Raiders open Horizon League play Tuesday night on the road

Tuesday, September 19

Moon Township, PA / UPMC Events Center

6 PM

Wright State University

Robert Morris

Photo by: Alexis Hutchinson

Raiders open Horizon League play Tuesday night on the road

9/18/2023 3:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Watch on ESPN+Follow Live Stats

DAYTON — The Wright State volleyball team opens Horizon League play on the road Tuesday night at Robert Morris as the Raiders look to defend their Horizon League titles from a season ago. Action gets underway at 6 p.m. from metro Pittsburgh and fans can follow the action via live stats and watch on ESPN+.

MATCH INFORMATION
Tuesday, September 19 - at Robert Morris - 6 p.m. - Watch - Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT
Wright State split a pair of matches last week as hosts of the Tru by Hilton Dayton Beavercreek Invitational inside McLin Gymnasium, sweeping Butler on Thursday night before falling in four sets to Cincinnati on Saturday. On Thursday, three Raiders – Megan Alders, Callie Martin and Sam Ott – each had 10 kills to pace the offense. Aaliyah Byers added seven blocks as Wright State finished with an 11-4 advantage in total blocks. Katie Meyer was efficient, distributing 40 of the Raiders' 45 assists on the night as six different players all had multiple kills, and Jenny Wessling tallied a match-best 23 digs. Saturday, Ott finished with a match-best 12 kills, while Alders was also in double figures with 10 digs of her own. Meyer collected a double-double with 31 assists and 13 digs as Martin just missed a double-double of her own with 12 digs and nine kills. Wessling collected a match-best 23 digs as well.

TOURNEY HONORS
Wright State saw three players earn Tru by Hilton Dayton Beavercreek Invitational tournament honors – Callie Martin, Katie Meyer and Jenny Wessling, with Martin nabbing tournament MVP honors. Martin finished the two matches with 19 kills, 20 digs and five blocks, while Meyer had 71 assists (10.14 assists/set) and 20 digs and Wessling recorded 46 digs, a 6.57 digs/set average.

TITLE DEFENSE
Wright State begins defense of its regular season and tournament Horizon League titles from a season ago that saw the Raiders go 18-0 in HL action. Wright State has won three regular season titles and two tournament titles since 2019.

KNOW THE FOE
- Robert Morris enters Horizon League play at 3-8 overall, having lost its last three matches over the weekend in the Mountaineer Invitational. RMU has wins over Canisius, Niagara and Radford on the season after going 9-21 during the 2022 season, with a 2-13 record in Horizon League play. The Raiders bested the Colonials in all six sets played between the two teams in 2022. The Raiders are undefeated all-time against the Colonials, holding a 8-0 advantage.

Multiple Colonials continue to climb the statistical leaderboard heading into Horizon League play. Senior outside hitter Abby Ryan paces the HL in kills per set (4.07) while sitting second on the team in total kills (122). Freshman outside hitter Natalie Stepanovich ranks eighth in the HL in total kills (125) and kills per set (3.13) while ranking third in service aces (18). Junior setter Ashleigh Wallin currently sits second in the Horizon in service aces (19) and aces per set (0.49) while sitting ninth in assists per set (5.59) and total assists (218). Senior middle blocker Emma Brown paces RMU with a .228 attacking percentage and total blocks (24.0) while totaling 57 kills this season.

A MEYER ASSIST
Katie Meyer has recorded 20 straight contests with 20 or more assists, dating back to the end of last season. She now has 25 career matches with double-digit assists. Meyer has recorded five double-doubles in 2023, inlcuding four straight matches from Aug. 27 through Sept. 2. Meyer recorded four double-doubles over the final nine matches of 2022 after jumping into a starting role full-time. Meyer has passed out 40-plus assists four times in 2023 so far, while her career best 52 coming in a spot start last September before dishing out 50 assists in a pair of contests last November. She finshed 2022 with a 3.64 assists/set average for the season, however, that mark jumped to a 10.5 assists/set mark over the final nine contests when she grabbed the bigger role.

CALLIE IT
Callie Martin enters Horizon League play with three double-doubles on the season, while she's recorded 10-plus kills five times and had 10-plus digs in six matches overall. Martin is second on the roster in both kills (100) and digs (109). She recorded double-digit digs in 26 of her 32 matches in 2022, including matching her career-best with 23 digs in Wright State's Sept. 17 four-set win over Dayton, while she tallied 10-plus kills in 14 matches last season.