| Nov. 10, 2005
Contact: Kyle Stephens (210) 458-4907 UTSA looks to improve SLC Tourney seeding this weekend in Louisiana Live Audio | Complete Release SAN ANTONIO - Winners of four of their last five matches, the UTSA volleyball hits the road for the final two regular season contests of the year this weekend in Louisiana. The Roadrunners (15-9, 11-5 SLC) face Northwestern State (9-15, 7-9) on Friday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. at Prather Coliseum and Louisiana-Monroe (14-14, 7-9) on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Brown Gym. UTSA Roadrunners (15-9, 11-5)
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Northwestern State Lady Demons (9-15, 7-9)
Friday, Nov. 11 • 7 p.m. • Prather Coliseum
UTSA Roadrunners (15-9, 11-5)
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Louisiana-Monroe Lady Indians (14-14, 7-9)
Saturday, Nov. 12 • 2 p.m. • Brown Gym Quick Hitters
• UTSA is 11-3 over its last 14 matches
• The Roadrunners defeated both Northwestern State and Louisiana-Monroe in the first meetings this season and dominate the all-time series with both teams, 24-1 and 23-3, respectively
• UTSA can earn anywhere from the No. 2 to the No. 5 seed for next weekend’s Southland Conference Tournament in Arlington
UTSA vs. Northwestern State Series History
UTSA leads, 24-1 • UTSA has won 24 straight meetings
Last Meeting: UTSA 3, NWLA 0 (30-22, 30-24, 30-18)
Oct. 7, 2005 • San Antonio, Texas
Only NWLA win: Nov. 14, 1991 • Natchitoches, La. (3-2)
Scouting Northwestern State
The Lady Demons are 7-9 in the Southland Conference and have qualified for the SLC Tournament for the first time in school history. Northwestern State, 9-15 overall, is led by sophomore outside hitter Whitney King (3.00 kills per game) and senior middle blocker Priscila Augusto (2.90 kpg). Senior middle Shannon Puder is one of the top blockers in the league with 101 total blocks (1.25 bpg), while senior setter Flavia Belo averages 9.33 assists per game. Head coach Leigh Mullins is 31-62 in her third season in Natchitoches.
UTSA vs. Louisiana-Monroe Series History
UTSA leads, 23-3 • UTSA has won 14 straight meetings
Last Meeting: UTSA 3, ULM 1 (26-30, 30-24, 30-14, 30-18)
Oct. 8, 2005 • San Antonio, Texas
Last ULM win: Sept. 19, 1998 • San Antonio (9-15, 15-10, 15-9, 10-15, 18-16)
Scouting Louisiana-Monroe
The Lady Indians are enjoying one of the best seasons in school history, having already set the Louisiana-Monroe record for conference wins with their 7-9 record. ULM enters Friday night’s match with Texas State at 14-14 overall and is led by senior outside hitter Megan Gloor, who has 378 kills (3.86 kpg) and 50 service aces. Junior setter Darci Mika averages 11.58 assists per game, while senior libero Sei Hee Hwang is one of the top back row players in the league with 4.96 digs per game. Head coach Mark Pryor is in his first season in Monroe.
Week In Review
UTSA split a pair of home matches with two of the top three teams in the league last weekend in San Antonio. On Friday, league champion Stephen F. Austin halted the Roadrunners’ 10-match home winning streak with a 32-30, 30-23, 30-25 victory behind 18 kills and 15 digs from Laura Cramer. UTSA bounced back for a 28-30, 30-18, 30-26, 30-26 win against Sam Houston State on Saturday to close out the home slate with a 10-1 mark. Junior Meagan Daniel led five Roadrunners in double-digit kills with 18 to go along with 13 digs, while senior Julia Hunter and redshirt freshman Victoria Prior added 13 and 12, respectively.
SLC Scenarios
The Roadrunners can earn anywhere from the No. 2 to the No. 5 seed for next weekend’s Southland Conference Tournament in Arlington as the seeding for the expanded eight-team field will be based on winning percentage. With two matches left for every league team except Nicholls State and Southeastern Louisiana, who both are mathematically eliminated from the tournament, UTSA needs a combination of two victories, two losses by Sam Houston State, which plays at McNeese State and Lamar, and one loss by Texas State (at Louisiana-Monroe and Northwestern State) to finish in at least a tie for second place with the Bobcats. If UTSA splits, the Roadrunners would need one loss by McNeese State, which plays Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston, to secure fourth place or higher. Two UTSA losses and a McNeese State victory would send the Cowgirls past UTSA into fourth.
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 406-369.
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 314-125 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. Junior 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 13 contests and is averaging a double-double with 14.3 kills and 10.3 digs per match. Strickland, a setter, has posted double-digit assists in all 24 matches and has reached 10 or more digs 11 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 392 digs in 83 games, the two-time SLC Defensive Player of the Week is fifth in the league with 4.72 digs per game. She has cruised up the school’s career digs chart to fourth place with 1,453 and is on track to move into third all-time with her third consecutive 500-dig season. McMillan, a Churchill High grad, registered a season-high 26 digs in the win over McNeese State on Oct. 28, her ninth 20-dig outing of the year.
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 344 kills and 390.0 points) on defense (248 digs and 34 blocks) or with serve (29 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 three different categories — kills, aces and points — and is posting a league-best 4.43 kills and 4.91 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. Now with 3,946 career assists, Strickland passed Deanna Bower for second place with 52 assists in the win over Northern Colorado on Oct. 30 and could reach Natasha Biggers’ school record of 5,440 next season. The Clear Creek High product ranks second in the SLC in assists per game at 12.20 behind SFA’s J.J. Jones (12.47). She bettered her career-high of 75 helpers with 84, just four shy of Biggers’ school-record 88, in the five-game thriller over McNeese State on Oct. 28.
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 .331 clip, a mark that ranks second in the SLC and 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 70 total blocks including a season-high seven blocks in the 3-1 loss to Rice.
Back In The Fold
Senior middle hitter Jennifer Emelogu has returned to form nicely after suffering a minor ankle injury in mid-October that forced her to miss three matches. In her first full match back on Oct. 28, the Austin native registered nine kills and hit .267 in the win over McNeese State. Two days later she turned in a career-best eight block assists in the Northern Colorado victory. In the last five matches, Emelogu is averaging 2.45 kills and 1.27 blocks per game.
Prior-ities
Redshirt freshman Victoria Prior made the most of her first three career during the second week of October, 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 turned in a then-career-high 11 kills and hit .409 in a three-game sweep of Texas State on Oct. 11. Prior bettered her career mark with 14 kills in the win over Lamar on Oct. 29 and now has seven double-digit kills outings this season.
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