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9/18/2009 - VOLLEYBALL
Top Two Contend in A-Sun Volleyball Match of the Week
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Weekly ReleaseMACON, Ga. - The Atlantic Sun Conference Volleyball Match of the Week features Lipscomb and FGCU, a pair of teams undefeated in conference play, at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday at Alico Arena. The match airs on ASun.TV.
The Lady Bisons have started off the conference portion of their schedule with 3-0 match sweeps of Belmont, UNF and Jacksonville and will face FGCU on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. The Eagles, last year's reigning regular season champions, finally play in front of their home crowd after opening the season with a 10-game road trip. Last season, the Eagles took both matches with the Lady Bisons after Lipscomb won the lone contest between the two in 2007. Since the start of 2007, FGCU owns a 19-1 mark at Alico Arena, the venue for the 2009 Atlantic Sun Volleyball Championships.
Lipscomb, the favorite in the preseason coaches' poll, swept Jacksonville 3-0 in its most recent A-Sun Conference game on Saturday afternoon, a third straight win for the Lady Bisons. The inside-outside combination of middle hitter Alex Kelly and outside hitter Meghan Hinemeyer paved the way offensively. Kelly, the Preseason Player off the Yeas, toted a .500 hitting percentage, added 10 digs and made a matchhigh 16 kills, while Hinemeyer tallied 15 kills. Senior opposite Erin Pierce made a career-high 28 digs in the match, while junior setter Stefine "Jake" Pease directed the Lady Bisons attack with 39 assists, eight digs, three kills and one service ace.
FGCU improved to 4-0 in A-Sun Conference Play with a 3-0 victory against USC Upstate Monday night. The victory gave the Eagles a .500 record on its season-opening 10-game road trip. Junior Jelena Simic led FGCU with 12 kills, junior Jacqueline Cowden finished with nine kills and senior Ashley Yance chipped in with eight kills. Senior Emma Racila and sophomore Anna Wagner finished with seven kills apiece for the Eagles. Senior Chandra Lefever collected 32 assists and 13 digs for the Eagles while sophomore Holly Youngquist led FGCU with 14 digs. Simic also finished with 12 digs.
Players to Watch
* Meghan Hinemeyer, Lipscomb - The junior outside hitter ranks second in A-Sun matches only in kills with 4.44 per set.
* Alex Kelly, Lipscomb – Kelly leads the A-Sun in kills with 4.32 per set, ranks second overall in hitting percentage (.362) and is fourth with 3.67 kills per set. Kelly needs 34 kills to reach 1,000 for her career. She would become the third player to reach the goal for the Lady Bisons, joining Kristin Peck and Alex Scruggs.
* Stefine "Jake" Pease, Lipscomb - The junior setter quarterbacked the Lady Bisons to three A-Sun match sweeps with 3-0 wins at Belmont and two 3-0 wins at home against UNF and Jacksonville. Pease led the Lady Bisons attack with 39 assists, eight digs, three kills and one service ace. Coach Brandon Rosenthal credited Pease's passing skills for setting up Kelly, Hinemeyer and Green. Pease leads the conference overall in assists with 11.41 per set.
* Erin Pierce, Lipscomb – Senior opposite Erin Pierce posted a career-high 28 digs against Jacksonville. It was the most digs in a three-set match for a Lady Bisons player since former libero Ann Mullins made 29 against Samford on Aug. 25, 2007. It is the second highest mark for digs in a three-set match in program history, tying the 28 made by Mullins against Stetson on Oct. 5, 2007.
* Jacqueline Cowden, FGCU - The junior middle blocker led the Eagles to their third consecutive sweep, opening conference play against ETSU, 3-0 with 13 kills, and finished with nine kills against USC Upstate.
* Chandra Lefever, FGCU – The senior setter tallied 32 assists and 13 digs against USC Upstate after notching 38 assists against ETSU.
* Jelena Simic, FGCU – Simic, a junior outside hitter, led the Eagles to a perfect 3-0 record with wins at Stetson, Campbell and ETSU. The Eagles have yet to drop a set in conference play thanks to the strong play of Simic. For the week, Simic registered 32 kills with a .224 hitting percentage, along with 27 digs.
Around the Sun - Volleyball
Belmont
* The Bruins began A-Sun play last week with wins over Jacksonville and UNF after losing to Lipscomb last Tuesday. Belmont’s loss to Lipscomb was the first-ever home loss in the series rivalry.
* Belmont’s sweep of Jacksonville saw Maggie Johnson and Channing Salava each record double-doubles. It was the first time of the season that two players notched a double-double in the same match.
* The Bruins set a hitting percentage season-high of .322 against Jacksonville’s top-ranked defense in the conference, which held opponents to a .134 going into the weekend. The Bruins also denied Jacksonville of recording a single block for the first time since the Dolphins played then No. 8 Florida (9/5/08). Belmont recorded four team blocks.
