ELON, N.C. – Elon University volleyball is set to open its spring 2021 schedule this Tuesday, Feb. 23 as the Phoenix welcomes Virginia Commonwealth for a 5 p.m. match at Schar Center.
 
THE SERIES
- VCU holds a 5-2 edge in the all-time series dating back to 1989.
- The match will be the first meeting between the Phoenix and Rams since the 2002 season when Elon was a member of the Big South. VCU won that match, 3-1. 
 
ABOUT THE PHOENIX
- Tuesday's match marks the season-opener for the Phoenix. The team was scheduled to start its spring 2021 campaign at UNC Greensboro last Thursday, Feb. 18, but the match was postponed due to a winter storm in the area.
- Elon reached its first CAA Championship Semifinal in 2019 after a 3-2 opening round victory over fourth-seeded Northeastern. The Phoenix entered the conference tournament as the No. 5 seed after going 13-17 overall and 7-9 in league play during the regular season. It marked the most CAA wins in a season since Elon joined the conference in 2014.
- The team returns three of its top four point leaders in Leah Daniel, Kellyn Trowse and Jenn Krzeminski.
- Daniel was named an All-CAA First Team selection and added All-Tournament Team honors in 2019. The Zionsville, Ind. native led the offense with 487 kills that year, followed by Trowse with 333 and Krzeminski at 146.
- Garcia enters the season with 2,793 assists and is looking to climb the program's career assists leaderboard after taking over the No. 4 spot in 2019. The senior tallied four double-doubles on the season and reached double-digit assists in all 31 matches she played in.
- On defense, Isabella Seman and Gower registered 323 and 313 digs respectively while Krzeminski and Cummins combined for 204 total blocks.
- Elon has four newcomers to the program in freshmen Lily Emlong, Ericka Link, Gabi Croll and Presly Austin.
- Haylie Clark joins Seman and Cummins as this year's team captains.
 
SCOUTING VCU
-The Rams won five straight to start the season and are currently 6-1 after earning a 3-0 victory at Duquesne on Friday, Feb. 12.
-VCU is looking to capture its fourth straight A-10 Conference title and the Rams were picked to finish second in the league's preseason poll.
-VCU welcomes 10 newcomers to the team this year and is led by Head Coach Jody Rogers, who is in her eighth year leading the program.
-Lauren King leads the offense with 71 kills (3.23/set), followed by Paula Neciporuka with 55 kills (2.50/set) and a team-high 10 service aces. Dani Jo David and Corinna Jones are the two primary setters with 128 and 100 assists, respectively. Libero Alyna Draper leads the back line with 101 digs (4.59/set), and middle blocker Jasmine Knight has recorded 35 total blocks (1.59/set).
-King has earned three A-10 Conference honors in as many weeks. The freshman from Southfield, Mich. was named the league's Rookie of the Week on Feb. 15 after averaging 3.0 kills, 1.0 dig and 0.83 blocks per set while hitting .333 through two matches. She hit .583 and totaled eight kills in a conference win at Duquesne on Feb. 12. King was also awarded Player of the Week honors on Feb. 1 and was tabbed Defensive Player of the Week on Feb. 8.
-The teams are also scheduled for a second meeting on Wednesday, March 24  at 4 p.m. in Richmond, Va.

UP NEXT
- Elon will open conference play this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 26-27 as the team travels to Williamsburg, Va. for a pair of matches at William & Mary. Both matches at Kaplan Arena are scheduled for a 7 p.m. start. The CAA will have north and south divisions this spring as teams play an eight-game divisional conference schedule. The Phoenix are joined in the South Division by Charleston, James Madison, UNCW and William & Mary.