CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College volleyball team returns to the court this weekend for Gulf South Conference action. The Choctaws host the University of Alabama in Huntsville at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5. MC closes out the weekend slate on Saturday, Oct. 6 against the University of Montevallo. First serve in the annual Crohn's Awareness Match is marked for 2 p.m.
ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE SERIES: Mississippi College and Alabama-Huntsville meet for the 14th time in program history on Friday with the Chargers leading the series 10-3. The two squads split last season's meetings.
BREAKING DOWN THE CHARGERS: UAH enters the weekend sporting a 16-4 record and 5-2 in the GSC. Isabella Barnes leads the Blue and White with 165 kills on the season. Barnes leads a quartet of Chargers with 100-plus kills on the campaign. Haley Hop paces UAH with 341 digs this season. The preseason All-GSC senior stands as the career record holder in the program.
MONTEVALLO SERIES: Mississippi College and Montevallo meet for the second time in series history on Saturday. The Choctaws won the only meeting with a 3-1 decision on Oct. 7 in the Crohn's Awareness match.
BREAKING DOWN THE FALCONS: Montevallo enters the weekend slate with a 15-2 and 6-1 GSC record. Amanda Nugent leads four Falcons in double figure kills with 178. The preseason All-GSC selection ranks ninth in the conference in kills. Hannah Fernandez paces the Purple and Gold in blocks with 61.
CROHN'S AWARENESS MATCH: For the third straight season, the Mississippi College volleyball team will hold its annual Crohn's Awareness Match. This year's date is Saturday, Oct. 6 against the University of Montevallo. Redshirt sophomore
Kaitlyn Wilson was diagnosed with Crohn's during the 2016 campaign - her freshman season in Clinton. The Choctaws will honor individuals battling Crohn's during the match against the Falcons. All fans are asked to wear purple to raise awareness about Crohn's.
PLATT CRACKS SINGLE-SEASON TOP 10: Freshman
Kendall Platt used a 13-kill performance on Tuesday evening against the University of West Alabama to move into the program's top 10 list of single-season kills. The Anaheim, Calif., native has 232 kills this season which places her ninth in school history on the list. Platt is 23 kills away from moving into the top five in the category.
LAST TIME OUT: For the fifth time this season, the Mississippi College volleyball team forced a contest to the deciding set, but the Choctaws came up on the short end of the decision as they fell to the University of West Alabama in Gulf South Conference action. Tuesday's affair marked the third time in five outings MC has extended the match to the fifth set. The Navy and Gold is 2-3 in five-set matches this season. Freshman
Lexie Laurendine notched season-highs with 29 assists and nine kills in the match. The Clinton, Miss., native also added 12 digs for her second double-double of the season. The 12 digs tied a season-high. Freshman
Kendall Platt posted her 15th match in double figures with a team-best 13 kills. Freshman
Jamie Boros added 11 kills for her 11th contest in double-digits.
PLATT NAMED GSC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: Mississippi College volleyball player
Kendall Platt was named Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Week. Platt became the first freshman since 2014 to reach the 200-kill plateau as she led the Choctaws with 27 kills over the weekend, including her team-best 13th and 14th matches with 10-plus kills. She also notched her team-leading fifth double-double with 11 kills and 20 digs at the University of West Georgia.
YOUTHFUL ABUNDANCE: Mississippi College stands as the third, youngest volleyball team in Division II this season. The Choctaws are the youngest team in the Gulf South Conference barely edging out Union University with five sophomores, two juniors and a senior along with the 11 freshmen. Union has three sophomores, three juniors and two seniors on their squad. Bloomsburg (Pa.) University leads Division II with 23 freshmen following by Tusculum (Tenn.) University has 15 freshmen on their 2018 roster.
1. Bloomsburg-23
2. Tusculum-15
3.
Mississippi College, Minnesota State-Moorhead, Tiffin, Union and West Virginia Wesleyan-11
