Lady Flames to Host CSU at LCA Gym in Final Regular-Season Match
11/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Complete Match Notes
The Liberty volleyball team (16-11, 11-4 Big South) closes out the regular season on Saturday at 1 p.m., hosting Charleston Southern (12-18, 7-7). Due to facility conflicts, Saturday's match will take place at Liberty Christian Academy. Liberty has gone 11-2 in its last 13 matches, while CSU has lost six out of its last seven contests.
Liberty gave CSU its first conference loss of the season, rallying to down the Buccaneers, 3-2, on Oct. 15 in Charleston, S.C. Overall, the Lady Flames lead the series, 39-4, winning the last 16 meetings in a row.
How to Follow the Lady Flames
Live stats will be available for Saturday's match between Liberty and Charleston Southern. StatBroadcast live stats will appear courtesy of Liberty Athletics Communications.
Starting Rotation
1. Liberty swept Presbyterian and High Point last weekend, outhitting those two opponents a combined .316-.121.
2. The Lady Flames sit in sole possession of second place in the Big South standings after upending High Point in a key match on Saturday.
3. Anna Gragg set a new program freshman single-season record with 98 blocks. She broke Loren Thomas' mark of 92 blocks from the 2009 season. Gragg is ranked third in the Big South with 1.04 blocks per set, while Sirena Vorster is second at 1.10 blocks per set.
4. The Lady Flames averaged two aces per set last weekend, while Leah Clayton served up six aces during the two-match span. Liberty has four players with 20 or more aces this year for the first time since 2012.
5. With 844 career digs, Margaret Latchford has collected the second-most digs by a Lady Flame in her first two seasons, trailing only Kelly Haseman (867). Latchford set a program freshman record with 502 digs last season.
6. Liberty has won its final match heading into the Big South Tournament each of the last 19 seasons, dating back to the 1997 campaign. That year, 1997, was the year that the Lady Flames captured their first-ever conference volleyball title.
7. The Lady Flames' 11 conference wins are the team's most since going 12-2 in Big South play in the 2012 season. Liberty has won 10 or more Big South matches 12 times since the start of the 1997 campaign.
Swept Away
Liberty swept both Presbyterian and High Point at the Vines Center, last Friday and Saturday. The Lady Flames posted dominating performances both nights, averaging 13.83 kills, 2.0 aces and 2.67 blocks per set while outhitting opponents, .316-.121.
Gabrielle Vess led the Lady Flames with 13 kills on Friday against PC. Leah Clayton then sent down 16 kills on Saturday, the most kills by a Lady Flame in a three-set match this season. Also on Saturday, Casey Goodwin scored 11 kills, her most kills in a single match since sending down 11 kills against Middle Tennessee, Sept. 17.
Anna Willey averaged 11.50 assists per set on the weekend.
Aces are Wild
Liberty averaged 2.0 aces per set last weekend, and got six aces from Leah Clayton. Sirena Vorster leads the team with 29 aces, followed by Casey Goodwin (23), Clayton (20) and Payton Carter (20). This is the first time since 2012 that four Lady Flames have recorded 20 or more aces in the same year.
Freshman of the Week Honors Abound
Leah Clayton was named Big South Freshman of the Week for the second week in a row, and third time this season, last Monday. Anna Gragg has two Freshman of the Week honors (Sept. 19, Oct. 17), while Casey Goodwin received the award on Sept. 12.
Liberty's six Freshman of the Week honors this year set a new program record, and tie 2015 Winthrop, 2008 Gardner-Webb and 2003 High Point for the most Freshman of the Week honors for one Big South school in a single season.
10 Again
Gabrielle Vess and Leah Clayton are tied for the team lead with 13 double-digit kill matches this year. The duo has been strong during conference play, where Clayton ranks second in the Big South with 4.23 kills per set, and Vess is ninth with 2.78 kills per set.
Blocking the Way
Liberty's 13 10-block matches are the most since a program rally-scoring-record 14 10-block contests were posted in 2006.
For the season, Liberty leads the Big South and ranks 45th nationally with 2.49 blocks per set, while the team's .164 opponents' hitting percentage is ranked 27th in the nation.
