10/9/2009 - VOLLEYBALL Jacksonville Hosts ETSU in A-Sun Match of the Week

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Volleyball Weekly Release

MACON, Ga. - The Atlantic Sun Conference Volleyball Match of the Week features ETSU and Jacksonville, a pair of teams currently bunched amongst five schools separated by a single game for second place in the standings, in a 7:00 p.m. contest on Friday.

With their win on Saturday against Belmont, the Bucs ended a three-game losing streak. The night before, ETSU took first-place Lipscomb to five sets for the first time this season. The Bucs have backed up preseason expectations as the conference coaches' placed ETSU in the sixth spot. With their win on Saturday afternoon at Kennesaw State, the Dolphins extended their win streak to seven. In the preseason, the coaches' tabbed Jacksonville to finish in fourth place in conference play. At 4-0, Jacksonville owns one of the two unblemished home records in the conference (Lipscomb, 5-0). Last season, the Dolphins swept both matches with the Bucs after the two teams split their 2007 meetings. Jacksonville owns a 5-3 all-time record against ETSU. The game airs on ASun.TV.

Senior setter Amanda Youell and sophomore setter Whitney Cogburn both posted double-doubles for ETSU, ending a three-game losing streak Saturday afternoon against Belmont in Brooks Gym, 3-1. Youell tallied seven kills, 42 assists, ten digs and hit .a team-best .538, while Cogburn notched 11 kills, eight assists and 15 digs. Junior middle blocker Erin Ryan led the ETSU attack as she notched 13 kills in the match, sophomore middle blocker McKayla Barber posted a career-high eight blocks and seven kills, and sophomore libero Jen Neice led the Bucs in the back with 19 digs.

The Dolphins won their seventh consecutive match Saturday afternoon against Kennesaw State at the KSU Convocation Center. The Dolphins defeated the Owls, 3-0, hitting .228 in the contest including a match-high .314 in set three. Junior outside hitter Aidan Yeager tallied 16 kills and hit a career-best .406, while junior outside hitter Brittany Lehman finished with 14 kills, eight digs, three blocks and two service aces. Senior outside hitter Brooke Singleton (11 kills, 11 digs) and junior setter Hannah Munneke (45 assists, 11 digs) each notched double-doubles. Senior libero Shelley Walroth notched a match-high 22 digs.

Players to Watch
* Whitney Cogburn, ETSU – The junior setter led the Bucs offensively on the weekend, totaling 26 kills and 20 assists. Against Lipscomb, the Kingsport, Tenn. native posted her third double-double of the season with 15 kills and 12 assists. Cogburn also tallied a double-double against the Bruins, with 11 kills, eight assists and 15 digs.

* Amanda Youell, ETSU – The senior setter posted 14 kills against the Lipscomb Lady Bisons, hitting .560 on the weekend with 87 assists, 19 digs and eight blocks. The Middleburg, Fla. native tallied a double-double in the 3-1 win over Belmont on Saturday as she collected 42 assists and ten digs, and was only three kills short of posting her first triple-double of the season.

* Brooke Singleton, Jacksonville – For the week, the Roseville, Ill. native led the squad with 31 kills, a 3.88 kills per set average and three aces, while ranking second with 27 digs and a 3.38 digs per set average and hitting .333. The senior outside hitter currently leads the Dolphins with 137 kills and ranks second with 2.69 kills per set, 15 service aces and 2.82 digs per set.

* Shelley Walroth, Jacksonville – Against Kennesaw State, the Cincinnati native notched a match-high 22 digs as the Dolphins defeated the Owls 3-1. The senior libero is setting her sights on cracking one of the top 25 spots in NCAA history, as she needs 82 digs to crack the top 25 all-time. Walroth currently leads the A-Sun with an average of 5.24 digs per set.

* Aiden Yeager, Jacksonville – The junior outside hitter pushed Jacksonville's winning streak to six matches with wins over Mercer and Kennesaw State. Against Mercer, the Martinez, Ga. native tallied 10 kills and a .333 (10-3-21) hitting percentage in a 3-0 win. Against KSU, Yeager notched a match-high 16 kills and hit a career-best .406 (16-3-32) in a 3-1 win. For the week, she finished with 26 kills, 3.71 kills per set and a blistering .377 (26-6-53) hitting percentage in two matches.

