NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Belmont volleyball (5-9, 2-1 OVC) will be competing in their second of four straight home games this Saturday, Oct. 3 at 2:00 p.m. against the Eastern Illinois Panthers (8-9, 3-0 OVC) in the Curb Event Center. A victory over EIU would give the Panthers their first loss of conference play.
"We are super excited for another challenging match on Saturday," said sophomore Emma Price (Fort Mill, SC). "Something we have struggled with all season is starting off strong on point one, so that is our main focus for this weekend."
After a victory over SIU-Edwardsville this past week Eastern Illinois improved to 3-0 in the OVC. Sophomore middle hitter Allie Hueston earned OVC offensive player of the week after recording 24 kills for an average of .513 in a pair of OVC victories last weekend. Sophomore outside hitter Marah Bradbury, senior middle blocker Chelsea Lee and senior right side/setter Abby Saalfrank were named to the pre-season All-OVC team at the beginning of the season. Hueston is hitting .349 on the season tied with Lee for team high kills of 153. Senior libero Stephanie Wallace leads the defense with 301 digs while Hueston has recorded 56 blocks.
Freshman Tori Simmons (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) produced offensively against Tennessee State recording 10 kills and no errors for an average of .435. Senior Jocelyn Youngdahl (Stillwater, Minn.) also finished the evening with an impressive offensive effort against TSU recording nine kills and one error on 20 attempts for an average of .400.
Sophomore Arianna Person (Lenexa, Kan.) is ranked amongst the best in the conference in multiple categories. Person is fourth in kills averaging 3.54 per set, tied for third in service aces averaging 0.39 per set, and fifth in points averaging 4.10 per set. Sophomore Emma Price (Fort Mill, SC) is ranked third in the conference for assists with an average of 9.43 per set.
Belmont is ranked in top five amongst the OVC schools in a multitude of statistical categories. They are second overall in opponent hitting percentage by holding their opponents to a .196 average. Belmont is Fourth overall in assists averaging 11.00 per set, third overall in kills with 682 (11.96) per set, fifth in blocks with 1.60 per set and third in aces with 85 (1.49 per set).
Saturday's match will have live stats as well as live video available on belmontbruins.com.
