Lady Flames Set to Host Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina on Weekend
10/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Complete Match Notes
Liberty (9-9, 4-1 Big South), 6-0 at home this season, welcomes Charleston Southern and Coastal Carolina to the Vines Center this weekend. The Chanticleers (13-4, 5-0) lead the Big South standings by one match over Liberty and High Point, while Charleston Southern (5-16, 0-4) remains in search of its first conference win.
The Lady Flames lead Charleston Southern, 37-4, all-time, winning the last 14 meetings in a row. Liberty holds a 33-18 record against Coastal Carolina.
How to Follow the Lady Flames
Live stats will be available for both of Liberty's matches this weekend. Additionally, both matches will be available for viewing, free of charge, on the Big South Network, the Liberty Flames Sports Network and ESPN3.com. Ray Jones will serve as play-by-play announcer, with Erin Hagen providing analysis.
Starting Rotation
1. Liberty rallied from a 2-1 match deficit and 6-1 set-five deficit to defeat Campbell, 3-2, on Friday, extending its winning streak to five matches. The Lady Flames then fell to High Point, 3-1, on Saturday.
2. Margaret Latchford collected a program rally-scoring-record 38 digs on Friday at Campbell, topping the previous record of 35, held by Lara Bartolomeo (Oct. 16, 2004) and Kelly Haseman (Nov. 13, 2010).
3. With 1,196 career kills, redshirt senior Caroline Douglas needs 31 more kills to pass former teammate Lillie Happel (2010-13) for 10th place in program history.
4. Sophomore Anna Willey has posted double-doubles in four out of Liberty's five conference matches so far this season. On Friday at Campbell, she set a career high with 52 assists, while adding 13 digs.
5. Redshirt senior Jade Vorster has recorded back-to-back 15-kill matches for the first time in her career. Additionally, she is ranked 13th among active NCAA Division I volleyball players with 416 career blocks (221 at Hawai'i, 195 at Liberty).
6. Junior Susan Babcock served out the last five points in Friday's fifth-set comeback win at Campbell. She posted three aces at Campbell, and leads Liberty with 17 aces.
7. Head Coach Shane Pinder is Liberty's winningest volleyball head coach, at 217-158. He needs four more wins to take over third place in Big South history in career head coaching wins.
Lady Flames Dig Deep for 3-2 Win at Campbell
Trailing, 6-1, in set five at Campbell on Friday, Liberty rallied to win the set, 15-11. It was the largest fifth-set deficit that the Lady Flames have overcome in a win since trailing Radford, 6-1 in the fifth set of a 3-2 victory, Nov. 11, 2006.
Sophomore Margaret Latchford collected a program rally-scoring-record 38 digs on Friday, breaking the previous record of 35, held by both Lara Bartolomeo (Oct. 16, 2004) and Kelly Haseman (Nov. 13, 2010).
15-15
Redshirt senior Jade Vorster scored 15 kills in both of last weekend's matches, marking the first time in her career that she has posted back-to-back 15-kill matches. She is the first Lady Flame this season to score 15 kills in consecutive contests.
Dishing it Out
Sophomore Anna Willey has dished out at least 40 assists four times in five Big South matches so far this season, while totaling four double-doubles in league play. On Friday at Campbell, Willey recorded a career-high 52 assists in addition to 13 digs.
Willey ranks second in the Big South in assists per set, both overall (9.62) and in league play (11.00).
Moving on Up
With 1,196 career kills, Caroline Douglas needs 31 kills to enter Liberty's all-time top 10 in career kills, passing former teammate Lillie Happel (2010-13).
Jade Vorster has recorded 416 career blocks, with two years each at Hawai'i (221) and Liberty (195). She needs five more blocks to reach the 200-block mark at Liberty.
Head Coach Shane Pinder, Liberty's winningest volleyball coach at 217-158, needs four more wins to pass Chris Phillips (Liberty/Gardner-Webb) into third in coaching wins among Big South volleyball coaches all-time.
VCU Recap
The Lady Flames hit a season-high .357 in a 3-0 sweep of VCU, last Tuesday. Liberty's .357 hitting percentage was its best since a .383 effort vs. Winthrop, Oct. 20, 2012.
Also, Liberty posted a season-best 11 blocks. Jade Vorster recorded seven blocks, the most by a Lady Flame so far this season.
Digging Deep
Liberty leads the Big South with 18.45 digs per set in conference play. The Lady Flames collected 101 digs on Oct. 3 against UNC Asheville, the most digs by a Liberty team in the 25-point rally-scoring format, and the most in a Big South match this season.
