Live Stats |
Live StreamHOUSTON – The HBU volleyball team will open Southland Conference play on Thursday, hosting New Orleans at 7 p.m. inside Sharp Gym.
The Huskies (7-7), picked fourth and fifth in the preseason polls, enter league play with three preseason first-team All-SLC selections in senior
Allison Doerpinghaus and juniors
Kayla Armer and
Jessica Wooten.
HBU goes into Thursday's tilt looking to snap a three-match skid after a 0-3 showing at the Golden Hurricane Invitational across September 18-19. Sophomore outside hitter
Bailey Banks led the team offensively, recording three double-double performances against host Tulsa and fellow participants North Texas and Oral Roberts. The native of Missouri City, Texas, totaled 33 kills (3.00 per set) and 37 digs (3.36 per set) across 11 sets.
On the season, Wooten leads the Huskies and ranks seventh in the conference with 3.13 kills per set. Armer also continues to be a steady presence for the offense with 9.50 assists per set, which ranks fourth in the SLC.
Defensively, four HBU players average over two digs per set, as Wooten (2.94), sophomore
Hailey Erickson (2.71), Banks (2.20) and Armer (2.12) control the back line. Sophomore
Blair Gillard (42) and Doerpinghaus (36) captain the defensive presence at the net with 42 and 36 blocks, respectfully
As a team, HBU ranks third in the league in hitting percentage (.215) and assists (11.27 per set), fourth in blocks (2.10 per set) and opponent hitting percentage (.192), and fifth in kills (11.92 per set).
UNO (8-5) enters the conference opener on a two-match win streak, defeating Tennessee State (3-1) and Grambling (3-0) at the New Orleans Invitational II over the weekend. Freshman Kaitlyn Grice leads the Privateers and ranks fourth in the conference with a .365 clip, while senior Celeste Ramirez ranks eighth in assists (8.31).
UNO leads the SLC in service aces (2.11 per set), also ranking second in assists (11.43 per set), third in kills (12.28 per set), fourth in hitting percentage (.195) and fifth in opponent hitting percentage (.199).
Following Thursday's match, the Huskies will host Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Lady Lions (6-7) enter league play following a 2-1 showing at the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup where they picked up a pair of 3-0 wins over Alabama A&M and Prairie View A&M before falling to host Houston, 3-2. SELA will open conference play at Texas A&M - Corpus Christi on Thursday prior to visiting HBU.
Senior Brooke Balser leads the Lady Lions on the back row, ranking eighth in the league with 3.46 digs per set, while junior Landry Bullock steadies the offense and ranks 10th in kills with 2.79 per set.
As a team, SELA ranks fourth in service aces (1.60 per set) and fifth in digs (13.98 per set).
After the weekend, the Huskies will visit Central Arkansas on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. match.
