a pair of matches on Saturday starting with 2018-19 SCAC member Johnson & Wales University (CO) at 11 a.m. Things end at 3 p.m. against Endicott College. LeTourneau University is the other program in attendance, but will only have two neutral site matches on the first day. The Crusaders did pick up one of their victories against LETU last weekend at the Austin College Invitational, as they split 2-2 in that two-day event.
UD NOTABLES
- Dallas is outscoring its opponents 657-650, and have dominated the first set 191-168 to reflect a 6-2 mark in those openers of the match.
- Mary Scholz (Fallon, Nev.) the team leader offensively with 101 kills (3.37 per set) and has led the team all eight matches this campaign. The senior also has recorded a double-double in kills and digs in all contests.
- Classmate Diana Hassink (Tulsa, Okla.) has been the libero and is anchor in digs with 171. Scholz has contributed the other triple-digit amount with 127.
- Scholz and Krystyn Pua (Escondido, Calif.) have combined for 25 service aces with 13 and 12, respectively. Stephanie Janysek (Sinton, Texas) has amassed 199 assists.
- In 2016, the Crusaders went 4-1 at the friendly confines with the last four matchups being victories.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Brooklyn College Season Stats
- Johnson & Wales Season Stats
- Endicott College Season Stats
- The only team the Crusaders have a previous history with is Johnson & Wales. UD owns a 3-0 record all-time and last played October 4th, 2013, in Irving.
OPPONENT NOTABLES
(Brooklyn College)
- The Bulldogs are unbeaten with a 5-0 record. This includes two matches away from home.
- Michaela Appel and Sarina Rozek pace Brooklyn in kills with 48 and 46, respectively.
- Kate Meltsin leads the squad with 77 assists and Jailene Parades has dug 77 balls.
(Johnson & Wales University)
- The Wildcats are 0-12 on the season.
- They play a road match at Austin College on Thursday before making the trip down to Dallas over the weekend.
- Erynn Keeney paces the offense with 76 kills and Katie Malachinski is closely behind with 70.
- Brooke Paxton has 137 digs, while Keeney has contributed 95.
(Endicott College)
- The Gulls are 3-5 on the campaign.
- They are coming off a 3-2 victory Wednesday against Amherst, which snapped a three-game losing slide.
- Emma Mancini leads the team with 85 kills.
- Cydney Pierce leads the defense with 102 digs. Araya Lessard has a team-high 23 blocks with five being solo blocks.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Dallas travels across the DFW Metroplex for a non-conference match at Southwestern Adventist University on Sept. 19th. Start time is slated for 7 p.m. After that it is a stretch of seven SCAC matches in a row. The league games start for UD on Sept. 23rd-24th at the Divisional hosted by Austin College. Colorado College and Centenary College will also be opposing the Crusaders in addition to the host school that conference opener.