Margaret Latchford led all players with 31 digs. Additionally, Anna Willey (19), Lindsay Foreman (14) and Sirena Vorster (9) all had career highs in digs, while Haley Jeffcoat had 13 digs and Allie Reynolds, 11.
Latchford leads the Big South with 5.73 digs per set in conference play, while ranking fifth with 4.62 digs per set overall.
Sister, Sister
The Vorster sisters, Jade and Sirena, combined to score 29 kills at a .556 pace, sparking Liberty to a 3-1 win over Gardner-Webb on Oct. 2. Jade Vorster sent down a career-high 19 kills at a .571 pace. Her 19 kills are the most by a Liberty middle blocker since Loren Thomas scored 20 kills at UNC Asheville, Nov. 12, 2011.
Jade Vorster ranks second in the Big South in hitting percentage overall (.378), while ranking third with a .407 hitting percentage in conference play.
First Time
Senior Haley Jeffcoat scored five kills during the fifth set on Oct. 3 against UNC Asheville, giving the outside hitter her first career double-double, with 10 kills and 13 digs.
Serving Up Aces
Junior Susan Babcock leads the Lady Flames with 17 aces this season, including a pair of four-ace matches. On Friday at Campbell, she served up three aces, and served for Liberty's last five points in a 15-11 fifth-set victory.
Liberty vs. Charleston Southern
Charleston Southern (5-16, 0-4 Big South) is in search of its first Big South victory. The Buccaneers rank second in the Big South in both digs per set (16.75) and opponents' hitting percentage (.168). Ashley Higginbothem ranks third in the Big South with 4.91 digs per set, while Kylie Klein is ranked fifth with 0.97 blocks per set. Katrina Houston averages 2.74 kills per set to lead CSU, while Addison Kaderli averages 2.36 kills per set.
CSU freshman Krista Kuglin and Liberty sophomore Hannah Weidner were high school teammates at Minnetonka High School in Minnetonka, Minn.
Third-year CSU head coach Christy Mooberry is 22-62 at Charleston Southern. She has gone 122-155 in eight seasons as a collegiate head coach, as she has also coached at Montreat and Union (Tenn.).
Liberty is 37-4 all-time against Charleston Southern, including 19-1 under Pinder. The Lady Flames have won each of the last 14 meetings, with Charleston Southern's last win over Liberty coming Oct. 21, 2006 in Charleston. CSU has not won in the Vines Center since Oct. 20, 1995, as Liberty has won 17 straight home meetings with the Buccaneers.
Last season, Liberty rallied to beat CSU, 3-1, Oct. 17, 2014 at the Buc Dome. Hannah Weidner scored 14 kills, while Caroline Douglas recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs. CSU's Meredith Parrott and Katrina Houston had 14 kills each.
Liberty vs. Coastal Carolina
Defending Big South champion Coastal Carolina (13-4, 5-0) brings a six-match winning streak into the weekend. The Chanticleers lead the Big South in hitting percentage (.254) and opponents' hitting percentage (.162). Senior Eszter Nagy is the conference leader in hitting percentage (.441). 2015 Big South Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year Leah Hardeman is ranked second in the conference at 3.66 kills per set. Freshman Carla Cahill leads the team with 3.71 digs per set.
Fourth-year head coach Jozsef Forman is 71-37 at Coastal Carolina, and is 129-76 as a collegiate head coach. Forman spent 2007-09 as head coach at New Orleans.
Liberty holds a 33-18 record in the all-time series against Coastal Carolina. The Lady Flames has gone 13-1 in their last 14 regular-season meetings with the Chanticleers. Liberty won its most recent Big South title, with a 3-1 victory over Coastal in the 2012 final. Coastal's last win over Liberty at the Vines Center was Nov. 14, 2006.
The Lady Flames downed Coastal Carolina, 3-1, Oct. 18, 2014 at The HTC Center. The win was Liberty's 20th on the season. Caroline Douglas led Liberty with 22 kills, earning her 1,000th kill in the process. Hannah Weidner scored a career-high 20 kills.
Home Cooking
The Lady Flames have won seven home matches in a row, and are 15-1 in their last 16 home contests. Liberty is 21-4 (.840) in its last 25 home matches, and 44-6 (.880) in their last 50 home contests, spanning the 2010 through 2015 seasons. Liberty is 93-28 (.769) at home, including 67-14 (.827) in home conference play under 12th-year head coach Shane Pinder.
Top Honors
Saturday's match features the only two players to be named both Big South Freshman of the Year and Big South Player of the Year during the same season. Caroline Douglas was named Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year in 2012, while Coastal's Leah Hardeman earned both awards last season.
