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MARSHALL SPORTS
Herd picked to finish 5th in C-USA volleyball
HUNTINGTON -- Marshall University volleyball is replacing two all-conference players who led the Thundering Herd to last season's regular-season title and was picked for a fifth-place finish in a preseason poll of coaches.
Conference USA Player of the Year Kelly-Anne Billingy and all-conference first team selection Stephanie Cahill graduated after last season when Marshall posted a 23-9 overall record and went 15-1 in the league. Tulsa ousted Marshall in the C-USA tournament semifinals.
Marshall sophomore Elizabeth Fleming, the 2007 C-USA Freshman of the Year, and senior Jalicia Ross were named to the preseason all-league team. Fleming and Ross were both on the all-conference second team at the end of last season.
"I think that if we are the fifth best team in this league at the end, then C-USA volleyball will be even tougher than it has been in the past," Marshall coach Mitch Jacobs said.
Fleming spent part of the summer playing volleyball in Israel with Athletes in Action.
She set a Marshall season record with 1,642 assists and was ranked 13th in the nation with 13.35 assists per game.
Ross finished second on the team with 94 blocks.
"The returning players on this team have been waiting patiently behind that past senior class and can't wait to show what they have to our fans," Jacobs said.
Marshall opens the season Aug. 29-31 in a University of Cincinnati tournament.
The first home matches are Sept. 5-6 in a tournament at Cam Henderson Center.
