SAN ANTONIO — Currently riding a six-match win streak, the UTSA volleyball team will open Conference USA action on Sunday when the Roadrunners host Southern Miss at 1 p.m.
UTSA heads into the weekend second in the C-USA standings behind WKU and ahead of the visiting Golden Eagles with a 9-3 overall record. The Roadrunners win streak began on the road at the Nike Invitational with a five-set victory over then-unbeaten Oklahoma.
UTSA is coming off its third tournament crown at its own Roadrunners Roundup. UTSA notched wins over Texas State, Texas Tech and Wichita State. Senior Dajana Boskovic picked up her third tournament MVP honor en route to earning the league's Offensive Player of the Week award. She averaged six kills per set with a .338 attack percentage over the weekend and eclipsed her career high in kills with 31 against the Shockers.
Boskovic currently leads the conference with 5.07 kills per set, which also ranks sixth in the nation. The Bosnia native ranks top-25 in the country in kills per set, points per set (sixth), total kills (24th), attacks per set (24th) and points (24th).
Collectively, UTSA is second in C-USA in hitting percentage with a .288 clip and is best for 17th in the NCAA.
Southern Miss (11-4) heads to the Lone Star State to open conference play with North Texas on Friday before heading to the Alamo City. The Golden Eagles own the third-best hitting percentage with a .253 clip, while holding opponents to a .173 attack percentage (2nd C-USA).
Freshman Catherine Repsher represented USM in this week's league awards picking up her second Freshman of the Week award. Senior Stephany Purdue leads the Golden Eagles attack as she averages 3.96 kills per set with 1.96 digs and 0.56 blocks per frame.
UTSA and Southern Miss last met in the second round of the 2015 Conference USA Tournament as the Roadrunners advanced to the finals with a sweep of the Golden Eagles. UTSA leads the all-time series, 7-0.
