Volleyball Begins Sheraton Hilton Invitational Against Mississippi

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse volleyball team (2-2) opens weekend-play at the Sheraton Hilton Invitational, hosted by the University of Akron, on Friday, August 31 against Mississippi at 1:30 p.m. After tallying 81 digs and a 5.40 digs per game average through four matches in 2007, senior Joscie Kaup is 55 digs shy of the Syracuse all-time career record.

LAST TIME OUT

The Orange opened the 2007 home schedule with a 3-0 win against in-state rival Buffalo on Tuesday, August 28 at Manley Field House. Senior Cheryl Cobbina led Syracuse with 15 kills while sophomore Samantha Ainsworth collected a team-high 22 assists. Kaup paced the Orange defense with a team-best 14 digs. Kaup is now 55 digs shy of the Syracuse all-time record. The Orange tallied a season-high .267 hitting percentage in the win.

LIVE STATS
Syracuse fans can follow the Orange volleyball team at the Sheraton Hilton Invitational via live stats by clicking here.

SCOUTING THE REBELS (4-0)

Sheraton Hilton Invitational

Syracuse vs. Mississippi (8/31, 1:30 p.m.)

As the hosts of the Magnolia Invitational, Mississippi opened the 2007 campaign with three straight wins against No. 20 Missouri (3-2), Arkansas State (3-2) and Jackson State (3-0).

Junior Emily Jones received tournament MVP honors while senior Katie Kramer, senior Tara Langley and junior Rachel Kieckhaefer were named to the all-tournament team.

In the upset win over Missouri, sophomore Caitlin Weiss led the Rebels with 17 kills while Jones added 14. Kieckhaefer led the Ole Miss offense with 51 assists and Langley collected 26 digs.

Kramer combined to tally 27 kills in the wins over Arkansas State and Jackson State. Redshirt-freshman Jessica Dalke posted 50 assists against Arkansas State and Kieckhaefer added 35 versus Jackson State.

The Rebels continued their winning ways Tuesday, August 28 with a 3-2 win against Sacramento State. Kramer collected a team-high 22 kills while Weiss added 16. Kieckhaefer paced the Rebels’ offense with a team-best 53 assists.

Friday marks the first meeting all-time between Syracuse and Mississippi.

SCOUTING THE RAIDERS (1-3)

Sheraton Hilton Invitational

Syracuse vs. Wright State (8/31, 4:30 p.m.)

Wright State began the 2007 season with three losses to Kentucky (3-0), Northern Iowa (3-0) and Western Michigan (3-0) at the UNI Invitational. Before meeting Syracuse, the Raiders travel to Indiana State on Tuesday, August 28.

Against Kentucky, senior Alisha Kimbro led the Raiders with eight kills and seven digs. Senior Lindsey Frank, named to the all-tournamen team, tallied a team-high 21 assists.

Junior Lizzy Gunn collected a team-best six kills and sophomore Lexi Leonhard added 11 digs versus Nortern Iowa. Frank paced the Raider offense with 19 assists.

Versus Western Michigan, senior Samantha Connor tallied a team-high nine kills. Kimbro totaled 15 digs and Frank recorded 16 assists.

The Raiders captured their first win, 3-1, of the season on Tuesday, August 28 against Indiana State. Wright State was led by 15 kills from senior Tara Geegan and 46 assists from Lindsey. Leonhard tallied a team-high 19 digs.

All-time, Wright State holds a 2-1 series advantage over Syracuse with its last win coming in 2003 (3-0). Syracuse rallied from behind to beat Wright State, 3-2, in 1988.

SCOUTING THE ZIPS (4-0)

Sheraton Hilton Invitational

Syracuse at Akron (9/1, 1:30 p.m.)

At the Temple Invitational, Akron opened the 2007 season with a 4-0 start behind wins against Rider (3-0), La Salle (3-0), Lehigh (3-0) and Temple (3-1). Junior Jennifer Stewart was named tournament MVP while sophomore Brionna Patterson and sophomore Elizabeth Martin were named to the all-tournament team.

Stewart collected 72 digs while totaling team-highs in three of the four matches. Stewart’s 25 digs in the win against Temple was a season-best. Martin tallied 39 kills and a 3.00 kills per game average in the four wins.

Patterson led the Zips in kills in three of the four matches against La Salle (21), Lehigh (16) and Temple (17). Sophomre Kara Smith tallied 139 assists as she paced Akron in all four wins.

Freshman Jess Antosz posted a team-high 10 kills against Rider.

All-time, Syracuse holds a 2-0 series advantage over Akron. The Orange last beat the Zips in three games during the 1991 season.

WHAT’S AHEAD

Following the Sheraton Hilton Invitational, Syracuse returns to Manley Field House for a four-game homestand beginning on Monday, September 3 at 3:00 p.m. in a Labor Day matinee against Albany.

Orange fans will again be given the opportunity to catch the Syracuse volleyball team live via Orange All-Access. Orange All-Access (OAA) is the athletics department’s multimedia package hosted by SUathletics.com. OAA offers exclusive and comprehensive coverage of every varsity sport at Syracuse. Live and archived content includes complete game webcasts, highlights, interviews, press conferences, features, behind-the-scenes stories and the radio and television productions of the Syracuse ISP Sports Network and Time Warner Sports. The package also includes Orange All-Access Classics, a collection of archived memorable football, basketball and lacrosse games. Subscriptions are $9.95 per month or $79.95 per year.

Syracuse University Athletics

Volleyball Begins Sheraton Hilton Invitational Against Mississippi

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