Lady Vols headed to Mortar Board Premier

KNOXVILLE - The 16th-ranked University of Tennessee volleyball team(5-1) heads north to take on three high-quality opponents at the Mortar BoardPremier in West Lafayette, Ind., in Xavier, Ohio and host Purdue. The Big Orange is coming off a dominating 3-0 weekend at the Comcast Lady VolClassic in which the Lady Vols claimed each contest in a three-game sweep. Xavier (6-2) won its first five matches of the season before losing in threegames to No. 6 Minnesota, topping Jacksonville State, 3-0, and falling toMiami in five. Kate Duchek is leading the Musketeers in kills/game with 3.62,while Astyn Bjorklund is hitting at a squad-leading .360 clip. She also has1.15 blocks/game. The Ohio Bobcats are 8-1 with their only loss coming to Louisville, who iscurrently ranked ninth nationally. The Bobcats are led by Julia Winfield’s.443 hitting percentage and Stephanie Blackburn’s 3.77 kills/game. MichaeleBlackburn has 4.90 digs/game to lead all Ohio players in that category. The host Boilermakers are off to an 8-0 start and their eight wins include a3-0 sweep over SEC member South Carolina. Danita Merlau has 3.38 kills/game,while hitting percentage leaders include Renata Dargan (.413 - 30-4-63) andElizabeth Jacques (.391 - 66-16-128). Anne Mastandrea is setting the pace indigs/game with 5.22 and Stephanie Lynch has 1.40 blocks/game to set the pacein that category. Tennessee has never played Xavier or Ohio, but has contested matches withPurdue on six occasions, falling in the first five meetings beforeprevailingin the championship match of last season’s Domino’s Pizza Lady Vol Classic, 3-1. The Lady Vols last ventured into the Hoosier State in 2001, leading off itscampaign with the Indiana University Blimpie/Holiday Inn Classic with a 3-2loss to Bowling Green and 3-0 sweeps over Maryland and the host Hoosiers. Tennessee’s last venture to Purdue University occurred in 1989 as the seasononce again started in the state of Indiana, this time at the Boilermaker FallPreview. Tennessee fell in its three matches at the tournament: 3-1 to Purdueand Illinois State and 3-0 to Iowa State. Following the tournament, the Lady Vols open SEC play, taking on Arkansas andLSU on Sept. 23 and 25, respectively. Both matches will take place inFayetteville, Ark., to the effects of Hurricane Katrina.