Nov. 16, 2005
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CINCINNATI - The Xavier volleyball team will travel to the Univesity of Rhode Island this weekend to compete in the 24th annual Atlantic 10 Volleyball Tournament. XU, who earned the third seed in the tournament, will take on the second-seeded Temple Owls in the second semifinal match on Friday night.
Xavier makes its seventh-straight trip to the A-10 Tournament and looks to claim the second A-10 Tournament in school history. XU took the 2001 championship after defeating Temple in the finals and also made the first trip to the NCAA tournament in school history.
The Musketeers will take the court on Friday, November 18 at 7:00 pm. This year's A-10 Tournament will be held at the Keaney Gymnasium on the campus of the University of Rhode Island. The first semifinal match at 4:30 pm will pair Dayton and Charlotte with the two winners advancing to the championship match on Saturday evening at 7:30 pm. Catch all of the live action on Gametracker at www.GOXAVIER.com.
GAME NOTES
Xavier against Temple...
Xavier will tangle with Temple on Friday night for the second time this season. TU took the only meeting of the season in a five-game match by scores of 30-22, 28-30, 30-23, 33-35 and 15-11. The Musketeers and Owls will meet for the 29th time in the series with the series currently deadlocked at 14-14. XU has an overall record of 3-3 against Temple in the A-10 Tournament and defeated the Owls in the semifinals of the 2004 tournament to earn a trip to the championship match against Dayton. The Musketeers have an overall record of 4-6 in the Atlantic 10 Tournament since joining the conference in 1995. In those 10 seasons, XU has advanced to the conference tournament in seven of the 10 seasons including the last seven straight A-10 Tournaments.
A Look Ahead...
Xavier will take on the winner of the Dayton-Charlotte match. In 2005, XU lost to the Flyers twice, once at home and once on the road, but defeated the 49ers at Cintas Center in the first A-10 meeting between the two teams. After the A-10 Tournament, the Musketeers will have two remaining matches as XU will compete in the A-10/MAC Challenge at the University of Dayton. Opponents in that tournament will include Miami (Oh) who is 17-11 on the season and 10-7 in MAC play and Kent State who is 9-20 in 2005 and 4-13 in conference action.
STARTING THINGS OFF RIGHT
Xavier started the season 5-0 marking the fifth time under head coach Floyd Deaton that XU began with a perfect 5-0 mark. The last time the Musketeers started 5-0 was during the 2003 season.
SERVICE PLEASE
On the season, the Musketeers have served up 43 more aces than their opponents for a 161-118 advantage in 2005.
HISTORY WATCH
Three Xavier players are currently eyeing history in the XU record books. Seniors Kate Duchek and Jordan Brightwell along with junior Astyn Bjorklund are all trying to make their mark in Xavier volleyball history.
Duchek broke into the Top 10 for kills in a career this season as the St. Louis, Mo. native now stands only 127 kills away from Sara Bachus in 2nd place. She currently has 1,471 kills on the season. The senior also jumped into the Top 10 for attempts in a career as well. She holds the 4th best mark for attempts in a season, trails 3rd place Jill Hampton by 71 attempts and currently has 3,859.
Brightwell has also carved a spot in the record books as the libero is now 2nd all-time for digs in a career. She came into the season in 7th place and currently has 1,586 digs for her career. Only 142 digs separate her from first place held by XU Hall of Fame member Beth Osterday. Brightwell also holds the 6th and 7th positions for digs in a season with 415 and 404, respectively, and currently has 402 in 2005.
Bjorklund came into the season in third place all-time for hitting percentage in a career and has improved her career percentage to .311 after 28 matches this season. The Nicollet, Minn. native is currently tied with former teammate Kim Cockerel for second place.
"FROSH" START
Freshman setter Jenn Welsh made her collegiate debut by dishing out 29 assists and also recording her first collegiate kill and ace, while adding eight digs in XU's 3-0 win over Air Force. Since that time, the Goodland, Ind. native has set career-highs for assists (65 vs. Central Michigan, Dayton and Duquesne), aces (3 - Rhode Island and Duquesne), digs (22 vs. Central Michigan) and kills (4 vs. Fordham and Charlotte). She currently has 1,356 assists in her young career, which is good enough for 7th all-time in XU history for assists in a career. The last time head coach Floyd Deaton started a freshman setter came during the 2001 season when XU captured the A-10 tournament title and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. Welsh has also been named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week six times this season, including three straight weeks from 9/19 thru 10/3 with her honors coming during the weeks of 9/19, 9/26, 10/3, 10/17, 11/7 and 11/14.
