Marshall Volleyball Preview
By Shane Darling, FM88 Sports
Oct. 30, 2025
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (WMUL-FM) — The Marshall Volleyball Team (12-11, 4-6 SBC) returns home to the Cam Henderson Center to host the Old Dominion University Monarchs (5-16, 2-8 SBC) on Friday and Saturday.
As the 2025 campaign dwindles to the end, every divisional game becomes more important as teams fight for a Sun Belt Conference Tournament berth. The top 5 teams in each division of the SBC based on divisional winning percentage qualify for postseason play. Currently, Marshall, ODU and Georgia State are the bottom three teams out of seven in the SBC East that are clawing for a chance to play on after the regular season ends.
As of right now, Georgia State is in fifth at 2-6, Marshall is in sixth at 2-6 and ODU is in seventh at 1-7. Georgia State owns the tiebreaker over Marshall after the Panthers and Thundering Herd split last weekend, but Georgia State won more sets as the Herd won 3-1 on Friday but the Panthers came back and swept Marshall on Saturday. However, good news if you are a Thundering Herd fan is that Georgia State and ODU split earlier in the year, so if Marshall can pull off a sweep this weekend, the odds of the Herd making it to the postseason shoot up drastically.
The Thundering Herd is led on the front line by senior middle blocker Beatrice Ciccarelli, who has the most blocks of all players coming into the matchup with 80. Also, the Herd has star pin hitters Emma Barnett and Audrey Geer. Barnett is a true freshman that leads the Herd in kills with 246, while Geer is a sophomore that has had some injuries this season, but she led Marshall in kills last season as a true freshman with 299. Bella Thompson, the Thundering Herd’s senior setter, has an astounding 600 assists.
The Monarchs come into town behind junior outside hitter Elisa Maggi, who leads both squads with 267 kills. Maggi is alongside sophomore middle blocker Emma Schelah who has 56 blocks. Setting up the Monarch hitters is junior Wiktoria Zagumny with 451 assists.
You can tune in to the matchup on air at 88.1 WMUL-FM and on Stream 1 online at www.marshall.edu/wmul. FM88 Sports’ Shane Darling and Ethan Patrick will be on the call on Friday with pregame coverage starting at 5:45 p.m. and first-serve at 6 p.m. FM88 Sports’ Connor Brown and Shane Darling will be on the call Saturday with pregame coverage starting at 12:45 p.m. and first-serve at 1 p.m.