The University of Akron Athletics
Volleyball Travels to Milwaukee for Weekend Tournament
September 08 | Women's Volleyball
Game Notes (PDF)
AKRON, Ohio – After claiming the Akron Invitational title, The University of Akron volleyball team heads to Milwaukee, Wis. for the UW-Milwaukee/Marquette Tournament. The Zips (3-4) will play matches against host schools UW-Milwaukee and Marquette, as well as Southern Miss.
Akron will open the event with UW-Milwaukee at 2 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 9 at the Klotsche Center. Later that day, UA will take on Marquette at 8 p.m. at the Golden Eagles' Al McGuire Center. Then on Saturday, Sept. 10, the Zips will face Southern Miss. at 2 p.m. at the Klotsche Center.
UA is coming off a sweep of its own tournament, the Akron Invitational, where it defeated St. Francis (Pa.), Bradley and Canisius while only dropping one set. Seniors Courtney Jarvis and Tina Dimitrijevs, along with junior Morgan Kuhn, were named to the All-Tournament team. Dimitrijevs also picked up the Mid-American Conference East Division Offensive Player of the Week award for her play last weekend.
Jarvis leads the squad with 66 kills and a 2.87 kills/set average, with Dimitrijevs close behind with 62 kills, 2.70 kills/set and a .395 hitting percentage. Dimitrijevs also leads the Zips in blocks with 19 total, followed by freshman Kymberle Gordon with 14. Gordon is also third on the team with 51 kills and a .289 hitting percentage.
Opponents
UW-Milwaukee boasts a 5-2 record and is coming off a home loss to MAC team Northern Illinois in straight sets. Earlier this season, the Panthers won the Drake Invitational in Des Moines, Iowa, by taking down Wyoming, IPFW and Drake. They also went 2-1 at the ASU Sheraton Classic in Tempe, Ariz., beating San Jose State and Denver but falling to host Arizona State.
UW-Milwaukee claimed the Horizon League regular season title last year and is led by senior outside hitter Kerri Schuh, the reigning league player of the year. So far this season, Schuh has been named the MVP of the Drake Invitational and is coming off back-to-back Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week honors. UA trails the series with the Panthers 2-3 but won the last meeting in 2009 in five sets.
A member of the Big East, Marquette owns a 4-3 mark this season and went 2-1 last weekend at the Bluejay Invitational in Omaha, Neb., defeating South Dakota and host Creighton but falling to Northern Illinois in four sets. Last season, the Golden Eagles made it to the semifinals of the Big East Tournament before losing to Louisville. The Zips hold a 6-2 all-time record against Marquette, though the two teams have not met since 1992 when Akron took a five-set victory at home.
Also the Golden Eagles, Southern Miss. is 3-3 this season and is on a three-match slide after the Iowa State Tournament, where they lost to Iowa State, Iowa and Arizona State. Their three wins came at their own tournament over Chattanooga, Northwestern State and Jackson State. Last year, the Eagles finished 19-12 overall and 12-8 in Conference USA. This will mark the first-ever meeting between Akron and Southern Miss.
Watch Live
The Zips' matches against UW-Milwaukee and Marquette will be streamed live online for free. Live stats will also be available for both matches. Please click here for links to watch live video or live stats. Recaps of all the action will be available on GoZips.com.
