| Oct. 27, 2005
Contact: Kyle Stephens (210) 458-4907 Roadrunners return home for three matches this weekend Live Audio | Live Stats | Complete Release
SAN ANTONIO - The UTSA volleyball team will look to get back on the winning track with three home matches this weekend at the Convocation Center. The Roadrunners face McNeese State on Friday, Oct. 28, at 5 p.m., Lamar on Saturday at 6 p.m., and Northern Colorado in a non-conference tilt on Sunday at 4 p.m. UTSA Roadrunners (11-8, 8-4)
vs.
McNeese State Cowgirls (12-7, 7-3)
Friday, Oct. 28 • 5 p.m. UTSA Roadrunners (11-8, 8-4)
vs.
Lamar Lady Cardinals (5-16, 3-6)
Saturday, Oct. 29 • 6 p.m. UTSA Roadrunners (11-8)
vs.
Northern Colorado Bears (10-10)
Sunday, Oct. 30 • 4 p.m.
All Matches: Convocation Center • San Antonio, Texas Quick Hitters
• UTSA has won seven straight home matches
• The Roadrunners are 7-2 in October UTSA vs. McNeese State Series History
UTSA leads, 17-16 • UTSA has won four of the last five meetings
Last Meeting: McNeese St. 3, UTSA 2 (27-30, 30-23, 30-27, 22-30, 15-12)
Nov. 19, 2004 • Beaumont, Texas (SLC Tournament)
Last UTSA win: Oct. 23, 2004 • San Antonio (30-17, 30-22, 30-25)
UTSA vs. Lamar Series History
Lamar leads, 22-15 • UTSA has won last four meetings
Last Meeting: UTSA 3, Lamar 0 (30-18, 30-15, 30-16)
Oct. 22, 2004 • San Antonio
Last Lamar win: Oct. 25, 2002 • Beaumont (29-31, 30-20, 30-19, 30-26) * UTSA and Northern Colorado have never met
Scouting McNeese State
The Cowgirls have won three straight matches and are 12-7 overall and in sole possession of fourth place in the Southland Conference with a 7-3 mark. Marquita Williams and Trisha Seale lead the offense with 3.44 and 3.90 kills per game, respectively. Williams and Kandra Owens are the top blockers at 0.94 and 0.92 blocks per game, while Jessica Strama is one of the league’s top back row players at 4.87 digs per game. Head coach Dale Starr is 30-18 in his second season in Lake Charles.
Scouting Lamar
The Lady Cardinals enter a Friday night match at Texas State at 5-16 overall and 3-6 in the SLC. Reigning SLC Offensive Player of the Week Buchi Okoh leads Lamar with 3.70 kills per game (303 kills) and 0.98 blocks per game (80 blocks). Erica Brown is the top digger with 3.28 per game and Ashley Todd ranks in the top five in the league with 11.12 assists per game. Head coach Justin Gibert, a former assistant coach at UTSA, is in his first season at the helm.
Scouting Northern Colorado
The Bears head into a Friday match at fellow NCAA Division I Independent Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 10-10 overall. Amanda Wiggins is the top offensive threat with 3.69 kills per game, while Lizzy Rhoads averages 1.36 blocks per game. Northern Colorado, which will join the Big Sky Conference in 2006-07, has won 32 straight home matches, the second-longest streak in the nation. Head coach Lyndsey Benson is in her first season.
Week In Review
UTSA had its seven-match winning streak snapped in four games at Texas-Arlington on Oct. 21. The Roadrunners handled the Mavericks in game one, 30-22, but dropped three straight, 30-23, 30-19, 30-18. Juniors Connie Picard and Meagan Daniel recorded 13 and 12 kills, respectively, to lead the offense, while junior Erin McMillan recorded a match-high 23 digs. UTA posted 15 team blocks, including eight from Melissa Marek. UTSA fell in three games at Sam Houston State on Oct. 25, 30-26, 31-29, 30-23. Daniel had 13 kills, while senior Julia Hunter and junior Brittany Hildebrand added 10 apiece, but the Bearkats got 18 kills and 10 blocks from Alisha Fowler in the win.
400 and Counting
With the 30-19, 30-28, 32-30 victory against Texas State on Oct. 11, UTSA scored the program’s 400th win. The Roadrunners now have an all-time record of 402-368.
No Place Like Home
The Roadrunners are 6-0 at the Convocation Center this season and have won seven straight at the facility dating back to a 3-0 win against Texas-Arlington on Nov. 9, 2004. UTSA is 64-29 (.688) at the Convo since 1998 and 135-88 (.600) all-time.
Lending A Helping Hand
When Hurricane Rita struck the Texas/Louisiana border region on Sept. 24, it displaced numerous families and businesses. The Lamar volleyball team also had to relocate due to structural damage to the Montagne Center. UTSA offered use of on-campus apartments and gyms to house the Lady Cardinals for about two weeks until LU was able to return to Beaumont on Oct 16.
