Women's Volleyball | 9/6/2024 1:14:00 PM

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. — Buccaneer volleyball is back and ready to burst into action for the 2024 season. Barry University will host and compete in the Barry University Invitational. The invitational will welcome Auburn-Montgomery, Virginia State, and Edward Waters to the Health & Sports Center on Friday and Saturday with each team matching up against one another. The games will be streamed on the Sunshine State Conference Digital Network with live stats provided by StatBroadcast. Full tournament page can be found here.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Records: Barry (0-0); Auburn-Montgomery (0-0); Edward Waters (0-0); Virginia State (0-0)
All-Time Series: Barry leads Auburn-Montgomery 3-0; Barry leads Edward Waters 1-0 First game against Virginia State

Game Coverage Links

Game	Date	Stats	Broadcast
Auburn-Montgomery	Friday, Sept. 6; 7:00 pm
Virginia State	Saturday, Sept. 7; 12:00 pm
Edward Waters	Saturday, Sept. 7; 4:30 pm

Barry went 11-18 overall last season with a 5-15 SSC record. The Bucs return SSC Freshman of the Year and All-SSC Second Team member, Varvara Osychenko, and AVCA All-American and All-SSC First-Team member, Diana Akopova. Osychenko ended her freshman season with 4.03 kills per set, good for top-three in the league and 24th nationally. The outside hitter led the team in digs with 306 for a 2.97 set average. Akopova dominated the conference in offense, being the only player with 500 or more kills sitting at 501, beaming 4.86 kills per set.

The Buccaneers with selected to finish seventh in the Sunshine State Conference preseason coaches' poll after finishing ninth last season. Coach Yelin brings forward an evenly split squad of returners and newcomers with 10 on each end. Four of the 10 returners are key starting players. On the newcomer side, the back-row defense has gained depth with transfers Gaia Riedmuller and Kennedy Conrad. Riedmuller transfers from Eastern Florida State where she earned First-Team All-Citrus Conference honors as a libero. Conrad joins from Heartland Community College where she led the Hawks to a national tournament appearance and put herself at the top of the leader board for digs in NJCAA Division II with 966.

Auburn-Montgomery was tabbed seventh in the Gulf South Conference preseason coaches poll. The Warhawks are coming off a record breaking season in which they won a program best 24 wins, 16 of which in conference play to set another milestone. AUM has turned in a winning season in five of its last six seasons and made the school's first appearance in the NCAA South Region rankings at No. 10 to cap the 2023 season. They will be under the direction of first-year head coach, Craig Case.

For Virginia State, the Trojans were tabbed to finish fourth in the CIAA, returning key player and All-CIAA Freshman performer, Peyton Resse at setter. The Trojans were 10-18 last season, 9-8 in the CIAA.

Edward Waters, is the final competitor in the invitational this weekend traveling down from Jacksonville, Fla. The Tigers were voted to finish runner-up in the SIAC East Division preseason coaches' poll. Last season, EWU finished 22-7 with a 17-2 SIAC record, falling short in the tournament championship to Spring Hill. Head Coach, Lauren Ford, returns for her second season after being named HBCU Sports Awards Volleyball Coach of the Year.

# Stats from 2023

About Barry University Athletics

Barry University has sponsored NCAA Division II athletics for 39 years, winning 28 national championships in eight sports, crowning 429 All-Americans in 13 sports and over 640 scholar All-Americans. Barry is a proud member of the Sunshine State Conference "The Conference of National Champions" with 104 league titles since joining in 1989. The Buccaneers have NCAA men's teams in soccer, cross country, basketball, swimming, baseball, golf, and tennis and women's teams in soccer, cross country, volleyball, basketball, swimming, beach volleyball, golf, rowing, softball and tennis.