Lady Flames Travel to Arizona for NAU Lumberjack Classic
9/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
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Complete Match Notes
Liberty is off to a 3-0 start, its best opening to a campaign since the 2008 Lady Flames started out 8-0. The team heads west to Flagstaff, Ariz., for the Lumberjack Classic, this weekend. The Lady Flames face 2014 NCAA Tournament participant Loyola Marymount (1-1) on Friday at 7 p.m. Eastern, before taking on host Northern Arizona (2-1) and Houston Baptist (4-0) on Saturday.
This weekend's invitational features three 20-win teams from 2014 in Liberty (23-10), Loyola Marymount (23-8) and Northern Arizona (21-8). Loyola Marymount is receiving votes in the latest AVCA national poll after a 3-0 upset win at No. 20 UCLA, Sunday.
How to Follow the Lady Flames
Live stats will be available for all of this weekend's matches at the Lumberjack Classic. The Northern Arizona Athletics Communications office will provide live stats through StatBrodcast. Liberty's match against Northern Arizona will be available for live video streaming through NAU-TV Livestream. The Liberty-NAU match will also air on a taped-delay basis on Fox Sports Arizona, next Tuesday at 7 p.m. Eastern and on Fox College Sports Pacific, Wednesday at 8 a.m. Eastern.
Starting Rotation
1. Liberty went 3-0 at the Liberty Invitational this past weekend, winning its first tournament title since claiming the 2014 Brown Invitational. The Lady Flames hit .271 as a team, while holding opponents to a .066 hitting percentage.
2. Senior Jade Vorster was named the Liberty Invitational MVP, and was joined by redshirt senior Caroline Douglas and sophomore Anna Willey on the all-tournament team.
3. Freshman Margaret Latchford averaged 5.0 digs per set over the weekend. She collected 18 digs in a 3-0 season-opening win over UNCG. Her 18 digs were the most by a Liberty freshman in a season opener in the rally-scoring era.
4. Willey posted her third career double-double with 24 assists and 11 digs, along with five blocks, on Friday against UNCG. She is the first Lady Flame since 2012 (Jade Craycraft and Lillie Happel vs. UNCG) to post a double-double in Liberty's season opener.
5. Liberty served up a season-high 10 aces, Saturday against Hampton, with Susan Babcock posting four aces. The team's last 10-ace match was Sept. 15, 2012 at Virginia.
6. Sophomore Gabrielle Vess scored a career-high 19 kills on Saturday against Fairleigh Dickinson, topping her previous career high of 12, set on Nov. 8, 2014 at Campbell.
7. Shane Pinder, in his 12th season as Liberty's head coach, became the program's all-time leader in career victories Oct. 3, 2014 at Gardner-Webb.
Liberty vs. Loyola Marymount (First Meeting)
Loyola Marymount went 1-1 to open its season, falling 3-1 to Virginia on Friday before sweeping No. 20 UCLA, Sunday in Los Angeles. The Lions are coming off of a 23-8 season and NCAA Tournament appearance.
Junior transfer Jamie Lea (Tennessee) averaged 5.43 kills per set last weekend. Setter Hannah Tedrow was named an AVCA All-America honorable mention in 2014.
Liberty vs. Northern Arizona
All-Time Series: Northern Arizona leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Northern Arizona 3, Liberty 0 (Sept. 19, 2003 - Flagstaff, Ariz.)
Northern Arizona opened the season with a 2-1 showing at the James Madison Invitational, with its lone loss coming to the host JMU Dukes. The Lumberjacks went 21-8 last season, and were picked second in the 2015 Big Sky Preseason Coaches Poll.
Two-time All-Big Sky first team selection Jana Vander Ploeg averages 4.55 kills per set, followed by Lauren Jacobsen at 3.91 kills per set.
Liberty vs. Houston Baptist (First Meeting)
Houston Baptist brings a 4-0 record to Flagstaff, after sweeping its home invitational and defeating Prairie View A&M, Tuesday. The Huskies went 15-17 last season, including a 9-7 mark in the Southland Conference.
Three Huskies - senior Allison Doerpinhaus along with juniors Kayla Armer and Jessica Wooten, were named to the 2015 Preseason All-Southland Conference first team.
Taking to the Road
After going 3-0 at home to start the year, the Lady Flames hit the road for their next 10 matches. Liberty's next match at the Vines Center will be Oct. 2 against Gardner-Webb.
Liberty also played 10 straight matches away from home, Sept. 6 through Oct. 1, 2013.
