ADRIAN, Mich. - The Adrian women's volleyball team completed its final road-trip of the season this past weekend, and while the Bulldogs do end the 2021 regular-season away from home, their next three matches are set to take place at the Merillat Sport and Fitness Center.
The week begins on Tuesday evening against conference-foe, Olivet.
The Comets (8-11, 2-4 MIAA) were projected to finish ninth in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association's preseason coaches' poll, but so far, that is not the case.
Sitting just a half-game back of the Bulldogs in the conference standings, Olivet actively sits in seventh ahead of Kalamazoo and Alma.
Most recently, the Comets upended the Hornets in four sets, snapping a three-game losing-streak.
The team boasts a couple of different weapons offensively, including Olivia DuFore and Ellie Louiselle who pace Olivet in kills per set with 2.70 and 2.42, respectively.
Kennedy Blackburn (309) and Madison Johnson (250) have dished out the most assists of anyone in the line-up, while Drue Mullin leads the team defensively with 346 digs.
Tuesday's action from the Merillat begins at 6:30 p.m.
Then, on Saturday afternoon, the locals host Oberlin College.
The Yeowomen (10-9, 2-4 NCAC) have won two of their last three after dropping four consecutive matches.
Andrea Jones has emerged as the primary attacker for Oberlin with 228 kills on a team-high 664 attempts. She is flanked by Cami Sweet's .283 hitting percentage to go along with 103 total kills.
Defensively, Moo Deharo paces the Yeowomen with a 4.06 digs per set mark, the eighth-best in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
Oberlin will be Adrian's fourth different opponent this season from the NCAC. The Bulldogs faced a trio of schools from the conference at the MIAA/NCAC Crossover in Sandusky, Ohio back on September 10 and 11.
The Bulldogs' (6-15, 2-3 MIAA) last appearance at home resulted in a straight-set sweep of Kalamazoo. Since then, however, the black and gold have been dealt three-straight defeats.
Mia Minjares and
Hailey Farrell find themselves ranked inside the top five in the conference in three different categories. While the latter's 7.73 assists per set is fifth-most in the MIAA, Minjares actively ranks second in both total digs (384) and digs per set (5.19).
Offensively,
Ayden Cribbs and
Mallory Dorow sport a respective 2.89 and 2.24 kills per set mark to lead the Bulldogs' attack.
All told, the Bulldogs rank first in the MIAA in total digs and digs per set, fourth in kills per set and assists per frame, and fifth in total blocks.
Saturday's non-conference bout is slated to begin at 1 p.m.
Live stats and video will be available for both matches.
