Non-Conference Road Trip To Delaware State (Oct. 21) & UMES (Oct. 22)

UNH (11-10, 4-2 America East) at Delaware State (0-22, 0-7 MEAC)
Friday, Oct. 21 • 6 pm • Memorial Hall • Dover, Del.
Live Stats

UNH (11-10, 4-2 America East) at Maryland Eastern Shore (13-10, 6-1 MEAC)
Sat., Oct. 22 •12 pm • William P. Hytche Athletic Center • Princess Anne, Md.
Video • Audio • Live Stats

UNH at Delaware State
Friday night's matchup of New Hampshire and Delaware State will be just the second between these programs. UNH won the inaugural meeting, 3-0, on Sept. 13, 1996 – that was Jill Hirschinger's first year as UNH head coach (her second win at the helm of the Wildcats). The set scores were 15-7, 15-11, 15-5 (rally scoring).

UNH at Maryland Eastern Shore
Saturday afternoon's matchup of New Hampshire and UMES will also be just the second between those programs. The Hawks were 3-0 victors on Sept. 11, 2010 at the Art Carmichael URI Volleyball Invitational; the set scores were 25-20, 25-20, 25-18.

UNH vs. the MEAC
Prior to the 2016 season, UNH played only three matches against current teams in the MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference); the Wildcats will double that total this season. In addition to the aforementioned matchup against both Delaware State and UMES, the Wildcats upended Coppin State in straight sets at a neutral site on Sept. 25, 2009. And earlier this year, the 'Cats were 3-0 winners vs. Coppin State in the season-opening tourney at Navy. That gives New Hampshire a 3-1 mark vs. the MEAC.

New Hampshire Scout
UNH enters the weekend with an 11-10 overall record that includes 7-8 in non-conference play and 3-5 on the road (6-7 in all matches away from Lundholm Gym). The Wildcats are coming off an 0-2 weekend in which they lost on the road to Binghamton University (3-1) and University at Albany (3-2). Those losses snapped a four-match win streak. New Hampshire is in the midst of eight consecutive road matches that began Oct. 7 and continues through the end of the month.

Late Non-Conference Matchup
UNH steps out of America East conference play this weekend to face a pair of teams from the MEAC. The last time the Wildcats interrupted conference play was not that long ago; in 2014, New Hampshire played its conference opener Sept. 26 vs. UMass Lowell, then played host to NJIT the next match. The last time the 'Cats played a non-conference match in October was in 2011, when they defeated College of the Holy Cross, 3-1, in Worcester, Mass. (Oct. 26).

Conference Dominance
Since the start of the 2013 season, UNH has a 38-6 America East conference record (.864 winning percentage). The Wildcats won both the regular-season and tournament titles in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In the 2014-15 seasons, UNH had a 20-0 regular-season conference record against America East teams not named Albany (2-2 vs. Albany).

A Rare Occurrence
Prior to last weekend, UNH had not lost consecutive America East conference games since 2012, when the 'Cats were defeated by Albany and University of Hartford in the same weekend (Oct. 12-13); both matches were on the road.

One For the Ages
Last Sunday (Oct. 16) at Albany, the Great Danes won the first two sets but UNH responded with a dominant effort in Set 3 to extend the match. The Wildcats then fought off two match points in Set 4 and forced a decisive fifth set. New Hampshire overcame a 13-9 deficit to earn match point at 14-13, but Albany responded with three consecutive points for another Great Danes' match point. UNH answered with back-to-back points for its second match point (16-15), but the home team replied with another 3-0 run to win the match, 18-16.

Season Highs
New Hampshire recorded season highs in kills (74), total attacks (208), assists (70) and digs (96) in last Sunday's five-setter at Albany. Also of note from that match, senior setter Keelin Severtson recorded season highs of 58 assists and 12 digs; senior middle blocke Demi Muses finished with season highs in kills (22) and assists (four); freshman right side hitter Hannah Petke tallied highs in kills (seven), digs (eight) and blocks (two); freshman outside hitter Emily Tanski finished with a personal-best 20 kills and six assists; and freshman outside hitter Kennedi Smith had a season-high 12 digs.

Second Set Strong
UNH has won the second set in 14 of 21 matches, including each seven of the past eight matches; last Sunday at Albany is the exception. In comparison, the Wildcats have taken a 1-0 match lead eight times and have captured the third set 10 times.

