Volleyball Hits the Road for First BIG EAST Swing
September 27, 2012 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 27, 2012
The No. 17-ranked Louisville women's volleyball team (12-2, 1-1 Big East) hits the road this weekend as they travel to the University of South Florida and the University of Pittsburgh as BIG EAST action continues.
First up for the Cards will be USF (9-6, 1-1 BIG EAST) on Sept. 28 in Tampa, Fla. at 7:00 p.m., ET. The Bulls will enter the contest having won seven of their last eight matches. South Florida will present a very balanced attack as they have five players who have totaled over 100 kills each.
Valeria El Houssine leads the Bulls with 163 kills this season and Kayla Wilson ranks second on the team with 125 kills. Wylie Devlin will be looking to set up her teammates on the attack as she will enter the match leading the squad in assists with 365 (6.4 per set). Adding more balance to the offense will be Natalia Soares, who is second behind Devlin in assists this year with a total of 261 (4.92 per set). Caitlyn Breen has made her presence known at the net as she is averaging 1.19 blocks per set. South Florida has an overall attack percentage of .206 to that of .159 from their opponents on the year.
After facing USF, the Cardinals will head to Pittsburgh for a matchup on Sept. 30 at 1:00 p.m., ET. Pittsburgh (10-6, 1-1 Big East) is 3-0 at home this season. The Panthers will play Cincinnati on Sept. 28 before facing Louisville on Sunday.
This week Alexa Campbell of the University of Pittsburgh was named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll. Campbell collected 45 total kills in three matches, including a career-high 21 at Rutgers in a five set victory. Monica Wignot has also made the headlines for the Panthers as she was selected to the All-Big East Preseason team this year.
Alexa Campbell leads Pittsburgh this season with 126 kills. Jessica Wynn ranks second on the team with 107 kills and right behind her is Jasmine Dittrich with 105 kills. Dittrich is also leading the University of Pittsburgh in blocks with .96 per set. Lindsey Zitzke has shown that she can set up her teammates on offense all season long. Zitzke has totaled 509 assists this year which gives her an impressive average of 9.25 per set.
Following this weekend's matchups Louisville will return home for matches against Seton Hall, Rutgers, and Texas. The Cards will face Seton Hall on Oct. 6 at 12:00 p.m., ET in Cardinal Arena. On Oct. 7, Louisville will host Rutgers at 12:00 p.m., ET at the KFC Yum! Center. Then on Oct. 8 in the KFC Yum! Center the Cards will play host to No. 9 Texas at 7:00 p.m., ET.