Sirena Vorster is ranked second in the Big South with 1.10 blocks per set, while Anna Gragg is fourth with 1.04 blocks per set.
Digging In
Margaret Latchford has posted 12 career 20-dig matches, while Michelle Melendez has recorded three 20-dig contests.
With 844 career digs, Margaret Latchford needs 24 more digs to pass program record holder Kelly Haseman (2008-11) forthe most digs in her first two seasons at Liberty.
For the (Freshman) Record
Anna Gragg has set a new program freshman record with 98 blocks. She broke Loren Thomas' mark of 92 blocks from the 2009 season. Gragg is ranked third in the Big South with 1.04 blocks per set, while Sirena Vorster is second at 1.10 blocks per set.
2,000 Club
Anna Willey is ranked second in the Big South with 9.65 assists per set overall, including 9.98 assists per set in conference matches.
Willey now ranks eighth in program history with 2,155 career assists.
On Sept. 9 against USC Upstate, Hannah Morris dished out a career-high 51 assists.
Morris and Willey are the first Liberty teammates to both post at least one 50-assist match in the same season since 2009, when Courtney Boggs and Kallie Corbin did so.
Liberty vs. Charleston Southern
Charleston Southern (12-18, 7-7) was 5-0 in conference play before Liberty downed the Buccaneers on Oct. 15 in Charleston. Since then, CSU has gone just 2-7. CSU leads the Big South with 17.62 digs per set and is second with 2.25 blocks per set. Addison Kadderli (2.78 kills per set) and Brooke Monssen (2.56 kps) rank fifth and ninth, respectively, in the conference in kills. Kylie Klein is ranked fifth in the Big South with 1.02 blocks per set. Madison Martin's 5.07 digs per set lead the Big South.
Fourth-year CSU head coach Christy Mooberry is 39-87 at Charleston Southern. She has gone 140-182 in nine seasons as a collegiate head coach, as she has also coached at Montreat and Union (Tenn.).
Series History
Liberty is 39-4 all-time against Charleston Southern, including 21-1 under Pinder. The Lady Flames have won each of the last 16 meetings, with Charleston Southern's last win over Liberty coming Oct. 21, 2006 in Charleston. CSU has not won in Lynchburg since Oct. 20, 1995, as Liberty has won 17 straight home meetings with the Buccaneers.
Last Meeting
Liberty rallied from a 2-1 match deficit and fought back from a 10-8, set-five hole to give Charleston Southern its first league loss of 2016, 3-2 on Oct. 15 at the Buc Dome. Leah Clayton recorded 24 kills and 19 digs, and scored Liberty's last four points to seal the 15-13 win in set five. CSU's Addison Kaderli registered 17 kills, hitting .312.
Conference Outlook
Radford has clinched the first seed and Big South regular season title, at 13-2. Liberty is second, at 11-4, while High Point enters the weekend at 9-5.
This is the 12th time in program history that Liberty has reached double digits in conference wins. Liberty's 11 conference victories are its most since going 12-2 in Big South play in 2012. The 2010 Lady Flames (14-2) set a program record for Big South wins.
Home Cooking
Liberty has been historically dominant at home, as the Lady Flames are 88-18 (.830) in home matches since the start of the 2007 season. Liberty has gone 8-2 in the Vines Center this season, and is 49-11 (.816) in its last 60 contests at home. Under 13th-year Head Coach Shane Pinder, Liberty is 103-33 (.757) at home, including 75-18 (.806) against Big South teams.
LCA Memories
Freshman setter Hannah Morris played her high school volleyball home matches at the site of Saturday's match, the LCA gymnasium.
The last time Liberty played a match at LCA was Nov. 4, 2011, when the Lady Flames rallied to defeat Campbell in five sets (24-26, 25-11, 25-19, 12-25, 16-14).
Out With a Bang
Liberty has won its final match prior to the Big South Volleyball Championship during each of the last 19 seasons, dating back to 1997. Incidentally, the 1997 season was the first of Liberty's conference-record seven Big South titles to date.