Back to Flagstaff
Liberty makes its second appearance in Flagstaff, Ariz., as the Lady Flames competed in the 2003 La Quinta/NAU Invitational. That weekend, Liberty went 0-3 against Northern Arizona, New Mexico State and Fresno State.
The team's last trip to the Pacific Time Zone was 2010, when the Lady Flames went 2-3 on a trip that included matches in Irvine, Calif., and Fullerton, Calif.
Top of the List
Liberty Head Coach Shane Pinder is in his 12th season and holds a 211-149 (.586) overall career record, including 115-43 (.728) in Big South play.
On Oct. 3, 2014 at Gardner-Webb, he passed Chris Phillips (1992-97, 99-03) for first place on Liberty's all-time volleyball wins list. With a 3-1 win at UNC Asheville on Oct. 4, he became the fourth volleyball coach in Big South history with 200 or more career wins.
Pinder has guided the Liberty to four Big South tournament championships and four NCAA postseason berths, in addition to seven 20-win seasons in the last eight years.
Liberty Invitational Recap
Liberty went 3-0 to claim the title at the 2015 Liberty Invitational presented by La Quinta Inns & Suites. The Lady Flames have started 3-0 for the first time since 2008, when Liberty started 8-0 on the way to a 25-9 season. Liberty swept UNCG and Hampton, while defeating Fairleigh Dickinson, 3-1.
Senior Jade Vorster was named Liberty Invitational MVP, while redshirt senior Caroline Douglas and sophomore Anna Willey joined her on the all-tournament team.
Season Opening
Liberty swept UNCG, 3-0, on Friday, winning its season opener for the second year in a row, after sweeping San Jose State to start the 2014 campaign.
Freshman Margaret Latchford led all players with 18 digs on Friday, the most digs by a Liberty freshman in a season opener during the rally scoring era.
Sophomore Anna Willey recorded her third career double-double, with 24 assists and 11 digs to go with five blocks. She is the first Lady Flame since Jade Craycraft and Lillie Happel in 2012 to record a double-double in the season opener.
On the Attack
Liberty attacked at a .271 clip last weekend, and featured a balanced scoring offense.The Lady Flames rank second in the Big South in hitting percentage, while senior Jade Vorster (.420) is ranked second and sophomore Sirena Vorster (.333) is sixth.
Sophomore Gabrielle Vess scored a career-high 19 kills on Saturday against Fairleigh Dickinson, while senior Jade Vorster recorded 13 kills versus FDU.
During Saturday's match against Hampton, Haley Jeffcoat led Liberty with eight kills.
Redshirt senior Caroline Douglas, a two-time Big South All-Conference first team selection, finished tied for the team lead with seven kills on Friday against UNCG.
Redshirt freshman Sydney Morris, a transfer from James Madison, has been very efficient early on, hitting .579 with 12 kills over four sets played.
Serving up Aces
Liberty served up a season-high 10 aces on Saturday against Hampton, the team's first 10-ace match since Sept. 15, 2012 at Virginia. Sophomore Susan Babcock recorded a career-high four aces.
The Lady Flames average 1.70 aces per set, good for third in the Big South.
Own the Net
Redshirt senior Jade Vorster, a three-time all-conference performer between her time at Liberty and two years at Hawai'i, is currently ranked third in the Big South with 1.11 blocks per set.
Sophomore Sirena Vorster is ranked fifth with 1.0 blocks per set. She posted a six-block match on Saturday against Fairleigh Dickinson.
Overall, Liberty ranks first in the Big South in opponents' hitting percentage at .066, while being tied for second with 2.20 blocks per set.
Setting the Tone
Sophomore Anna Willey averaged 10 assists per set, 2.0 digs per set and 0.90 blocks per set during the first weekend of play. Willey is ranked fourth in the Big South in assists and is tied for sixth in blocks.
After posting 24 assists, 11 digs and five blocks on Friday against UNCG, Willey dished out a career-high 46 assists in a 3-1 win over Fairleigh Dickinson, Saturday.
Dig In
The Lady Flames currently lead the Big South with 17.60 digs per set.
Freshman Margaret Latchford recorded back-to-back 18 dig matches to start her career, and currently averages 5.0 digs per set, ranking fourth in the conference.
Junior Michelle Melendez collected a career-high 22 digs on Saturday against Fairleigh Dickinson, while senior Allie Reynolds recorded her 15th career double-digit dig match with 11 digs versus FDU.
