Blue Demons Slated to Face Regional and Conference Rivals

The DePaul volleyball team travels to DeKalb, Ill. on Tues., Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. (CST) to square off against regional foe Northern Illinois, before opening BIG EAST Conference play this weekend versus St. John's and Connecticut. The Blue Demons face t

CHICAGO - The DePaul volleyball team travels to DeKalb, Ill. on Tues., Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. (CST) to square off against regional foe Northern Illinois, before opening BIG EAST Conference play this weekend versus St. John's and Connecticut. The Blue Demons face the Red Storm on Friday at 6 p.m. in Queens, N.Y., and travel to Storrs, Conn. on Sunday to take on the Huskies at noon.

DePaul enters its first weekend of non-tournament competition after taking third place at the DePaul Invitational. Senior outside hitter Sarah Cullen was named to the all-tournament team after finishing the weekend with 37 kills and 29 digs. Other notable performances of the weekend were Sammy Geiger's career-high .545 (6-0-11) offensive effort against Sacramento State, and Chelsea Thurbly's weekend dig total of 35.

DePaul vs. Northern Illinois
After opening the season 4-1, the Huskies have dropped six of their last seven entering into tomorrow's match. The Blue Demons have faced the regional rival 18 times in program history dating back to 1982. The squads last faced each other on Sept. 23, 2008 when the Huskies topped the DePaul, 3-1. NIU leads the all-time series 14-4.

DePaul vs. St. John's
The Blue Demons open their 2009 conference schedule at St. John's on Friday evening. After taking the regular-season conference crown in 2008, St. John's has gotten off to a rocky start, posting a 6-9 record during its first weeks of competition and is coming off of a 0-3 weekend at the Cornell invitational. DePaul tallied its first-ever win over the Red Storm during the final match of the 2008 season, when they took a 3-1 decision. St. John's has accumulated four wins over the Blue Demons dating back to 2004.

DePaul vs. Connecticut
The Blue Demons look to earn their first victory over the Huskies during the Sunday afternoon match up. The last time the two teams met was during the 2008 season, when DePaul suffered a 3-0 loss. Connecticut leads the all time series 5-0. The Huskies are currently 7-8 on the season, and open league play on Friday against Notre Dame.

Visit www.depaulbluedemons.com for live stats, results, and recaps.

Notes: DePaul is currently 3-2 in five-game matches after going 2-6 the entire 2008 season... Sarah Cullen has registered a double-double (kills-digs) in seven matches this season bringing her career total to 34... Sammy Geiger raised her career-best kill total to 13 during the victory over NC State... Cullen tops the team in five categories including kills, attempts, points, digs, and service aces... The Blue Demons are undefeated when playing in four-game matches.

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