Greyhounds Volleyball Prepares For Final Road Matches Before Homecoming 10/4/2018 | Women’s Volleyball

LAST TIME OUT

Eastern is looking to bounce back after dropping a pair of road matches last week at St. Mary’s and Texas A&M-Kingsville.

On Sept. 28, the Hounds dropped a tough 3-0 (20-25, 18-25, 22-25) non-conference match to the Rattlers. Despite getting swept, ENMU was able to battle toe-to-toe with St. Mary’s, but the Rattlers were able to make late pushes in each of the three sets to pull away. After receiving the Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week Award last week, senior middle blocker Jennifer Martinez put together another strong offensive performance, finishing the match with 12 kills on a .435 hitting percentage along with two total blocks and a service ace.

On the following night, the Hounds returned to LSC play as they played another challenging match at Texas A&M-Kingsville, but ultimately fell 3-1 (25-23, 21-25, 16-25, 25-27). Eastern rallied from a seven-point deficit and scored the last three points to pull out a 25-23 first set victory. Unfortunately, the Javelinas played some strong defensive volleyball for the rest of the match to come away with the final three sets. Senior middle blocker Julie Tucker had one of her best matches of the season, finishing with her second-best season totals in kills (9), attack percentage (.529), and total blocks (5). Sophomore outside hitter Jasmine Gannon also tallied her fifth double-double on the season with 10 kills and 10 digs.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS

Texas Woman’s currently holds an 11-7 overall mark and is seventh in the LSC standings with a 3-5 record in conference play. The Pioneers are coming off a pair of five-set road match losses at Western New Mexico and UT-Permian Basin. However, TWU has been a different team on their home court this season as they hold an 8-1 mark at Kitty Magee Arena.

Leading the Pioneers frontline attack is junior outside hitter Maggie Pyles, who has a team-high 246.5 points and currently ranks third in the LSC with 211 kills. The Hounds will also need to be wary of junior middle blocker Courtney Noel, who has scored 214.5 points and ranks eight in the LSC with 182 kills. Feeding the TWU offensive attack is junior setter Kate Raines, who leads the LSC and ranks seventh in NCAA Division II in assists with 751.

On the defensive end, TWU is led by junior defensive specialist Bailey French who ranks second in the LSC and 11^th nationally with 378 digs as well as first in the LSC at 5.40 digs per set. On the frontline, freshman middle blocker Trixie Oche leads the team with 55 total blocks while Noel ranks second with 52 total blocks.

Despite the Pioneers leading the all-time series 23-20, the Hounds have had some recent success by taking three of the last four from TWU. Last season, Eastern dropped a 3-1 decision at Texas Woman’s, but bounced back with a three-set sweep over Pioneers at home later in the season.

SCOUTING THE LIONS

Nationally 21st-ranked Texas A&M-Commerce holds a 14-4 overall mark and currently sit in third in the LSC with a 6-2 record. The Lions have been particularly tough at home as they are currently undefeated at 5-0 at Wisdom Gym. Last week, TAMUC survived a five-set scare on the road at UT-Permian Basin and came away with a 3-1 win at Western New Mexico.

The Lions feature a balanced offensive attack as five players have more than 140 kills and are led by senior middle blocker Jaslyn Wacker, who is sixth in the LSC with 188 kills and a team-leading 223.5 points. The catalyst for the TAMUC attack is junior setter Rylie Fuentes, who has a team-leading 375 assists, averaging 5.43 assists per set.

Defensively, Commerce features a strong frontline that ranks third in the LSC in blocks per set (2.11), led by junior middle blocker and right side hitter Shelley Chapron with 76 total blocks. In the backcourt, junior libero Savannah Rutledge leads the team with 298 digs, averaging 4.14 digs per set.

LEADING THE PACK

Gannon currently leads the LSC with 241 kills, 25 more than Texas A&M-Kingsville’s Madison Brabham while also leading the LSC with 3.54 kills per set. Gannon has been even stronger in conference play as she averages 3.64 kills per set in LSC matches alone.

LAW OF AVERAGES

After the St. Mary’s match, Martinez completed her third consecutive match where she recorded an attack percentage higher than .400. Martinez recorded a .435 attack percentage against the Rattlers, which followed a .563 attack percentage against Western New Mexico and a .421 against UT-Permian Basin.