RIDING THE "KATE" TAILS
Xavier senior outside hitter Kate Duchek has led XU in kills in 20 out of 29 matches this year and posted a season-high 24 kills against Central Michigan on 9/20. The week before she posted her season-high hitting percentage as she recorded a .484 after 17 kills on 31 swings with only two errors against Jacksonville State. She has posted double-digit kills in 24 of XU's 29 matches this season, including 16 matches with 15 or more. She had a streak of 12 straight matches with 10 or more kills (Sept. 20-Oct. 25), which ended on 10/25 against Ball State. Duchek also leads the Musketeers in aces this season as well. She has 31 thus far in 2005.
DOUBLE UP
Junior outside hitter Danielle Skrajewski currently has 35 double-doubles in her career, which is 22 more than anyone currently on the XU roster (Carley Horvath has 13 career double-doubles). During 2005, Skrajewski already has recorded 14 double doubles this season and recorded a double-double in seven straight matches from Oct. 7 to Oct. 29 (Oct. 7 vs. Dayton 12-14; Oct. 11 vs. Louisville DNP; Oct. 14 vs. St. Louis 20-12; Oct. 15 vs. Duquesne 18-11; Oct. 21 vs. Temple 16-11; Oct. 22 vs. La Salle 10-18; Oct. 25 vs. Ball State; Oct. 27 vs. Dayton). Skrajewski was named A-10 Player of the Week for the week of 10/17 after averaging a double-double during play that week with 4.75 kills per game and 2.88 digs per game.
DIGGING FOR GOLD
Libero Jordan Brightwell is currently tops on the team for digs and digs per game. The senior from Louisville, Ky. has 402 digs on the season and is averaging 3.94 per game. She has recorded 14 or more digs 14 times this season including a season-high 26 against Duquesne on Oct. 15. In 24 out of the 29 matches this season, she has notched double-digit digs including a current 16-match streak with 10 or more. Brightwell has also had 10 or more digs in every A-10 match this season.
Xavier in the A-10
The Musketeers finished in second place overall in the A-10 West Division behind rival Dayton. Xavier finished with a 10-3 record in conference play falling only to Dayton (twice) and Temple, all of which were five-game matches.
Honors All Around
Freshman setter Jenn Welsh has been named the A-10 Rookie of the Week six times including three straight weeks from Sept. 19 to Oct. 3. The last XU player to receive multiple Rookie of the Week honors was Molly Martin who graduated last season with XU's second-most assists in a career with 4,565. Other players receiving A-10 honors this season are senior Kate Duchek and junior Danielle Skrajewski. Duchek received her third Player of the Week honor in her career for the week of Sept. 26, while Skrajewski earned her second award of her career for the week of Oct. 17. Skrajewski was also named the Rookie of the Week on Nov. 10, 2003.
Xavier's A-10 Stats
In all matches played, Xavier currently leads the A-10 in blocking as the 2005 edition of Musketeer volleyball is averaging 2.57 blocks per game. In conference play this season, the Musketeers also hold the top spot for opponent hitting percentage (.172), total digs (918) and total blocks (145.0). The Musketeers rank second in digs per game (17.32) and fourth in conference play for team hitting percentage (.243) and are fifth in assists per game (14.40) and kills per game (15.66). XU also has two players in the top seven in blocks per game during conference action and in all matches played.
Xavier Individual Stats in A-10 Play
Freshman Jenn Welsh currently ranks second in A-10 play for assists per game as the setter is dishing out 13.02 per contest and has 690 assist in 53 games. Sophomore Jill Quayle is fourth in A-10 play for blocks per game as the middle hitter is averaging 1.35 rejections per contest. Senior Kate Duchek is currently third for kills per game and is averaging 4.17 kills in each A-10 game. Junior Astyn Bjorklund is ninth overall for hitting percentage (.345) and sixth for blocks per game (1.19). Libero Jordan Brightwell rounds out the Musketeers atop the conference leaders as the senior is averaging 3.92 digs per game, which is sixth best in A-10 contests.
Xavier's Overall Stats in the A-10
XU has five players in the conference individual leaders for statistics in all 2005 matches. Freshman setter Jenn Welsh leads the A-10 in assists per game with 12.67 and is only three assists shy of having the most in the A-10. Senior Kate Duchek ranks second for kills per game with 4.09 and is fourth overall for total kills with 434. Duchek also ranks fourth for points per game with 4.71. Classmate Jordan Brightwell is also fourth in the A-10 for digs per game at 3.94 per contest. Junior Astyn Bjorklund is tied for fourth place in the A-10 for individual hitting percentage with a .342 mark and the middle blocker also is sixth in blocks per game with 1.11. Sophomore Jill Quayle, who leads XU in blocks per game with 1.20, ranks fifth overall in the conference in the category. Quayle is also tied for 10th place for hitting percentage with a .297 mark. As a team, the Musketeers are atop the standings for blocks per game with 2.57 rejections and also rank second in opponent hitting percentage with a .180 average. Xavier also ranks third in hitting percentage (.235) and digs per game (16.79) and fourth in kills per game (15.41) and assists per game (14.19).
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