Match 31: Saturday, Nov. 11, Texas-Arlington (22-8, 11-3), 4 p.m.
Convocation Center — San Antonio, Texas
SENIORS TO PLAY FINAL REGULAR SEASON MATCH AT CONVO: UTSA (18-12, 10-5 SLC), which picked up a thrilling five-game victory against I-35 rival Texas State on Thursday night, wraps up the 2006 regular season on Saturday afternoon when Texas-Arlington (22-8, 11-3) comes to the Convocation Center for a 4 p.m. match. The Roadrunners, coming off three five-game victories in a row, will honor their five seniors — Meagan Daniel, Brittany Hildebrand, Erin McMillan, Connie Picard, DeeDee Strickland – prior to the contest. The quintet has combined for 71 victories, including 47 in SLC play, and 11 all-conference awards during their four-year careers.
ON THE WEB: Saturday’s match will be carried live at goUTSA.com (audio & video streaming). Associate SID Brian Hernandez will call all the action from courtside.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION: Texas-Arlington entered its Friday night match at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with a 22-8 overall record and 11-3 mark in SLC play. The Mavericks went into that contest having won 10 of their last 12 matches. UTA holds a 23-8 edge in the all-time series with the Roadrunners, including a sweep at Texas Hall on Oct. 7.
HOME COOKIN’: UTSA has won seven consecutive home matches and the Roadrunners now have a 9-2 record at the Convocation Center this season. A victory on Saturday would give UTSA 10 home wins for the third season in a row. Dating back to 1989, the Roadrunners have won nearly 62 percent of their home matches (148-91/.619). Since 1998, that mark stands at nearly 71 percent (77-32/.706).
TEAM LEADERBOARD: Senior Connie Picard is hitting at a SLC-best .362 clip on the strength of a team-high 440 kills (3.7 pg/eighth SLC) and she also leads the Roadrunners and ranks fifth in the league with 131 total blocks (27 solos/104 assists). Freshman Shannon Walker leads the squad with 35 service aces and senior DeeDee Strickland has a team-high 1,174 assists (9.8 pg/eighth SLC). Senior Erin McMillan, who has posted double-figure digs in 41 of her last 42 matches (dating back to Oct. 21, 2005), has a UTSA single-season record 667 digs (5.5 pg/fourth SLC).
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Senior Connie Picard’s 104 block assists this year rank sixth on UTSA’s single-season chart and she needs seven more to move into sole possession of fifth place. Senior Meagan Daniel, who set UTSA’s all-time attacks mark last weekend (4,992), has 1,769 career kills and needs 11 more winners to move into sole possession of second place on the school’s all-time chart.
A FORCE IN THE MIDDLE: Senior Connie Picard, a preseason second-team All-SLC selection, has taken her game to the next level this season and proven that her preseason honor was well deserved. The two-time all-league performer leads the league in hitting percentage (.362) and ranks second with 27 solo blocks. She also leads the Roadrunners in kills (440/3.7 pg/eighth SLC), total blocks (131/fifth SLC) and block assists (104). Picard has registered double-figure kills in her last 17 matches and in all but three contests this season. The Spring native has set or tied her career high for winners three different times this season, the last of which was 23 against Northwestern State (Oct. 13). She also had career bests with four solo blocks against Lamar (Nov. 4) and nine block assists against Sam Houston State (Sept. 23). With her performance this year, Picard has moved her name up the school’s all-time record book — total blocks (second/441), block solos (second/92), block assists (second/349), kills (sixth/1,365) and attacks (seventh/3,157).
MCMILLAN DIGS WAY TO HISTORY YET AGAIN: Senior libero Erin McMillan made history for the third time this season on Thursday night against Texas State. The San Antonio native broke her UTSA single-match record with 42 digs against the Bobcats and pushed her season total to a UTSA-record 667, breaking Shalynn McCoy’s 17-year-old mark of 651 set in 1989. McMillan previously had broke the single-match record with 41 digs against Utah Valley State on Sept. 29. She set the school’s career digs record on Oct. 14 against Central Arkansas and now has 2,212 in her four years, a number that ranks among the top 10 in NCAA history. McMillan, who owns four of the top seven single-season totals in school annals, is averaging 5.5 digs per game (fourth SLC) this year She has registered at least 20 digs in her last 11 of her last 14 matches and 387 during that span (6.7 pg). The two-time All-SLC honoree has nine 30-dig performances this season, including a pair of 40-dig efforts, and has posted double-figure digs in 41 of her last 42 matches (dating back to Oct. 21, 2005).
DANIEL PERFORMING AT HIGH LEVEL YET AGAIN: After missing five of six matches from Sept. 30-Oct. 14 (the first missed contests of her career), senior Meagan Daniel returned to the starting lineup on Oct. 20 as if she hadn’t missed any time at all. Daniel has led the Roadrunners in kills in five of seven matches since returning to the lineup (109/3.8 pg) and she also has recorded a team-best 10 service aces and ranks second with 107 digs (3.7 pg). The reigning Southland Conference Student-Athlete of the Year is second on the squad with 361 kills (3.8 pg/seventh SLC), 34 service aces and 313 digs (3.2 pg) this season. Daniel is the only three-time first-team all-conference performer in UTSA history and her name can be found all over the school’s career record book — attacks (first/5,046), kills (third/1,769), service aces (third/142) and digs (fifth/1,386).
CLASSROOM CHAMPIONS: Seniors Meagan Daniel and DeeDee Strickland were second-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honorees, the College Sports Information Directors of America announced on Thursday. Strickland was a third-team choice a year ago and both players have been Southland Conference All-Academic selections the past two seasons.
HEAD COACH LAURA NEUGEBAUER-GROFF: A highly-respected coach and player who is legendary locally, Laura Neugebauer-Groff is in her fifth season at the helm of UTSA‘s volleyball program. Neugebauer-Groff, who collected her 300th career victory in last season’s season opener, has a lifetime record of 335-139 (.707), including a 79-77 mark at UTSA. She has led the Roadrunners to victories in 67 percent (42-21) of their matches at the Convocation Center during her tenure. In four-plus years as UTSA’s head coach, she has tutored nine All-Southland Conference players and seven all-academic honorees, including 2005 SLC Student-Athlete of the Year Meagan Daniel.