PREVIEW: Women’s Volleyball readies for home-and-home series with Mars Hill

SALISBURY, N.C. – The Catawba College women's volleyball team lines up against Mars Hill for a home-and-home double feature, traveling to Stanford Arena on Friday before hosting the Lions on Saturday. The South Atlantic Conference foes' meeting in Salisbury was previously scheduled for Sep. 27 when it was postponed due to Hurricane Helene.

Last Time Out

- Catawba fell in three sets on Tuesday at Anderson, but Riley Hill and Riannel Arevalo logged impressive nights 

- The blue and white recorded their third-best service percentage of the year at a .938 clip, tallying two aces with just three errors on 48 chances

- The squad's .955 reception percentage ranked second on the campaign with a season-low three miscues

- Offensively, Kelcie Love's six kills and Haley Moffett's 15 assists topped the Catawba lineup as Moffett and Sydney Wattles tacked on one ace apiece

- Wattles and Lillie Kate Rogers each made a pair of stops at the net

Going Back-to-Back

- The last time Catawba played a home-and-home series in back-to-back games was in the early portion of the 2003 season

- Catawba took down the Falcons in sweeping fashion both times, Aug. 30 in Salisbury and Sep. 3 in Misenheimer

- The Catawba Indians battled both Seton Hill and Northwood on the first two days of the 2021 campaign at neutral-site Findlay

- In 2016, the blue and white traveled to Newberry for matchups on Nov. 12 and 15 to end the year, the latter contest occurring in the quarterfinal round of the SAC Tournament 

All-Time Series

- Friday will mark the 93rd meeting between Catawba and Mars Hill, a series that the blue and white lead 58-36

- Catawba has defeated Mars Hill more than any opponent in program history

- The Lions hold a slight 19-18 edge as the hosts while, since 2000, Catawba is 18-5 on home court against the Lions. In the previous 10 meetings at Goodman Arena, the series sits at an even 5-5

- The Catawba Indians prevailed at home in their last matchup on Nov. 4, 2023 to snap a six-match streak of Lion wins

Scouting the Lions

- Mars Hill opens the weekend slate at 8-8, 5-4 in SAC play, on a three-match streak of victories

- The squad's biggest triumph occurred back on Sep. 17 when MHU swept Lincoln Memorial at Stanford Arena

- Nationally, the Lions lead the way with 19.76 digs per set, boasting a 1.02 advantage over the rest of the conference

- Defensive specialist Laela Jimenez is the SAC's most prolific player in the digs category, totaling 368 with a per-set mark of 6.24, while standing fifth at 23 service aces

- Katilyn Grant has proved to be a dual threat with team highs in kills (134) and blocks (58, 13 solos), hitting a potent .258

Follow Along

All South Atlantic Conference matches are broadcast on FloSports ($) as live stats links can be found on CatawbaAthletics.com.