Career Milestone
Fourth-year head coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff won her 300th career game with a 3-0 sweep of Delaware on Sept. 2. The former Texas All-American now owns a 310-124 overall record in 12 seasons. Groff posted a 256-62 (.805) record at St. Mary’s, a Division II school in San Antonio, before taking over as UTSA’s head coach in 2002.
Honor Roll
UTSA has garnered five Southland Conference/Aeropostale Player of the Week honors this season. Connie Picard and Victoria Prior were named Defensive and co-Offensive Players of the Week, respectively, on Oct. 17. Picard had 14 blocks, including six solos, 28 kills, 42 points, a .389 hitting percentage and four aces, while Prior shared the honor with Lauren Railey of Stephen F. Austin after turning in 30 kills, 32.5 points and a .481 hitting percentage in her first three career starts. Meagan Daniel was named Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 3 after posting 29 kills, a .367 hitting percentage, 32 points, eight digs and a pair of aces in 3-0 sweeps of Nicholls State and Southeastern Louisiana. Junior libero Erin McMillan has been named Defensive Player of the Week twice this season. She shared the honor with Stephanie Figgers of SFA on Sept. 6 after posting 21 digs in a 3-0 sweep of Delaware and 23 in a five-game loss to Middle Tennessee State. McMillan received her second weekly accolade on Sept. 26 after turning in a season-high 25 digs against SFA on Sept. 20.
Daily Double
The junior duo of DeeDee Strickland and Meagan Daniel have made habits of turning in double-doubles. Daniel has reached double figures in both kills and digs in nine contests and is nearly averaging a double-double with 13.7 kills and 9.4 digs per match. Strickland, a setter, has posted double-digit assists in all 19 matches and has reached 10 or more digs eight times.
Dig This
Erin McMillan has been one of the top back row players in the Southland Conference the past two seasons and 2005 is no different. With 302 digs in 62 games, the two-time SLC Defensive Player of the Week is tied for third in the league with 4.87 digs per game. She has cruised up the school’s career digs chart to fourth place with 1,363 and is on track to move into third all-time with her third consecutive 500-dig season.
Daniel Delivers
A legitimate SLC Player of the Year candidate, Meagan Daniel has continued to impress as one of the league’s top all-around players. Whether it is on the attack (witness her team-high 260 kills and 295 points) on defense (178 digs and 28 blocks) or with serve (21 aces), the Hereford native has an impact from just about anywhere on the floor. The only returning SLC player with two first-team all-conference selections in her portfolio, Daniel ranks in the league’s top 20 in four different categories — hitting percentage, kills, aces and points — and is posting a league-best 4.41 kills and 4.87 points per game in conference play.
Setting The Table
DeeDee Strickland continues to prove herself as one of the top setters in the Southland Conference and in UTSA history. The League City native finished her sophomore campaign with 1,403 assists, an average of 12.09 per game which ranked third in the league. Strickland already ranks third on UTSA’s career chart with 3,649 and needs 167 helpers to catch Deanna Bower for second place. Strickland posted 73 assists in a 3-1 victory over UTA on Sept. 16, two shy of her career high set in 2003. She ranks second in the SLC with 11.57 assists per game, close behind SFA’s J.J. Jones (12.30).
High-Percentage Hitter
Connie Picard, a middle blocker from Spring, has emerged as one of UTSA’s most consistent attackers over the past two seasons. After hitting just .208 as a freshman in 2003, Picard turned in a .252 hitting percentage last season with 351 kills and 144 errors on 823 total attacks. This season, Picard is attacking at a league-best .330 clip, a mark that would shatter the school’s single-season record of .307 shared by Leslie Dodson (1992) and Charlsie Heifrin (2000). Also the team’s top net presence, Picard has registered 63 total blocks including a season-high seven blocks in the 3-1 loss to Rice.
Rocket Launch
Junior Brittany Hildebrand, a former standout for the Converse Judson High Rockets, has developed into one of the more dangerous outside hitters in the conference. After a slow start to the season — just 70 kills in the first eight matches — Hildebrand has taken off since mid-September, reaching double digits in kills in six matches, including 13 in victories against Texas-Arlington on Sept. 16 and Louisiana-Monroe on Oct. 8.
Prior-ities
Redshirt freshman Victoria Prior has made the most of her first three career starts two weeks ago, posting 30 kills (3.33 kpg), 32.5 points (3.61 ppg) and a .481 hitting percentage en route to earning SLC co-Offensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 17. The Galveston native posted a career-high 11 kills and hit .409 in a three-game sweep of Texas State on Oct. 11. She followed that with 11 kills and a .643 hitting percentage in a sweep at Nicholls State and nine kills on .438 hitting in the win at Southeastern Louisiana last weekend.
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