Christopher Newport University issued the following announcement on Oct. 14
The Christopher Newport volleyball program will return to action with a pair of matches this weekend at 11th-ranked Juniata College. The Captains will first take on the natioanlly-ranked hosts at 7:00 pm on Friday night before facing off against the Ithaca Bombers (11-9) at 11:00 am on Saturday morning.
Live stats and a live video webcast will be available of both matches played inside Memorial Gymnasium this weekend, with links found on the volleyball schedule at CNUsports.com.
Coming into the weekend matchups, the Captains are receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 and are riding a modest four-match win streak while improving to 17-3 overall on the season. The Captains rank third nationally in service aces and are one of only two teams with three different players ranked in the top-100 individually. Anna Dean, ranking third, leads the way with 60 aces, while Noelle Starr ranks 69th with 38 and Sammy Carroll 89th with 36.
Carroll is also third in the country in total assists with 792. In her last match, the junior setter became the fastest player to reach 2,000 assists in her career, eclipsing the milestone in just her second official season with the Captains. The floor general is leading an attack that is hitting .227 as a team with 13.0 kills per set.
Juniata will counter with one of the nation's longest win streaks, coming in winning 17 straight, sixth-longest in Division III, in an 18-1 season. Ranked 11th nationally, the Eagles won 3-2 against Wittenberg last weekend and followed up that impressive win with a 3-0 victory at Catholic. Featuring one of the toughest defenses in the nation, Juniata is holding opponents to just a .080 hitting percentage this year, ranking fifth nationally.
Ithaca is a tough out defensively at the front of the net, ranking 30th in total blocks this season. The Bombers have earned 143 points via the block this season while their front line also has a top-50 ranking in total kills with 911 so far. Paris Buckner leads the way with 57 stuffs while also hitting .283 for Ithaca this season.
Following the weekend action, the Captains will stay on the road and travel to the Randolph-Macon Invitational next weekend to take on another challenging slate of contests. CNU will face host Randolph-Macon, No. 13 Emory, and No. 1 Johns Hopkins in Ashland, Va.
Original source can be found here.
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