Appalachian State University volleyball will look to remain unbeaten in the Sun Belt Conference and extend its current eight-game winning streak when it hosts both Little Rock and UT Arlington this weekend. First serve on Friday, Oct. 9 and Saturday, Oct. 10 are slated for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN3.
CATCH THE MOUNTAINEERS:
Live Stats: appstatesports.com
Live Video: ESPN3
NATIONAL LANDSCAPE:
As a team, the Mountaineers are currently 10th nationally in hitting percentage (.289), 14th in kills per set (14.28) and 20th in assists per set (13.3)
Paige Brown is currently 11th in the nation in assists per set (11.52) and 26th in total assists (691), while Jess Keller is 27th in total kills (266) and 14th in kills per set (4.43).
HOME SWEET HOME:
Dating back to the 2013 season, Appalachian State is 30-8 at the Holmes Center –good for a .789 winning percentage, including a 19-3 mark dating back to 2014 - good for a .864 winning percentage.
2014 was a banner year at home for the Mountaineers that saw the Black and Gold turn in a 14-2 (.875) record on their home court. So far in 2015, App State is 5-1 on its home court.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP:
So far in 2015, both Jess Keller (266, 4.43) and Emily Corrigan (210, 3.50) are currently top two on the team in kills and kills per set, while senior setter Paige Brown is far and away the assist leader for the Mountaineers (691).
Meanwhile, senior libero Meghan Mahoney is leading the squad with 280 digs on the year.
CHASING HISTORY:
Senior Emily Corrigan came into the 2015 season with 988 career kills. After four matches, the senior cracked the 1,000 kill club and currently has tallied 1,198 career kills. Following last weekend, Corrigan is 25 kills way from sole possession of eighth all-time.
Jess Keller has upped her kills career total to 977 this season and remains 154 kills away from cracking the top ten in the program record book.
Senior Paige Brown entered this season with 3,143 career assists. This season, Brown has recorded 590 assists – bumping her career total to 3,834. That tally is currently good for fourth all-time in program history and just 574 kills to hold the all-time record.
On the defensive side, senior libero Meghan Mahoney has tallied 280 total digs on the year. Entering 2015, Mahoney had recorded 1,329 career digs, which was good for fifth to begin the year. With 1,609 career digs, Mahoney has vaulted from fifth to fourth all-time in program history and remains 260 digs away from tying Courtney Rhein for the all-time program record of 1,869 career digs.
SCOUTING LITTLE ROCK:
The Trojans entered the match on Friday with a 7-9 overall record, including a 3-3 mark within the Sun Belt. Most recently, Little Rock has been on a three-game losing streak with losses in conference at Texas State and UT Arlington and at home against Arkansas State.
Edina Selimovic leads the Trojans in total kills (192) and kills per set (3.25), while Carolee Dillard and Marina Avram are the only other two student-athletes averaging more than two kills per set.
Megan Mathis runs the Trojan offense and has compiled 528 assists this season, including 8.95 assists per set. On the defensive end of things, Priscila Almeida leads with 295 digs and 5.00 digs per set. The Trojans have three more student-athletes with over 100 digs on the season.
As a team, Little Rock is hitting .204 and is averaging 11.46 kills per set and 10.41 assists per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE TROJANS:
All-time against the Trojans, the Mountaineers are 0-3, with two losses coming in the 2014 season. App State dropped both matches, 3-1 and 3-0. Prior to last year, both squads matched up one other time on Sept. 18, 2004. The Trojans won 3-1 at the TCU Adidas tournament.
SCOUTING UT ARLINGTON:
Thus far in 2015, the UT Arlington Mavericks are 13-6 overall and hold a 4-3 record within the Sun Belt Conference. Most recently, the Mavs dropped a five-setter to Texas State after home wins over Georgia Southern and Little Rock.
Qiana Canete leads UTA with 3.46 kills per set and also 249 total kills. Stacey Koch is right behind with 3.33 kills per set and a total of 240 kills. Cassidy Wheeler is by far and away the assist leader for the Mavs and has amassed 716 total assists this season.
On the defensive side of things, Caitlyn Cooney leads with 283 digs and 3.93 digs per set, while Canete has totaled 218 digs and has recorded 3.03 digs per set.
As a team, the Mavs have talled an attack percentage of .222 and have totaled 934 kills and 857 assists.
THE SERIES WITH THE MAVERICKS:
All-time against UT Arlington, the Mountaineers are 2-1. In 2014, both teams split home matches - garnering sweeps on their home court. In the opening round of the 2014 Sun Belt Tournament, the Mavs downed the Apps 3-1.
