| Sept. 12, 2005
Contact: Kyle Stephens (210) 458-4907 Roadrunners open SLC play at Texas State Tuesday Live Audio | Complete Release
SAN ANTONIO - The UTSA volleyball team looks to get back on the winning track when they travel to San Marcos to face rival Texas State on Tuesday, Sept. 13, in the first Southland Conference (SLC) match for both teams. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Strahan Coliseum. UTSA Roadrunners (3-4, 0-0)
at
Texas State Bobcats (1-6, 0-0)
Tuesday, Sept. 13 • 7 p.m.
Strahan Coliseum • San Marcos, Texas Quick Hitters
• UTSA is 5-8 in SLC openers, including a 30-27, 33-31, 30-26 win at Lamar last season
• Texas State leads the all-time series with UTSA, 37-9, and has won the last five meetings
UTSA vs. Texas State Series History
Texas State leads 37-9
Last Meeting: Texas State def. UTSA, 3-1 (30-26, 34-32, 23-30, 30-20)
Oct. 19, 2004 • San Marcos, Texas
Last UTSA win: Nov. 5, 2003 • San Antonio (30-22, 30-23, 30-26)
Scouting Texas State
The Bobcats won their season opener over Morgan State, but have lost six straight since including all three matches against Auburn, Northern Arizona and Arizona State at the Wyndham Buttes Classic over the weekend in Tempe, Ariz. Elizabeth Nwoke leads the offensive attack with 71 kills (3.23 per game), while Lawrencia Brown has 63 kills (3.15 per game). Jesi Grisham and Christina Melvin split setting duties, averaging 6.27 and 4.60 assists per game. Karry Griffin has posted a team-high 32 total blocks and Amy Ramirez owns a team-best 74 digs. Head coach Karen Chisum is 600-382-3 in her 26th season at the helm.
Week In Review
UTSA handled Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on the road last Tuesday, 30-14, 30-22, 30-24, to improve to 3-1 on the season. The Roadrunners ran into much tougher competition at the UTSA Dome Rally over the weekend at the Alamodome. LSU swept UTSA, 30-21, 30-20, 30-25, to open the tournament on Friday. The Roadrunners took game one from Rice on Saturday, 31-29, but the Owls stormed back to beat UTSA in four, 30-25, 30-24, 30-28. Oklahoma dropped the Roadrunners in the finale on Sunday, 30-21, 30-25, 30-20.
Solid Start
With the sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sept. 6, UTSA improved to 3-1 on the season. That marks the program’s best start since also beginning the 1999 and 2000 seasons at 3-1. The Roadrunners also picked up victories over Delaware and Charlotte on Sept. 2-3 at the Charlotte/SpringHill Suites Invitational.
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 302-120 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
Junior libero Erin McMillan was named Southland Conference co-Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 6 after an impressive opening weekend. The Churchill High School product posted match highs in digs in all three matches for UTSA as the Roadrunners finished second at the Charlotte/SpringHill Suites Invitational. McMillan had 21 digs in a 3-0 sweep of Delaware and 23 digs in a 3-2 loss to Middle Tennessee State, a 6-1 team that owns a victory at Georgia this season. She shared the honor with Stephanie Figgers of Stephen F. Austin.
Daily Double
Juniors DeeDee Strickland and Meagan Daniel have made habits of turning in double-doubles. Strickland, a setter, has posted double-digit assists in all seven matches and has reached 10 or more digs in four of those. Daniel has reached double figures in kills and digs in three outings.
SLC Rankings
Here’s a look at where UTSA ranks in the latest Southland Conference statistics released on Sept. 12:
Category No. Rank
Hitting Percentage .146 7th
Opponent Hitting Percentage .203 4th
Assists 11.83 6th
Kills 13.25 4th
Blocks 1.54 11th
Service Aces 1.54 7th
Digs 16.38 4th
Here’s a breakdown of UTSA players appearing in the top 10 of the latest SLC statistics:
Category Player No. Rank
Kills Meagan Daniel 3.29 8th
Assists DeeDee Strickland 9.67 4th
Service Aces Meagan Daniel 0.46 6th
Blocks Connie Picard 1.00 8th
Points Meagan Daniel 3.98 9th
Digs Erin McMillan 4.71 2nd
Preseason SLC Accolades
In the Southland Conference Preseason Polls, UTSA is picked to finish third by the head coaches and fourth by the sports information directors. Stephen F. Austin is the favorite in both lists. Junior outside hitter Meagan Daniel, a two-time first team all-conference selection and SLC Player of the Year candidate, earned a spot on the Preseason All-SLC First Team, the only Roadrunner mentioned on the first or second teams.
Climbing The Charts
Several Roadrunners are climbing their way up UTSA’s career charts.
Category Player Rank No.
Assists DeeDee Strickland 4th 3,129
needs 140 to catch Tamin Uthoff for third place
Total Attacks Meagan Daniel 5th 3,027
needs 441 to catch Cristela Perez for fourth place
Block Assists Connie Picard 6th 196
needs nine to catch Tamara Luckemeyer for fifth place
Digs Erin McMillan 7th 1,160
needs 105 to catch Leslie Dodson for sixth place
Solo Blocks Connie Picard 7th 48
needs 14 to catch Teri Fry for sixth place
Total Blocks Connie Picard 7th 244
needs seven to catch Leslie Dodson for sixth place
Kills Meagan Daniel 8th 1,048
needs 56 to catch Charlsie Heifrin for seventh place
NCAA Host Institution
The University of Texas at San Antonio continues its proud tradition of hosting NCAA Championship events with the 2005 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship coming to the Alamodome on Dec. 15 and 17. It will mark the first time UTSA, host for the 1998 and 2004 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Fours and the 2002 Women’s Final Four, has hosted the volleyball championship.
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