Courtesy: American Athletic Conference
Five American volleyball teams—UCF, Cincinnati, SMU, Tulsa and Wichita State—remain undefeated in conference play after the first week of league action. ECU and Tulsa will each take on a midweek nonconference opponent before the race to the top of The American standings continues over the weekend. The league holds a .637 (93-53) record against other conferences, as nine of the 12 conference teams possess overall winning records heading into Week 6.
- Cincinnati bounced back from a midweek setback at 2017 Conference USA champion Western Kentucky with a sweep at ECU in the two teams’ conference opener last Friday. For a fourth-consecutive week, Cincinnati outside hitter Jordan Thompson leads the nation in kills and points. She was selected conference Offensive Player of the Week for the fourth time in as many weeks after becoming the second player in conference history to be named Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week. The Bearcats return home, hosting SMU and Houston this weekend. ECU will play its next three matches at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum, starting with NC Central on Tuesday night.
- UCF is riding a seven-match winning streak after extending its swing in a 3-2 win at USF as part of the War on I-4 series. The Knights are 6-0 at home but remain on the road and head to Tulane and Memphis this weekend. Tulane (7-0), Tulsa (5-0) and Wichita State (2-0) join the Knights in holding perfect records at home this year. UCF freshman outside hitter McKenna Melville continues to shine in her rookie campaign, sharing her conference-leading eight double-doubles with USF setter Briana Stowell.
- SMU, Tulsa and Wichita State are coming off weekend sweeps. Wichita State continues its historic conference trek since joining The American in 2017, after winning its first two home matches of the year against Memphis and Tulane. The Shockers have won each of their 22 American Athletic Conference matches. Their undefeated mark will be on the line when they head to Tulsa this weekend for the Havoc in the Heartland.
- With conference play underway, three liberos reached the 1,000-dig milestone during opening weekend. This week’s Defensive Player of the Week, Giorgia Civita from Wichita State, averaged a stunning 7.00 digs per set, including 29 in a 3-0 win over Memphis where she surpassed the 1K milestone. Her 29 digs in the three-set win rank No. 3 all-time in conference history. Temple defensive specialist and libero Mia Heirakuji joined Civita in the 1,000-dig club in the Owls’ five-set thriller win at Houston to open conference play last Friday. She ended the match with 18 digs. Memphis’ Mady Ruhlman also recorded her 1,000th dig of her career last weekend. The Tigers’ senior went over the 1,000-dig milestone at Wichita State Sunday. She now has 1,023 career digs.
- UConn and Temple each split their first weekend of conference action and are set to face each other in the first match of a two-match season series on Friday night in Philadelphia. UConn’s Emma Turner leads the conference with 9.74 assists per set and has seven double-doubles this season. Temple has won three of their past five matches, including its two most recent contests at McGonigle Hall.
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