Sept. 18, 2008

GREENVILLE, N.C. - The Marshall University volleyball team will travel to Greenville, N.C. for the East Carolina Invitational set for Friday, Sept. 19-20.

The Thundering Herd (5-3 overall), will square off against Conference USA foe and host East Carolina (9-4), Friday, in the league opener for both teams. Marshall will take on North Carolina State at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, before finishing tournament action against Morgan State at 5:00 p.m.

Marshall swept the season series against East Carolina in 2007 to improve to 8-0 all-time against the Pirates. Marshall is 0-2 lifetime against NC State as the Wolfpack took a pair of 3-1 decisions in 2000 and 2001, while Saturday's contest against Morgan State marks the first-ever meeting between the two squads.

Marshall is coming off its seventh consecutive victory over West Virginia last Friday. Jalicia Ross (Bank Village, Trinidad) led the offensive surge for the Herd, totaling 16 kills on 26 swings with no errors for a hitting percentage of .615. She also notched five assisted blocks in the winning effort against the Mountaineers. Taylor Tanner (Union, Ky.) was the defensive star, as she collected a career-high 21 digs and added a service ace.

Megan Carlson (Andover, Minn.) chipped in 16 digs, seven kills and accounted for five of Marshall's 11 service aces against West Virginia. Kristin Marcum (Arlington, Texas) and Elizabeth Fleming (South Bend, Ind.) added double-doubles for the Herd. Marcum belted 13 kills and had 14 digs, while Fleming dished out 45 assists and registered 10 digs. Emily Sullivan (Cincinnati, Ohio) rounded out Marshall's players with double-digit kills, picking up 11 in the win.

Ross' .435 overall hitting clip (70 K, 13 E, 131 TA) and 23 total blocks (2 solo, 21 assisted) leads the team. Sullivan has amassed 95 kills, averaging 3.06 per set, and has contributed 18 total blocks (1 solo, 17 assisted) on the season. Carlson is the team leader in digs with 81, followed closely by Jessica Dhoore (LaPorte, Ind.) (79), Marcum (75) and Fleming (74).

East Carolina stands at 9-5 overall and is fresh off a 3-1 victory over UNC Wilmington, Wednesday. Lizzy Bruin led all scorers, notching 16 kills for the pirates in the win. Erica Banning added 10 kills, while Trish Monroe totaled 20 digs. Amanda Lutzow added 10 digs and Hannah Fenker handed out 43 assists in the winning effort.

Bruin's 94 total kills leads the Pirates, while Lutzow is close behind with 92. Stephanie Turner is third in the category with 85 kills. Monroe has totaled 209 digs so far this season and Fenker has distributed 368 helpers in 13 matches for East Carolina.

NC State enters invitational action with a record of 4-8 overall. Arlee Tamietti leads the Wolfpack with 122 kills on the season and has totaled 27 total blocks (2 solo, 25 assisted). Kelly Wood averages 3.79 digs per set for NC State and has totaled 159 so far in 2008. Margaret Salata has contributed seven solo blocks and 32 assisted stops, while Aiwane Iboaya has chipped in with 35 total blocks (7 solo, 28 assisted).

In the Wolfpack's 3-1 win over Western Carolina on Sept. 13, Tamietti tallied 15 kills while Wood chimed in with 17 digs. In a 3-2 loss UNC Asheville, Tamietti was again the offensive leader, notching a match-high 16 kills, while Alex Smith dug 20 balls for NC State in the losing effort.

Morgan State enters weekend action with an overall record of 1-10. In the Bears lone win, a 3-0 sweep of SFNY, Rhyan Shy delivered a team-best seven kills, while Erica Turnbull and Erin Cox added five kills apiece. Shy tied a match-high in digs with six in the winning effort for the Bears.

Cox has 77 total kills followed by Turnbull with 47. Christa Rogers has handed out 170 helpers while Dina Beamon leads the squad with 60 digs. In addition to her lead in kills, Cox is second in digs with 58, while Delissa Carline is third with 57.