PHILADELPHIA – La Salle volleyball closes out their stretch of road matches as they face instate foe Duquesne Saturday afternoon before closing out their nonconference schedule against Delaware State on Monday night in Dover. This weekend closes out a stretch of nearly a month between home matches for the Explorers.
Scouting the Dukes...La Salle Explorers (7-15, 1-5 A-10) vs Duquesne Dukes (9-9, 3-3 A-10)Saturday, Oct. 18 | 4 p.m.Live Statistics | Live Video | Sign Up For Text Alerts Duquesne enters Saturday's matchup riding a three game winning streak. La Salle's travel partner in Atlantic 10 play had a very successful trip south as they picked up a 3-0 win over Davidson and 3-1 win over VCU last weekend. The Dukes also grabbed a midweek 3-1 win over their Pittsburgh area rival Robert Morris Wednesday night, winning in 3-1 fashion. Overall in conference play, Duquesne also has a victory over Fordham, while dropping matches to Dayton, Saint Louis, and Rhode Island.
The Dukes have been an incredibly efficient team offensively on the season. They rank third in the Atlantic 10 with a hitting percentage of .231. Duquesne has been led by senior Arielle Love (.397) and sophomore Lacey Levers (.331) who rank second and fourth in the conference in hitting percentage, with Love ranking 30
th nationally in the category. Love also has a commanding team lead with 225 total kills on the season, averaging 3.31 kills per set.
Defensively, the senior Love has also played a pivotal part the Duquesne's success. She ranks second in the conference with 87 total blocks, a total that is good for 32
nd nationally in the category. The team has utilized many different pieces on the back line with four players having over 150 digs on the season. Freshman Molly Davet, junior Mary Henry, senior Patti Abshire, and sophomore Sammy Kline have all pitched in with great back line play. The senior Abshire currently leads the team with 206 digs on the season, averaging 3.03 per set.
Scouting the Hornets...La Salle Explorers (7-15, 1-5 A-10) vs. Delaware State Hornets (1-15, 1-4 MEAC)Monday, Oct. 20 | 6 p.m.Live Statistics | Sign Up For Text Alerts Delaware State picked up their first win of the season over Norfolk St. Sunday, winning in 3-0 fashion. It's been a rough start to the season for the Hornets as they have struggled offensively, and have won only ten sets in 16 total matches so far this season.
The Hornets have been led offensively by junior Jasmine Jackson and freshman Nevershi Ellis, as the pair are the only two on the team to have over 100 kills on the season. The junior Jackson leads the team with 166 kills which averages to 3.02 kills per set. She also has the best hitting percentage on the team for anyone with over 100 attempts, recording a .152 hitting percentage on the year.
Defensively, Delaware State has three players who have recorded over 100 digs on the season. Juniors Natalia Mendieta and Jasmine Jackson and freshman Ayanna Lee all have contributed on the backline with Jackson leading the way with 149 digs.
Scouting the Explorers...La Salle is coming of a huge weekend for the program. The Explorers picked up a 3-1 win over conference newcomer Davidson. Not only was this the first career conference victory for first year coach
Caitlin Rimgaila, it also was the first conference win for the program since 2011 and the first conference road win since 2007.
As a team the Explorers remain the top team in the nation with 143 service aces on the season.
Michelle Healy (31 aces) and
Bryanna Davis (38 aces) continue to lead the way ranking 18
th and 38
th in the nation in total service aces respectively. The team also ranks high in total digs, they have recorded 1,150 on the season which is good for second in the conference and 61
st nationally.
On offense the Explorers have been led by junior
Kelly Perillo who has tallied 242 kills on the season which is good enough for fourth overall in the conference. She has been aided by the emergence of sophomore
Ashley Felton. The sophomore recorded 11 kills in 20 swings in last weekend's win, and aided on the defensive side of the ball as well as she tallied four total blocks. Senior
Jennifer Whelan has also provided some offense totaling 140 kills on the season with a team best hitting percentage of .239.
Defensively,
Bryanna Davis has led the way for the Explorers. She has racked up 247 digs on the season from the libero spot. She has been aided by outside hitter
Kelly Perillo and junior defensive specialist
Erin Noga who have 223 and 215 digs respectively.
Junior
Michelle Healy has helped conduct the offense so far this season. In her first season running a 5-1 formation, the junior has tallied 743 assists on the season which ranks third in the Atlantic 10 and is in the top 50 nationally.
Next UpLa Salle returns to Tom Gola Arena next weekend when they welcome George Washington on Friday evenings and George Mason Sunday afternoon. This kicks off a three week stretch of home games for the Explorers.
