MIAMI SHORES, Fla. —Barry University's volleyball team looks to rebound from its loss to Tampa when it hosts Rollins 7 p.m. Friday.
The Buccaneers will be facing Rollins setter April Jackson, who has 2,386 career assists. A four-year player, she is the Tars' floor leader. Bri Civiero has been an offensive catalyst for the Tars this season, having put away 144 kills. The Buccaneers will have the challenge of trying to stop these two skilled players.
Friday's match is the first of two at home for Barry (5-4, 3-2 Sunshine State Conference). The Buccaneers will host Embry-Riddle, a provisional SSC member, at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Rollins (1-12, 0-5) is averaging 11.86 kills per set. The Tars are committing 1.38 ball handling errors per match. Conversely, the Bucs are averaging 12.2 kills while committing 3.33 ball handling errors. Rollins is averaging 16.36 digs per set. Barry is digging 16.11 balls per set.
The Buccaneers have played well at home this year in posting a 2-1 record. They should be reenergized playing at home after playing two road matches last week.
Newcomer
Kaitlin Drake and Eva Ratt have been a big part of the Buccaneers' success on offense this year. Drake has 127 kills. Ratt is not too far behind with 103 kills. Raat has taken 99 swings in the last three matches. Barry's setters
Jenny Trinidad and
Jasmine Serna have combined for 386 of the Buccaneers' 420 assists.
Brittany Jaco has accounted for 214 of the team's 596 digs.
Barry split the two matches it had with Rollins last year, winning in three sets and dropping the other in five.
Embry-Riddle features outstanding players who can play with the best of them. Evelina Abdurakhmanova leads the Eagles in kills with a total of 229. Ana Pajic is the Eagles' second leading attacker with 166 kills. Sumerr Paxton is averaging 5.77 digs per set.
Barry will have its hands full with the balanced Eagles team, which brings in a 10-3 overall record. Embry-Riddle won the 2014 The Sun Conference title, marking the program's 13th league crown. They outplay their opponents in almost all facets of the game. They average 13.5 kills per set, while their opponents average 12.2. Their assists per set are 12.9 compared to their opponents' 11.5. The Eagles average 1.8 aces per set to 0.9 for their opponents. Their digs outnumber their opponents 17.3 to 16.5. The Eagles are 1-2 in their last three matches. Barry's Ivana Didanovic has 22 block assists, and Katie Dooley is right behind her with 20. They will, however, look to try and improve on these numbers because they are being outblocked by their opponents, 75-58, per match.
FRIDAY'S MATCH
SATURDAY'S MATCH
