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SAN ANTONIO -- Riding a six-match winning streak, UTSA volleyball kicks off a pivotal weekend in the league standings, hosting unbeaten and first-place Rice on Friday at 7 p.m. CT at the Convocation Center, before welcoming traditional power Western Kentucky on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The matches will each have special promotional opportunities for fans. On Friday, the match is designated UTSA's Dig Pink Match, with proceeds benefiting the sorority Zeta Tau Alpha's community charities. ZTA will be selling pink shirts and will coordinate a silent auction, with UTSA's team wearing pink accessories and pink pom-poms handed out. Sunday will be the Halloween Bash, featuring a Kid's Halloween Costume Contest and candy bags for trick or treaters!
UTSA (16-5, 8-1 Conference USA) enters the weekend winners of six consecutive matches. It marks the 10th winning streak of at least six wins during the 17-year tenure of UTSA Coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff. UTSA has won nine of its last 10 matches.
UTSA sits a game shy of 8-0 Rice in the C-USA standings, with the lone loss on the Roadrunners resume coming at the Owls in four sets on Sept. 28.
The Roadrunners have averaged 14 kills, 13.2 assists, 1.4 aces, 16 digs and 1.8 blocks per set as a team in 2018. UTSA has been led individually by freshmen Hannah Lopez and Kirby Smith, with Lopez owning 3.10 kills and 1.98 digs per set. Smith sports per set averages of 3.17 kills and 3.09 digs – tops among C-USA freshmen.
UTSA juniors Kara Teal and Brianna McCulloch have helped power the offense, with Teal owning 2.36 kills per set with a .331 hitting percentage. McCulloch averages 2.80 kills per set with a .223 hitting percentage. Senior Amanda Gonzales, who ranks third in UTSA modern-era history in career assists, leads the team with 8.38 assists per set. Senior libero Shelby Williams has a team-high 4.40 digs per set. Sophomore Hannah Froeschl has added 2.29 kills per set with a .298 hitting percentage.
Rice (17-4, 8-0 C-USA) has won 11 consecutive matches entering Friday, dating back to a Sept. 11 loss at SFA. Rice has a four-set win over UTSA and have losses to just No. 15 Baylor, Texas State and at Texas Tech. As a team, Rice averages 14.6 kills, 13.7 assists, 1.1 aces, 18.2 digs and 2.1 blocks per set in 2018. Nicole Lennon leads the team with 3.92 kills per set, adding 3.08 digs. Grace Morgan is hitting .388 – second in C-USA – with 2.75 kills
Western Kentucky (14-9, 5-3 C-USA) has lost three consecutive matches to enter the weekend. WKU has conference wins over MTSU, Charlotte, Southern Miss and Marshall. As a team, the Toppers have averaged 12.5 kills, 11.8 assists, 1.5 aces, 14.2 digs and two blocks per set. Rachel Anderson leads the team with 3.29 kills per set, with Taylor Bebout owning 8.64 assists per set and Payton Frederick paces the team with 3.34 digs per set. Lauren Matthews leads the team with 0.96 blocks per set.
The Roadrunners lead the series with Charlotte, 6-1, including a 1-1 mark in games played at the Convocation Center. Western Kentucky leads the all-time series with UTSA, 4-1, going 1-2 in games in San Antonio, with the lone win in the series coming in 2014.
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