PHILADELPHIA – La Salle volleyball continues their stretch of road games this weekend as they head south to face conference foes VCU Friday evening in Richmond and Atlantic 10 newcomers, Davidson on Sunday afternoon in North Carolina.
Scouting the Rams...La Salle Explorers (6-14, 0-4 A-10) vs. VCU Rams (8-8, 2-1 A-10)Friday, Oct. 10 | 7 p.m.Live Statistics | Live Video | Sign Up For Text Alerts VCU has had a strong start to their conference season after completing an incredibly competitive non-conference schedule. In non-conference action the Rams faced three ranked teams; Colorado State, Kentucky and North Carolina in addition to SEC member Texas A&M and ACC members Virginia and Virginia Tech. The Rams jumped out of the gates in conference play with back-to-back 3-1 wins at Davidson and Saint Louis before dropping a 3-1 decision at Dayton last Sunday.
Offensively the Rams have been led by senior middle blocker Janelle Sykes and junior outside hitter Kalah Jones. Sykes has notched 174 kills on the season and leads the team with a .314 hitting percentage which also ranks sixth in the conference. The senior also earned the defensive player of the week award for the Atlantic Ten two weeks ago. Jones just edges out Sykes for the team lead with 183 kills on the year, averaging 3.16 kills per set. Freshman outside hitter Jessica Young has also provided some depth to the attack in her first collegiate season. Young has added 137 kills on the season. Senior Cecilia Aragao has organized the Rams attack at setter this season racking up 562 assists already on the season. Aragao ranks fifth in the Atlantic 10 averaging 9.53 assists per set.
VCU has relied on a strong team effort on the defensive aspect of the game. Five players on the Rams have recorded over 100 digs on the season, led by freshman libero Mary Kilbane, who has tallied 210 digs on the season. As a team, VCU has limited opponents to a mere .189 hitting percentage which is good for fourth in the Atlantic 10. Janelle Sykes has also been a force at the net this year ranking fourth in the conference with 1.15 blocks per set.
Scouting the Wildcats...La Salle Explorers (6-14, 0-4 A-10) vs. Davidson Wildcats (3-10, 1-2 A-10)Sunday, Oct. 12 | 1 p.m.Live Statistics | Live Video |Sign Up For Text Alerts Davidson had a rough start to the season, grabbing just two wins in eight nonconference games, picking up the wins over Mercer and N.C. Central. The Wildcats were able to pick up their first ever Atlantic 10 win last weekend when they took a thrilling 3-2 decision at Saint Louis.
The Wildcats have been led offensively by junior Hannah Rau who has amassed 130 kills so far on the season. The junior ranks tenth in the conference averaging 3.36 points per set. Rau has been aided by the efforts of senior Rachel Earnhardt who has added in 93 kills of her own.
Davidson has been strong defensively, racking up the third most team blocks per set of anyone in the Atlantic 10, averaging 2.41 blocks per set. Sophomore Emily Franklin has led the Wildcats effort at the nets, totaling 1.12 blocks per set which ranks sixth in the conference. Behind her, junior Morgan Shannon has led the team with 179 digs on the season, which ranks fifth in the conference averaging 3.81 digs per set.
Scouting the Explorers...The Explorers return to the road this weekend, after having a tough first conference road trip of the season. La Salle dropped consecutive 0-3 decisions at the hands of Rhode Island and Fordham respectively. La Salle continues to lead the nation in total service aces, having amassed 134 on the year already, after adding 12 to their total last weekend. Individually,
Michelle Healy and
Bryanna Davis continue to lead the way on the team with 30 and 28 respectively which are both top 25 overall in the nation in that category.
Offensively, La Salle has continued to be led by junior
Kelly Perillo. She has 227 kills on the season already, which is good for fourth in the conference and 81
st overall in the nation. Three other Explorers have tallied at least 100,
Ashley Felton,
Jennifer Whelan and
Laura Kuhlmeier being the three who have most added to the Explorers offense in addition to Perillo.
Jennifer Whelan has been the most efficient attacker on the team, leading the team with a .239 hitting percentage on the year. Junior
Michelle Healy has fueled the offense from the setter position adding 677 assists on the year which ranks third in the Atlantic 10 and 38
th in the nation.
On the other side of the ball the Explorers have been led by the steady play of freshman libero
Bryanna Davis and junior defensive specialist
Erin Noga. The two have combined for 445 digs on the season and have been a consistent presence on the back line all season long. Outside hitters
Kelly Perillo and
Laura Kuhlmeier have also assisted, compiling 203 and 160 digs respectively between them.
Next UpLa Salle close out their October road swing next weekend as they head to instate rival Duquesne for a 4 p.m. matchup on Saturday and face a weekday matchup at Delaware State at 6 p.m. on Monday.
