Elon Phoenix (5-3) vs. Phoenix Classic
Sept. 8 | Elon vs. Charleston Southern
Sept. 9 | Elon vs. NC Central
Sept. 9 | Elon vs. Norfolk State |
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ELON, N.C. – Elon University volleyball starts a lengthy stretch of home matches this weekend with the Phoenix Classic inside Alumni Gym on Friday, Sept. 8, and Saturday, Sept. 9. Elon will take on Charleston Southern on Friday at 7 p.m. before taking on North Carolina Central Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The tournament closes at 7 p.m. Saturday with the Phoenix taking on Norfolk State.
SCOUTING CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
The Buccaneers dropped each of its first seven matches of the season before winning at home Tuesday night, Sept. 5, with 3-0 sweep of South Carolina State. Elon will mark CSU's third CAA opponent of the season. It lost 3-1 to Towson at the Western Carolina Tournament on Aug. 26 before falling 3-0 a few days later to College of Charleston. Hannah Western leads Charleston Southern with 2.55 kills per set. Rachel Smith is averaging a team-best 8.39 assists per set. In the series against the Phoenix, Elon holds an 8-6 advantage over its former Big South rival.
SCOUTING NC CENTRAL
The Eagles are still in search of their first win of the season after going 0-6 through their first two tournaments of the 2017 campaign. Over the weekend, NC Central fell 3-2 to Gardner-Webb, a team Elon swept last time the Phoenix was in action on Tuesday, Sept. 5. Led by second-year head coach Jody Brown, NCCU is paced by Kierra Shipman's 2.0 kills per set and Paige Phillips is averaging 6.81 assists per set. Elon has swept six consecutive matches against the Eagles and has blanked NCCU in 12 of the last 13 matches dating back to Oct. 26, 1993. In the series, Elon holds a commanding 22-5 lead and has won 16 straight against its North Carolina neighbors from Durham.
SCOUTING NORFOLK STATE
The Spartans opened their season last weekend in the Crosstown Invitational hosted by Lafayette and Lehigh. There, Norfolk State went 1-3 with its lone win coming over Lafayette, 3-1. NSU is led by Taylor Eichelberger's 2.77 kills per set and Melvina Brown's 4.23 digs per set. Over the course of six matches against the Phoenix to date, Elon has never dropped a set.
LAST TIME OUT
Kodi Garcia had a stellar evening with 13.3 assists per set to help the Phoenix to a sweep of Gardner-Webb to move Elon to 3-0 in true road matches on the year.
Kam Terry led Elon with 15 kills and had a .344 (15-4-32) hitting percentage.
Sydney Busa also had 14 kills while
Maddie Jaudon finished with 15 digs. After winning the first two sets, the third set went down to the wire after Gardner-Webb used a 10-1 run to lead 24-23, but Elon won the final three points of the match after trailing 26-25 to win the third set and take the sweep.
SOLID START FOR THE SENIOR
Busa leads the CAA in kills (134) kills per set (4.47), points (143.5) and points per set (4.78) through seven matches this season. The senior from Leesburg, Va., has been named to both the Charlotte Invitational and Liberty Invitational All-Tournament teams and has posted five double-doubles in eight matches. Entering the season, Busa had never averaged more than 2.82 kills per set in a season or 2.71 digs per set. Through the early going in 2017, she's nearly two kills and more than one dig per set over her previous season highs, both recorded in 2016.
BUSA'S CANNON
Sydney Busa is closing in on 1,000 kills in her career with the Phoenix. To date, she has 977 kills to put her just 23 away from hitting quadruple digits. She is in great position to crack the program's Top 10 list for most in a career and the Top 5 list for most since Elon transitioned to Division I.
JAUDON'S MILESTONE
Junior libero
Maddie Jaudon surpassed the 1,000-career dig mark last weekend at the Liberty Invitational. She now has 1,043 digs in her career, which stands 37 short of cracking the Top 10 in Elon's program history. In 253 sets played, Jaudon is averaging 4.12 digs per set in her career. That has come over the course of 68 matches with the Phoenix. The program record for most digs in a career is held by Debbie Hall, who recorded 2,036 digs from 1992-95.
HEY ROOKIE!
First-year setter
Kodi Garcia stepped in as Elon's starting setter on opening weekend and has made the most of the opportunity. To date, she has 316 assists in 30 sets and stands third in the CAA for assists per set at 10.22 behind Luisa Sydlik of Hofstra (11.53 per set) and Allison Beckman of College of Charleston (11.04 per set). She has earned three double-doubles in Elon's first eight matches, the latest coming with 40 assists in the three-set win over Gardner-Webb. For her performance on opening weekend in Charlotte, where she had 123 assists (10.25 per set) and 26 digs, she was named CAA Rookie of the Week on Monday, Aug. 28.
PRESEASON HONOR AND POLL
Busa was named a Preseason All-CAA Honorable Mention before the start of the 2017 season. It marks the second time in her career she's earned the honor. The recognition follows her 2016 Third Team All-CAA nod at season's end. Announced the same day as Busa's preseason honor, Elon was selected to finish eighth in the CAA this year. College of Charleston was picked to win the league with six first-place votes and Hofstra followed closely with three first-place votes.
HOME SWEET HOME
After playing seven of the first eight matches of the season away from Alumni Gym, Elon comes home for the Phoenix Classic to start a run in which nine of the team's next 10 matches will be played at home. The only road match comes Sept. 16 at High Point to close the Tussle in the Triad. The lengthy run of home matches also encompasses the start of CAA play, when Elon will host Towson, Delaware, James Madison and William & Mary at the end of September before heading back out on the road to start the month of October.
HEAD COACH MARY TENDLER
Elon head coach
Mary Tendler is in her 15th season at the helm of the program. After winning her 200th match as the team's leader last season, she holds a 221-242 record to date with the Phoenix since the start of the 2003 season.
A BID FAREWELL TO ALUMNI GYM
The 2017 season marks the 46th and final campaign for the volleyball program in Alumni Gym, with the team set to move its home matches to the Schar Center in 2018. The 5,400-seat convocation center is currently under construction and will host the volleyball program, as well as the men's and women's basketball programs, beginning with the 2018-19 academic year.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following the Phoenix Classic, Elon will partake in the Tussle in the Triad tournament, which is co-hosted by Elon, High Point and UNCG. The Phoenix will welcome Navy on Friday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. and UNCG on Saturday, Sept. 16, at 11 a.m. before making the short trip to High Point for a 7 p.m. match Saturday evening.
--ELON--
