University of Connecticut Athletics
Volleyball to Host Two Conference Foes
10/5/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
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VIDEO: Cincinnati| ECU
TWITTER: @UConnVB
STORRS, Conn. - The UConn volleyball team continues its American Conference slate with a pair of home games this weekend. The Huskies will first entertain Cincinnati on Friday (7 p.m.), before hosting East Carolina in a Sunday matinee (1 p.m.).
Catching Up With UConn
UConn (9-7) is currently 2-2 in conference action after splitting a pair of decisions last week. After falling at Houston, 3-0, the Huskies bounced back for their first conference road win of the season at Tulane, 3-1.
Redshirt-sophomore Kayla Williams is pacing all Huskies in kills and aces, tallying 205 and 26, respectively, while posting a team-high eight double-doubles on the season. Williams leads the American with 0.46 aces per set, while her 4.34 points per set and 3.66 kills per set ranks third and fifth, respectively. As a team, UConn is holding its opponents to a league second-best .172 hitting percentage, while owning a 3-2 clip at home in 2017.
Scouting the Competition
The Bearcats (5-11) enter the weekend with a 3-1 conference mark after snapping a three-game win streak. Cincinnati suffered a hard fought 3-2 loss at SMU for its first AAC loss of the fall on Oct. 1. Carly Nolan is notching a team-high 247 kills and 181 digs, while Jade Tinglehoff is leading all Bearcats with 569 assists. On the other side of play, Maya Muldrow has earned 62 total blocks to lead the squad.
The Pirates (10-6, 2-2) split two contests at home last weekend, losing a five-set decision to reigning league champion SMU before besting Tulsa 3-1, snapping a 16-match losing streak in the series with the Golden Hurricane. East Carolina and the Huskies split the season series a year ago with each squad winning on its home floor. ECU is 2-1 on the road this season with wins at Stetson and USF.
Did You Know
The Huskies are coming off a 3-1 win at Tulane, handing the Green Wave just their second home loss of the year. Kayla Williams is 27th in the nation with 0.46 aces per set. Six out of nine of the Huskies' wins have been sweep victories. Head coach Kris Grunwald is just six wins away from reaching the 100 career wins milestone. UConn will return home to host Cincinnati and ECU this weekend, the Huskies are 3-2 at home this season.
Notables
On Oct. 2, redshirt-sophomore Kayla Williams received recognition as a member of the American Weekly Honor Roll. In a 1-1 week for the Huskies Williams averaged a team-best 5.00 kills per set, while notching 2.71 digs per set, 0.57 blocks per set, and 0.14 assists per set. Junior libero Kennedy Arundel was named the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week on August 28, following her performance at the St. John's Invitational. Arundel played in all 12 sets during the invitational, recording a team-high 65 digs and 5.42 digs per set, while picking up three assists and two aces.
