Volleyball Ready for Thunder Invite
8/23/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Miami University volleyball team gets the 2012 season underway when it travels to Huntington, W.Va. this weekend to participate in the Thunder Invitational. The RedHawks open against IUPUI on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Miami will then face Wright State on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and the host Marshall that evening at 7:30 p.m.
CONDIT ON VERGE OF HISTORY: RedHawk head coach Carolyn Condit sits only one win away from becoming the first coach of any sport to win 500 matches at Miami. She is also only two wins away from reaching 600 for her career and will look to reach both milestones at this weekend's tournament. Condit has more career wins than any other head coach that has ever worked at Miami. The next highest is former Miami hockey coach George Gwozdecky (currently at Denver), who has 548 career wins going into the 2012-13 season.
TREADWAY MILESTONE APPROACHING: Senior outside hitter Lisa Treadway (Dayton, Ohio) enters the 2012 season with 979 career digs. With 21 more digs, she'll become the 10th person in school history to reach the 1,000-dig career mark without being a primary libero. Counting the two liberos who have also reached the mark, she can become the 12th player overall to record 1,000 digs at Miami.
ABOUT IUPUI: The Jaguars are coming off a 15-16 season and an 8-10 record in the Summit League. They finished fifth in the conference, just missing making the four-team Summit League Tournament for the first time since 2009. IUPUI returns four starters from last year's squad, led by junior outside hitter Moriah Fair. She had 347 kills, an average of 3.07 per set.
THE SERIES AGAINST THE JAGUARS: Miami is 2-1 all-time against IUPUI. The teams last met at the Jaguars' Hampton Inn Invitational on Sept. 6, 2009. IUPUI defeated the RedHawks, 3-1, in that match. Lisa Treadway led Miami with 23 digs.
ABOUT WRIGHT STATE: The Raiders start a new era under new head coach Susan Clements. They are coming off a 6-23 season, and finished seventh in the Horizon League with a 5-11 record. Five starters return from the 2011 squad, led by junior outside hitter Heidi Splinter. She recorded 290 kills last season, an average of 3.02 kills per set.
THE SERIES AGAINST THE RAIDERS: Miami holds a 22-14 lead in the all-time series with Wright State. The RedHawks have won three straight in the series, including a 3-1 victory in their last meeting, Sept. 13, 2011 in Dayton. Madison Dodd nearly had a double-double in the contest, finishing with nine kills and eight assists.
ABOUT MARSHALL: The Thundering Herd finished 10-21 last season and 8-12 in Conference USA. They will be rebuilding their lineup a bit in 2012, as only three starters come back among their eight returning letterwinners. Marshall's top returning player is junior middle hitter Sacha Byous-McConnell. She recorded 255 kills and had a .273 hitting percentage in 2011.
THE SERIES AGAINST THE THUNDERING HERD: Miami holds a 14-5 lead in the all-time series. The teams used to play every season when Marshall was in the MAC, but haven't met since 2006 (the year after the Herd left). In that contest, the RedHawks fell, 1-3. Carli Reihman led the way with 20 kills.
