PHILADELPHIA – La Salle (6-7) faces a trio of local foes as they head to the Palestra this weekend to participate in the Big 5 Tournament. The Explorers open up the weekend against Temple (6-3) on Friday, September 19 at 4 p.m. before facing Penn (2-5) and Villanova (5-7) on day two of the action Saturday at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. respectively.
"Playing at the historic Palestra is a special experience for any Philadelphia team. The Big 5 rivalry is a stronghold in Philadelphia tradition, and I am excited to compete about our local rivals," said coach Caitlina Rimgaila. "I look forward to coaching my team against solid local competition this weekend. I think our game play so far as proven that we look to be a stronger contender this year than in year's past."
Scouting the Explorers...La Salle enters the weekend following a narrow 3-0 road defeat to St. John's (23-25, 22-25, 23-25). Despite the Explorers holding leads late in all three sets, the Red Storm were able to get hot and pull out the victory. Last weekend, La Salle earned a share of the Iona Tournament crown after going 2-1 with wins over Bryant (3-2) and Iona (3-1), while dropping a match to Hartford (1-3).
Junior
Kelly Perillo leads the team with 173 kills on the year, averaging 3.46 per set. Perillo was named to the Towson Invitational all-tournament team for her performance two weekends ago. Joining Perillo as an attacking option is sophomore
Ashley Felton with 103 kills on the year. Senior
Jennifer Whelan also has 93 kills on the year and was a member of the La Salle Invitational all-tournament team.
Defensively the Explorers have been led by the emergence of freshman
Bryanna Davis. Davis leads the team with 164 digs on the year, averaging 3.28 digs per set, despite just recently being moved to libero. Junior
Erin Noga has also assisted the defensive effort with 152 digs on the year.
Serving has been a great weapon for La Salle thus far this year. Davis leads the Atlantic 10 and is second nationally in service aces with 27 already on the season.
Michelle Healy is close behind as she ranks eighth in the nation with 23 aces of her own.
Michelle Healy has held down the setter position all year long. Healy ranks fourth in the nation in total assists with 497 already this year and has moved into tenth all-time at La Salle in career assists.
Scouting the Owls...La Salle Explorers (6-6) vs. Temple Owls (6-3)Friday, Sept. 19 | 4 p.m.Live Statistics | Sign Up For Text AlertsTemple comes into the weekend after having a tough go of things last week at the LIU Brooklyn Invitational. The Owls dropped matches to Boston College (2-3), Northern Kentucky (1-3), and LIU Brooklyn (2-3). Prior to last weekend Temple had won their first two tournaments of the year the Syracuse Invitational and the Temple Invitational.
Defensively, the Owls have been led by senior libero Alyssa Drachslin. She was named the MVP of the Temple Invitational and earned a spot on the American Conference Honor Roll for the second week of the year. Drachslin leads the team with 163 digs so far on the year.
Sophomore Caroline Grattan has done the majority of the heavy lifting for the Owls offensively thus far. Grattan has 142 kills already this year, averaging over 1.8 kills per set. Classmate Kristin Overton has also provided some firepower adding 88 kills while hitting at a .428 rate.
Scouting the Quakers...La Salle Explorers (6-6) vs. Penn Quakers (2-5)Saturday, Sept. 20 | 1 p.m.Live Statistics | Live Video | Sign Up For Text AlertsPenn enters the Big 5 Tournament coming off a tough weekend in the very competitive Stanford Tournament. The Quakers dropped all three matches they played in, losing 0-3 to Santa Clara, 0-3 to No. 1 Stanford, and 1-3 to No. 20 Duke.
The Quakers have shared the ball well offensively with Alex Caldwell (45), Alexis Genske (60), and Aimee Stephenson (43) all providing depth to the attack. All said, six players on Penn are averaging at least 1.0 kills per set.
Defensively, Penn has also used a variety of players to help play great team defense. Five Quaker players have averaged at least 2.25 digs per set, led by freshman Emmy Friedler and her 63 digs on the year. Penn has also utilized two setters on the year with juniors Ronnie Bither and Alex Caldwell both having over 100 kills on the year.
Scouting the Wildcats...La Salle Explorers (6-7) vs. Villanova Wildcats (5-7)Saturday, Sept. 20 | 4 p.m.Live Statistics | Sign Up For Text Alerts Villanova enters the weekend after struggling last weekend when they hosted the Villanova Classic. The Wildcats dropped straight set losses to No. 24 Kansas, No. 3 Penn State, American, and Yale. In a midweek matchup with Delaware, Villanova was able pull out a 3-1 victory.
Offensively the Wildcats have been led by junior Lauren Carpenter who leads the team with 128 kills, despite sitting out two of the teams matches this year. Junior Colleen Hickey (78 kills) and sophomore Michaela Berendt (67 kills) will look to pick up some of the slack if Carpenter is unable to go.
Freshman libero Allison Fitzgerald has led the defensive effort for Villanova. Fitzgerald has racked up 165 digs (4.23 digs per set) so far this season, good for sixth in the Big East and the best number for any freshman in the conference.
Next Up...La Salle is all but wrapped up their out of conference schedule as they open up Atlantic 10 play next weekend. The Explorers host Saint Louis Friday September 26 at 7 p.m. in Tom Gola Arena and Dayton on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
