Strong A-10 start for volleyball

The Xavier women's volleyball
team has won three out of their last four matches overall and two out of their last three in the Atlantic 10.
Since the beginning of October, the Musketeers have recorded a home win against out-of-conference rival Cincinnati (23-25, 28-26, 25-21, 24-26, 15-9), a road loss against in-conference rival Dayton (19-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-14), and two victories in Cintas Center against Rhode Island (25-13, 25-12, 25-13) and Fordham (25-16, 25-14, 25-11).
As the scorecard indicates, the Muskies made quick work of Rhode Island and Fordham at home, while matches against rivals Cincinnati and Dayton proved to be more eventful.
Xavier exhibited strong mental determination in both matches. The Musketeers battled against the No. 18 Flyers at Dayton for three sets before eventually conceding
the match deciding fourth set, and finally won a back and forth match at home against UC in five sets.
Standouts for the Musketeers in October include sophomore Aubree Smith and junior Sarah Brown.
Smith has averaged 38.52 assists
per match while Brown has averaged 12.55 kills and 13.15 digs per match.
Both players have also cracked the list for top statistical performers
in the Atlantic 10.
Smith has the eighth most assists
in the A-10 with 9.19 per set and sixth in service aces with .31/set, while Brown has the second most aces in the A-10 at .39/set and the eighth most kills per set at 3.23.
Looking ahead, Xavier plays Butler in Indianapolis on Friday and at Saint Louis on Saturday.
The Musketeers beat both teams 3-0 and 3-1 at home respectively
earlier this year.
While Butler and Xavier are nearly identical in every major category in the A-10, the Muskies have an advantage over the Billikens in the attacking game.
Xavier has the best opponent attacking percentage in the league, holding opponents to a .152 percentage,
paired perfectly with SLU's second to last hitting percentage
in A-10 play.