* Junior libero Megan Clements leads the conference in total digs (189), and is second in digs per set (4.85). Clements recorded over 20 digs twice last week, and now has 10 career matches with 20 or more digs.
* Belmont prepares for FGCU and Stetson in their first week of the season without a mid-week match. The Bruins are one of two A-Sun teams that defeated reigning regular-season champion FGCU last year. Belmont brings a six-match winning streak in their series with Stetson.
Campbell
* Senior middle blocker Ashley Weers led Campbell to a 1-1 split in its first pair of Atlantic Sun matches, hitting .400 and totaling a team-high 18.5 points. Weers added 14 kills on 30 attempts in her six sets for the Camels, with only two errors, averaging 2.33 scores a frame.
* Weers also notched seven total blocks (five assisted, two solo), all against FGCU. The senior’s five blocks moves her past both Tabitha Turner (172, 2003-06) and Femi Alabi (173, 2005-07) on the Camels’ all-time block assists list, now standing at 177.
* Weers also moved past Robin Marshall (214, 1991-94) on the Campbell all-time blocks list. With 220 career blocks, Weers now stands ninth all-time.
* Junior outside hitter Allyson Goldbach also tied a Gore Arena record with four service aces against Stetson, helping the Camels down the Hatters for the third straight time.
ETSU
* The ETSU volleyball team went 2-1 in its first week of conference play. The Bucs defeated USC Upstate and Stetson before falling to FGCU. * Junior Lauren Baufield tallied a double-double in the win against Stetson and a team leading 34 kills on the weekend.
* Tuesday’s contest is a rematch of the season opener for the Bucs as they fell to the Lady Mocs 3-1 at the Comfort Inn and Suites Tournament in Morehead, Ky.
* The all-time series between ETSU and UTC is tied at 26, with the Bucs having won three of the last five meetings between the two teams.
* The Bucs take on in-state rival Chattanooga on Tuesday before heading to Kennesaw State on Friday and Mercer on Saturday.
FGCU
* Five different players had at least seven kills as FGCU moved to 4-0 in Atlantic Sun Conference play with a 3-0 victory against USC Upstate Monday night. The victory gave the Eagles a .500 record on its seasonopening 10-game road trip.
* Junior Jelena Simic led FGCU with 12 kills, while junior Jacqueline Cowden finished with nine kills and senior Ashley Yance chipped in with eight kills. Senior Emma Racila and sophomore Anna Wagner finished with seven kills apiece for the Eagles.
* Senior Chandra Lefever collected 32 assists and 13 digs for the Eagles while sophomore Holly Youngquist led FGCU with 14 digs. Simic also finished with 12 digs.
* The Eagles open the home portion of their schedule on Friday when they host A-Sun foe Belmont at 5:00 p.m. at Alico Arena. FGCU finished 10-1 on its home floor last season.
Jacksonville.
* Junior outside hitter Aidan Yeager led the Dolphins’ offense with 23 kills (3.83 kills per set) and a .340 hitting percentage over the weekend, but the Dolphins were swept in their road trip through Nashville for the third consecutive attempt (2009, 2008, 2006). Junior middle blocker Brittany Lehman tallied 14 kills (2.33 kills per set) and a .224 hitting percentage. Despite leading the conference in defense, JU opponents hit a combined .318 in two matches.
* Senior middle blocker Nicki Kent finished with a match-high five blocks against Lipscomb, while senior outside hitter Brooke Singleton registered 10 digs.
* Senior libero Shelley Walroth reached yet another milestone and is setting her sights on cracking the top 25 spots in NCAA history. With 17 digs against Belmont, Walroth passed 2,000 in her career and her next targets are family bragging rights and the NCAA Top 25. Walroth holds the family single-season record, sitting at 2,017 in her career. She needs just 79 digs to become the undisputed head of the family. In the NCAA career standings, Walroth needs just 204 digs to crack the top 25 all-time and has a chance to etch her name in the record books for some time.
Kennesaw State
* The Owls have already won a program record seven matches on the season after defeating Mercer and USC Upstate last week.
* Before this year, KSU had never been above .500 at any point in the season. In addition, the Owls had never won their A-Sun opener, nor been .500 or better in A-Sun play.
* Asjia Stokes earned Atlantic Sun Player of the Week after leading the Owls to the week’s sweep. Stokes leads the Owls with 124 kills and 3.54 kills per set.
* Kennesaw State’s setting duo of senior Ginny Frederick and sophomore Rachael Albright combined for 368 assists and 10.51 assists per set.
* The Owls have not swept a match this year, as four of their seven wins have come in four sets with the other three coming in five. In their only loss at Toledo, the Owls lost 3-1.
