SILVER CITY, N.M. – After dropping their first two conference matches of the season, the Western New Mexico University volleyball team will look to get back on track at home this weekend against Chadron State and Regis.
The Lady Mustangs (14-5, 9-2 RMAC) remain tied for first in the RMAC and ran into a pair of tough teams this past weekend with UC-Colorado Springs and MSU Denver claiming 3-0 victories. WNMU has been tough at home posting a 6-0 mark, with three of those matches being sweeps.
Head Coach
Jim Callender is just five wins away from hitting 700 in his career.
Leeta Grap (Kamuela, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy) continues to power the offense with 272 kills (3.83 per set). Grap ranks high in several national categories including 38
th in kills per set (3.83), 44
th in attacks per set (10.63), 46
th in total kills, 59
th in total attacks (755) and 61
st in points per set (4.17).
Shannon Rich (Folsom, CA/Folsom) (136),
Heather Verrill (Barstow, CA/Barstow ) (130) and
Sheila Menezes (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Escola Estadual Prof. Antonio Ablas Filho) (105) are all over 100 kills.
Melanie Hughes (Riverside, CA/Martin Luther King Jr.) leads in assists with 480, while on defense
Ashley Mataele (Laie, HI/Kahuku) has 331 digs, with Grap adding 218. In terms of blocking, Rich leads the team with 66, 25 coming solo, while Verrill has added 62, with 14 coming solo.
Verrill and Rich remain in the top-10 in the RMAC in hitting percentage on blocks per set. Verrill is posting a .279 percentage to sit in seventh, while Rich has a .274 percentage good for ninth. Rich is fifth in blocks per set at 0.93, while Verrill is ninth at 0.87. Mataele ranks third in the RMAC in total digs and 99
th nationally and she is fifth in the RMAC and 95
th nationally in digs per set 4.66. Hughes is fifth in the RMAC in aces per set (0.35) and is 10
th in assists per set (7.74).
WNMU will open on Friday night at 7 p.m. against Chadron State College. The Eagles are 5-14 overall and 4-7 in the RMAC. They snapped a five-match losing streak this past Saturday with a 3-2 win over Colorado Christian. They are 1-6 in true road matches away from home and 1-5 in neutral contests. Rudy Leasau leads the offense with 225 kills, while Gaby Varela adds 176 kills. Madison Webb sets the table with 623 assists, while on defense six players have over 100 digs led by 174 from Webb. Kenzie Chrisman leads in blocking with 59.
Chadron State won last year's matchup in Chadron, 3-1, as it was the first win ever for the Eagles against the Lady Mustangs.
To close the weekend on Saturday, WNMU will go against Regis University at 6 p.m. The Rangers are 11-9 on the season with an 8-3 mark in RMAC contests. They are 3-2 in true road games and 2-1 in neutral contests. They dropped both matches this past weekend to Colorado Christian (3-2) and Colorado Mines (3-1).
Katie Klein and Maggie Steward led the way for Regis with Klein tallying 281 kills to 214 for Steward. Brinley Beresford has recorded 616 assists, while on defense Rebecca Sponcil has 342 digs and Cedar Bellows has sent back 46 blocks.
Regis took last year's matchup in Silver City, 3-0, on Sep. 21. WNMU claimed the 2013 meeting that also took place in Silver City, 3-0.
Live video and stats will be available for both games.
