Lady Flames to Host PC for Senior Night, Friday
11/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Complete Match Notes
The Liberty volleyball team (14-11, 9-4 Big South) returns home for its final three matches of the regular season. The Lady Flames host Presbyterian (4-22, 2-9) on Friday at 7 p.m., before taking on High Point (18-8, 9-4), Saturday at 2 p.m. at Vines Center.
Friday's match will be Melendez Night, as Liberty will honor its lone senior, Michelle Melendez, with a prematch ceremony. Melendez has collected 426 digs during her two seasons at Liberty after transferring from Palm Beach State College.
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. Despite falling at Campbell, Liberty is 9-2 in its last 11 matches and currently sits in a tie with High Point for second place in the Big South standings with three matches left.
2. Leah Clayton was named Big South Volleyball Freshman of the Week for the second week in a row and third time this season. She is the first Lady Flame since Hannah Weidner in 2014 to received three Big South Freshman of the Week awards.
3. Anna Willey posted her 10th double-double of the season on Tuesday at Campbell. She became the seventh Liberty player in rally-scoring history, and first since Jade Craycraft in 2012 and 2013, to post 10 or more double-doubles in back-to-back seasons.
4. With 825 career digs, Margaret Latchford has collected the second-most digs by a Lady Flame in her first two seasons, trailing only Kelly Haseman (867).
5. Liberty has won its match designated as Senior Night each of the last nine seasons, including a 3-1 win over High Point Nov. 6, 2015. Friday's match will mark the first time that the Lady Flames have hosted Presbyterian on Senior Night.
6. The Lady Flames have posted 10 or more blocks in a match 13 times this season. That is Liberty's most 10-block matches since registering 14 10-block contests during the 2006 season.
7. With 91 blocks this season, Anna Gragg needs two more rejections to break Loren Thomas' program freshman record of 92 blocks, set during the 2009 season. Thomas went on to set Liberty's overall rally-scoring records for blocks in a match and season.
Senior Spotlight
Senior Michelle Melendez will be honored with a prematch ceremony on Friday. Melendez has been a strong contributor in the Lady Flames' back row over the last two seasons. Serving as team captain, Melendez is one of two Lady Flames to appear in all 96 sets for Liberty this year. She has appeared in each of the Lady Flames' last 138 sets, a streak beginning Oct. 10, 2015 at High Point.
Since transferring from Palm Beach State, Melendez has collected 426 digs. She ranks second on the team with 232 digs this season. Three times in her career, she has posted 22 digs in a single match. Melendez has recorded 13 10-dig matches while at Liberty. She is majoring in developmental psychology.
Clayton Named Big South Freshman of the Week
Leah Clayton was named Big South Freshman of the Week for the second week in a row, and third time this season, 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 12 double-digit kill matches this season. Vess' string of eight straight 10-kill contests, which ended on Tuesday at Campbell, was Liberty's longest since Hannah Weidner scored 10 or more kills in 19 consecutive matches during her freshman season, 2014.
Four Straight
Leah Clayton recorded her fourth straight 20-kill match last Tuesday against Radford, scoring a career-high 25 kills to go with 18 digs for her ninth career double-double. Clayton's 25 kills are tied for the most ever by a Lady Flame in a four-set match under the current 25-point rally-scoring format (Lillie Happel vs. Seton Hall, Sept. 2, 2011).
Jennifer Belk (2001) is the only other true freshman in Liberty's rally-scoring history with a 25-kill match.
Digging In
Senior Michelle Melendez tied her career high with 22 digs at Charleston Southern, Oct. 15. Margaret Latchford collected a season-high 28 digs at Gardner-Webb, Oct. 22. Latchford has posted 12 career 20-dig matches, while Melendez has recorded three 20-dig contests.
With 825 career digs, Margaret Latchford has already collected the third-most digs through two seasons in program history. Program record holder Kelly Haseman (2008-11) holds the record for most digs in her first two seasons at Liberty, with 867.
Double-Doubles
Anna Willey recorded her team-leading 10th double-double, and 24th of her career, Tuesday at Campbell. Willey is the seventh player in rally-scoring program history, and first since Jade Craycraft (2012-13) with 10+ double-doubles in back-to-back seasons.
Leah Clayton has posted nine double-doubles, while Hannah Morris (3), Gabrielle Vess (2) and Sydney Morris (2) have also registered double-doubles.
The last time five Lady Flames recorded a double-double in the same season was 2009. During the rally-scoring era, the most different Liberty players to post a double-double in a season is six, in both 2001 and 2008.
Blocking the Way
Liberty has posted four 15-block matches this season. The only other time in rally-scoring history that the Lady Flames recorded four 15-block matches in the same season was 2006. Additionally, 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 48th nationally with 2.48 blocks per set, while the team's .167 opponents' hitting percentage is ranked 37th in the nation.
Sirena Vorster is ranked second in the Big South with 1.12 blocks per set, while Anna Gragg is fourth with 1.03 blocks per set.
Liberty vs. Presbyterian
Presbyterian (4-22, 2-9 Big South) has lost its last six matches since downing Winthrop, 3-2, on Oct. 15. The Blue Hose close out the regular season with four out of their remaining five matches away. Sierra Davis is ranked fourth in the Big South with 3.00 kills per set while Sara Rogers (8.64 assists per set) is third in assists. Mikayla Register ranks third in the conference in digs per set (4.51) and eighth in aces per set (0.33).
Fourth-year head coach Korrinn Burgess has gone 29-84 at Presbyterian, after coaching Spartanburg Methodist to a 17-14 record in 2012.
Liberty holds a 14-1 record in the all-time series against Presbyterian College, and the Lady Flames have won each of the last 11 meetings. The Blue Hose posted their only win over Liberty on Nov. 8, 2008 in Clinton, S.C., a 3-2 victory.
The Lady Flames rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat PC, 3-2, on Oct. 14 in Clinton, S.C. Leah Clayton totaled 17 kills and 15 digs, while Anna Gragg posted a season-high 13 kills. Martina Shamley led PC with 14 kills, while Sierra Davis had 12 kills.
Liberty vs. High Point
High Point (18-8, 9-4 Big South), the preseason favorite to win the Big South, picked up a 3-1 win over conference-leading Radford on Tuesday.
Haley Barnes, a 2015 Big South All-Conference first team selection, is ranked second in the Big South in kills per set (3.39). 2015 Big South Freshman of the Year Molly Livingston ranks second in the conference with a .310 hitting percentage. Jordan Hefner is ranked third with 1.05 blocks per set.
Head Coach Tom Mendoza is 18-8 in his first year at the helm, after spending the last six years as assistant and associate coach at Creighton.
Liberty leads the all-time series over High Point, 30-13, including a 14-13 mark under Pinder. High Point has won six out of the last eight meetings in the series, dating to 2013. These two teams met in the 2010 Big South Volleyball Championship title match, which High Point won to claim its lone conference title in volleyball to date.
High Point downed the Lady Flames, 3-1, on Sept. 23 in Liberty's Big South opener. Katie Tylman scored a match-high 15 kills at a .480 pace, while Liberty's Anna Gragg and Gabrielle Vess sent down nine kills each.