* The Owls are now off until Friday when they open up a three-match homestand by hosting East Tennessee State on Friday. With a 2-0 record in conference, the Owls will now be playing to hold on to a share of first place in the A-Sun.
Lipscomb
* The Lady Bisons, ranked No. 1 in the A-Sun Preseason Coaches’ Poll, started off the A-Sun portion of the schedule with 3-0 match sweeps of Belmont, North Florida and Jacksonville.
* The Lady Bisons have put together a strong inside, outside game with junior middle hitter Alex Kelly and outside hitters junior Meghan Hinemeyer and freshman Kaycee Green. Kelly leads the A-Sun in kills with 4.32 per set and is second overall in hitting percentage (.362). Hinemeyer is second in A-Sun matches only in kills with 4.44 per set and Kelly is fourth with 3.67 per set.
* Junior setter Stefine “Jake” Pease directed the Lady Bisons attack with 39 assists, eight digs, three kills and one service ace. Pease leads the conference overall in assists with 11.41 per set.
* Kelly needs 34 kills to reach 1,000 for her career. She will be the third player to reach the goal for the Lady Bisons, joining Kristin Peck and Alex Scruggs.
* The Lady Bisons are on the road this weekend for a pair of Atlantic Sun matches against Stetson on Friday and FGCU on Saturday.
Mercer
* Four Mercer players recorded double-digit kill totals en route to a 3-1 victory against USC Upstate in Friday evening’s Atlantic Sun volleyball match held at the Hodge Center.
* Mercer sophomores Amiee Frutchey, Ashley Skidmore and Rachel Urbelis all rank among the top ten conference players in digs per set. Frutchey is tenth (3.46), Urbelis is fifth (3.64) and Skidmore is fourth (3.68).
* Junior middle blockers Krista Hurley and Libby Hansch both rank among the top ten conference players in hitting percentage. (Hurley - .299/Hansch - .288)
* In the fifth annual Bear Brawl, held Sept. 4-5, Mercer went 2-1 with victories against Troy and Bethune- Cookman.
* The Bears are set to visit Florida A&M for a non-conference matchup on Tuesday night in Tallahassee. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
UNF
* UNF will be back on the court on Wednesday, as the Ospreys travel to A-Sun intra-city rival Jacksonville University on Wednesday.
* Junior middle blocker Kaley Read leads the Ospreys with 3.97 kills per set while junior outside hitter Danielle Lerch is adding 2.12 kills per set. Junior setter Jessica Catelano is putting up 8.77 assists per set while freshman outside hitter Paige Pridgeon is posting 2.37 digs per set.
* The match serves as the15th meeting between the two teams with UNF holding the 8-6 advantage in the series. Last season, the two teams split with each winning on their respective home courts. Both scores were 3-1.
* Wednesday’s meeting also marks the first contest in the 2009-10 SunTrust River City Rumble between the two teams. UNF and JU will compete in every sport offered by both schools throughout the season. A winner is determined by which school wins the most out of the 20 events played during the season.
* UNF then plays host to USC Upstate on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
USC Upstate
* Senior Morgan Bucciferro posted the fifth double-double of the season with 13 kills and 10 digs against FGCU at the Hodge Center on Monday night. Bucciferro needs just 13 assists to become the sixth player in school history to reach 2,000 in a career.
* Junior Megan Healey needs just 18 digs to become the 12th player in school history to reach 900 in a career. At 882 career digs, Healey ranks 13th in school history. Junior Erin Jacobsen posted a season-high 17 kills, hitting .464, to go with five blocks against Kennesaw State. Sophomore Morgan Thomas needs 22 blocks to become the first USC Upstate player to reach 150 rejections at the Division I level.
* USC Upstate and UNF have squared off four times at the Division I level and each match has gone all five sets. Upstate came out on top the last time in 2008, in the third-place match at the Provisional Invitational, and UNF won the first three matches.
• It’s been two years, but junior Katie Downey posted one of her best collegiate matches against UNF when on Sept. 21, 2007 she posted 17 kills and 15 digs against the Lady Ospreys while playing with a torn meniscus. This will be the first time Downey has played against the Ospreys since that match.
Stetson
* Junior outside hitter Stephanie Canfield tied her season high with 11 kills and freshman setter Kelli Carneal contributed 26 assists and eight digs against Atlantic Sun rival Campbell on Saturday.
* Stetson returns to action with a pair of home conference matches against preseason title pick Lipscomb on Friday. The Hatters then play host to the defending conference champions Belmont at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.
The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life, with a focus on academic and athletic integrity and a balance between the two for the student-athlete, and maintaining a high level of sportsmanship. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun encompasses six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun consists of some of the most dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.