Double Doubles
Emily Tanski and Demi Muses both recorded a double-double last Sunday at Albany, which marked the fourth match this season that happened. Tanski has a team-high nine double-doubles, followed by Muses with eight (including each of the last three matches). Keelin Severtson recorded her fourth double-double of 2016 with 58 assists and 12 digs at Albany.

The Leaderboard
Demi Muses has a team-high 230 kills with Emily Tanski directly behind her at 227; Muses leads UNH in both kills per set (3.59) and hitting percentage (.292), as well as digs per set (3.41). Keelin Severtson is atop the assist leaderboard (820) – no other 'Cat has more than 35 assists – as well as the list of service aces with 39. Senior defensive specialist Sara Carlson is UNH's leader in digs (264). Also on the defensive side of the net, Gabri Olhava has a team-best 57 blocks, followed by Muses at 51.

Conference Call
UNH is atop the America East conference leaderboard in kills per set (13.00), hitting percentage (.204) and assists per set (12.13). Also of note, the Wildcats are No. 2 in opponent hitting percentage (.185) and digs per set (16.70; by .04), as well as No. 3 in service aces (1.47/set).

On the individual leaderboards, Muses ranks second in points per set (4.17), hitting percentage (.292) and kills per set (3.59), as well as fifth in digs per set (3.39) and 10^th in blocks per set (0.80); Severtson is second in assists per set (10.65) and is third in service aces (0.38); Tanski is No. 7 in points (3.32/set), kills (2.87/set) and hitting percentage (.235), as well as No. 8 in digs (3.05/set); Olhava ranks fsixth in blocks per set (0.88); Carlson is No. 6 in digs per set (3.38).

She Doesn't Take a Set Off
Tanski is the only Wildcat who has played in all 79 sets. Carlson (78), Severtson (77) and Bowman (72) have also topped 70 sets played. Muses has played in 64 of 66 sets since missing the first four matches of the season.

3, 4 or 5
Eight of New Hampshire's 21 matches have been decided in straight sets with a record of 5-3. The Wildcats have a 4-6 record in four-set matches and are 2-1 in matches that go the five-set distance.

Delaware State Scout
Delaware State (Dover, Del.) has a record of 0-22 overall, including 0-7 in the MEAC and 0-7 at home, and is coming off Tuesday's straight-set loss to La Salle. Last weekend, the Hornets were defeated on the road by Maryland Eastern Shore and Norfolk State. Jae Jackson and Sabina Szmajduch are tied for the team lead in kills with 109; they are followed by Sydney Armbrister at 86. Jackson also leads the team in blocks (39), so you can expect her to play a huge role up front for Delaware State. The Hornets have only been able to win a total of 4 of 70 sets. Hornet servers have accounted for a total of 65 aces, a little more than half of the Wildcats' 116. Alliyah McBean leads the team in digs by a healthy margin, tallying up 298 of the Hornets' 726 total digs. McBean leads the MEAC in digs, averaging 4.22 per set. Gabriella Enriquez runs the attack and has compiled 331 assists (5.91/set); in recent weeks, she has split time with Morgan Tennant (100 assists).

Maryland Eastern Shore Scout
After the Wildcats face off against Delaware State in Dover, Delaware, they'll be heading further south to Princess Anne, Maryland to face off against the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks. UMES is one of the top powerhouse teams in the MEAC, with a 6-1 conference record – one-half game behind conference leader Howard (6-0). The Hawks have an overall record of 13-10 that includes 7-3 at home and they play host to Howard one day before playing UNH. UMES enters the weekend with a six-match win streak, the last four of which have been in straight sets. Eighteen of 23 matches have been decided in just three sets, taking either a sweeping win or hard defeat for a 10-8 record. In terms of conference statistics, UMES leads the MEAC in hitting percentage at .227 and service aces at 148.

UMES has a distinct international flavor with six student-athletes from overseas on its 11-player roster; Lucia Babic, Ivana Blazevic and Marta Klafuric hail from Croatia; Zuzana Ondruskova is from the Czech Republic; Mere Serean calls Fiji home; and Iva Vujosevic matriculates from Montenegro.

Vujosevic has a conference-high 34 aces and is followed by Blazevic (29), Babic (28) and Ondruskova (23), who also leads the team in digs, averaging 2.67 per set with a total of 187. Babic has played in every set and leads the team with 184 kills; Vujosevic is next with 149 kills (2.22/set). Blazevic directs the offense and has amassed 504 assists (7.10/set). Mere Serea leads the team and conference in blocks with a total of 69.

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