SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA volleyball team will hit the road to face Tulane at Devlin Fieldhouse in New Orleans, Louisiana, at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, ahead of a home match Sunday against Rice at 1 p.m. It will be Family Day in the Convocation Center, with festivities including inflatables and an obstacle course.
The Roadrunners (8-15, 2-8 The American) split last time out, falling to Temple, 25-15, 25-22, 25-20, before taking down a South Florida squad that entered the week atop the league standings, 25-23, 10-25, 25-19, 21-25, 15-7.
In the victory, UTSA set a new program record for blocks in a match, working 23.0, while redshirt senior Alicia Coppedge set a new individual record with 13. Additionally, Coppedge tied the American Athletic Conference record for block assists in a match, and UTSA's total tied the AAC mark for blocks in a five-setter.
Junior Caroline Krueger was also solid for the 'Runners, tallying 18 kills and 15 digs while boasting five blocks over eight sets. Freshman Morgen Durgens, meanwhile, set the table for the offense, charting 34 assists and 16 digs.
UTSA leads The American in blocks per set, averaging 2.28 and 191.5 total blocks top the league and sits 55th in the NCAA. Individually, sophomore Kai Bailey and redshirt junior Mia Soerensen rank inside the top five on the AAC blocks per set leaderboard, with Bailey boasting 1.05 and Soerensen 0.95.
The Green Wave (13-9, 5-5 The American) fell to Rice (25-13, 25-20, 21-25, 25-15), ahead of a victory over North Texas (28-26. 25-21, 24-26, 25-23).
Sami Jacobs has been dominant for Tulane, leading the team in kills (261), digs (303) and service aces (32). Sabrina Skyers aids the defense with a squad-high 84.0 blocks, and the Green Wave operates out of a 6-2 with Zoe Rachow dishing out 447 assists and Katherine Crosley 406.
The Owls (13-6, 8-2 The American) had a solid weekend, besting Tulane (25-13, 25-20, 21-25, 25-15) and Temple (25-23, 25-21, 25-14), and after South Florida's loss have climbed atop the conference standings.
Rice has the most kills per set in the league and is 32nd nationally with 13.62. They also check in at 37th on the NCAA leaderboard with 12.66 assists per set.
Lademi Ogunlana has maintained a .386 hitting percentage across the season for the 29th-most in the country and the best in the AAC. Ogunlana also leads the team in blocks with 55.0, and Nia McCardell has scooped 233 of the opposition's attacks. Samara Hill and Cindy Tchouangwa are tied for the team lead with 195 kills, the bulk of which have come from Savannah Skopal's assists. Rounding things out, Gaby Mansfield tops the team with 17 service aces.
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