BROOKLYN, N.Y.— The LIU Brooklyn Volleyball team opens the 2018 season this weekend out west at the UNLV Invitational from August 24-25. The Blackbirds open the year with a doubleheader on Friday against Southern Utah University and Indiana before concluding the weekend against UNLV on Saturday.
The two-time defending Northeast Conference champs were pegged to three-peat by the leagues' coaches last week boast a strong returning nucleus as the program goes for a third straight NEC title for the first time since 2012-14.
"We have a great veteran group and three new players that can all make an impact this year. That's a great place to be with our returners familiar with the system and having championship experience" said head coach Ken Ko. "A great thing about this group is that they want to continue to improve and accomplish more than they did last year."
LIU returns 11 players from last years team and welcomes in junior Kora Schaberl and freshmen Myrthe Maring and Anastasia Scott. Reigning NEC Player of the Year Viktoria Fink headlines the returning group. The senior garnered All-ECAC first team and All-NEC first team honors as she led the team with 3.43 kills per set average.
2017 All-NEC second team selection Filippa Hansson registered a .283 hitting percentage and led the team with 33 service aces last season. Hansson and fellow junior Katharina Krepper recorded 78% of the LIU Brooklyn total blocks up front last season with 184 total blocks.
The Blackbirds led the NEC with 12.05 assists per set in 2017. LIU's main distributors from a season ago, junior Amanda Hubbard and sophomore Piper Matsumoto both return after finishing last year among the top-10 in the NEC in assists. Hubbard ranked fifth in the league with 7.14 assists per set with 602 assists last year. Matsumoto recorded a 5.95 assist per set average with 571 assists good for eighth in the NEC as a rookie.
All-ECAC first team libero and NEC Tournament MVP Natalia Rivera was the Molten/NEC Defensive Player of the week a league-high five times last season. She finished the year with 621 digs which ranks second in the program's single-season record book.
Previewing The Weekend…
The Blackbirds embark on a two week stretch out west against opponents from the Midwest and west coast. This weekend, LIU faces Southern Utah and UNLV for the first time in program history. Both teams feature young rosters under the direction of first-year head coaches.
For the second straight season, LIU matches up against Indiana on a neutral court matchup. Last year, the Hoosiers pulled away with a 3-1 victory at the George Washington Invitational on September 2, 2017. Julia Azevedo recorded a match-high 14 kills and Piper Matsumoto led the Blackbirds with 26 assists.
First serve of the 2018 season is set for tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. against Southern Utah. The Blackbirds close out the opening day against Indiana with a 8:00 p.m. contest.