Around the Sun – Volleyball
Belmont
* Sophomore outside hitter Maggie Johnson recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 10 kills and 10 digs, but hit for a .051 attack percentage against ETSU, on Saturday afternoon in Brooks Gym.
* Belmont loses for the just the second time against ETSU, now holding a 5-2 series advantage. The Bruins fall to 1-2 when playing the Bucs on their home court.
* Two other Bruins had double-figure kills as junior Kayla Albritton notched 10 with no attack errors for a career-high .714 hitting percentage. Junior Carly Frazier paced the squad with 11 kills, also adding two aces.
* The Bruins will return to action on Saturday as they host USC Upstate at 2:00 p.m. in the Curb Event Center. It is the only match of the week for Belmont as they will finish the first round of double-round-robin A-Sun Conference play against the Spartans.

Campbell
* Junior outside hitters Emily Werner and Allyson Goldbach both posted a team-high 10 kills for the Camels against Lipscomb on Saturday, inside the John W. Pope, Jr. Convocation Center. Senior middle blocker Ashley Weers ended the afternoon with nine scores.
* Werner also added seven digs with two block assists, while Goldbach registered a double-double with 11 digs. Goldbach also gathered two aces and one solo block. Weers, meanwhile, tallied five blocks, including a stellar four solo.
* Defensively, Sarah Hill led the way with 22 digs, while sophomore Lauren Garza followed with 13. Rookie outside hitter Jordan Reaves added eight in the loss. Sophomore setter Hope Leatigaga, meanwhile notched 32 assists with seven digs, two blocks and a pair of kills.
* The Camels will head to Jacksonville, Fla. this weekend, traveling to UNF on Friday, followed by Jacksonville on Saturday afternoon.

ETSU
* The Bucs took first place Lipscomb to the wire this past weekend as they became the first team to take the Bisons to five-sets. ETSU was also the first team to win a set against Lipscomb, as the Bisons had won 24 straight conference sets coming into the match.
* ETSU defeated Belmont for the second time since joining the conference last weekend as the Bucs snapped a five-game losing streak against the Bruins. The 3-1 win also ended a three-game slump for the Buccaneers.
* The Bucs start a five-game road swing this weekend as they head to Jacksonville for a pair of conference matches. ETSU will face Jacksonville on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and UNF on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

FGCU
* FGCU moved into sole possession of second place in the Atlantic Sun Conference Thursday night with a 3-1 win against Mercer at Alico Arena. With the win, FGCU (8-7, 7-2) moved ahead of Jacksonville into second place and sits two games behind A-Sun leader Lipscomb.
* Junior outside hitter Jelena Simic totaled a match-high 15 kills for the Eagles while junior outside hitter Emma Racila and junior middle blocker Jacqueline Cowden chipped in with 14 apiece. Senior middle blocker Ashley Yance finished the match with 11 kills, while senior setter Chandra Lefever tallied a match-high 45 assists to go along with 20 digs.
* The Eagles will host A-Sun foe Kennesaw State Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at Alico Arena.

Jacksonville
* JU is currently in the midst of a seven-match winning streak, which is tied for the longest under the tenure of head coach Shaun Kupferberg. The Dolphins tallied seven straight wins during the 2007 season.
* Senior libero Shelley Walroth, who leads the A-Sun with 5.24 digs per set, is now 82 digs shy of cracking the top 25 all-time in NCAA history.
* Junior outside hitter Aidan Yeager enjoyed some home cook¬ing as her swing pushed JU's winning streak to six matches with wins over Mercer and Kennesaw State. Against Mercer, Yeager tallied 10 kills and a .333 (10-3-21) hitting percentage in a 3-0 win in Macon. Against KSU, she saved the best for last with a match-high 16 kills and hit a career-best .406 (16-3-32) in a 3-1 win. For the week, she finished with 26 kills, 3.71 kills per set and a blistering .377 (26-6-53) hitting percentage in two matches.

Kennesaw State
* Sophomore middle hitter Callie Churchwell tallied 11 kills, seven total blocks, and five digs to spark Kennesaw State's volleyball team to a 3-1 win at Stetson on Thursday night in an Atlantic Sun Conference match.
* Sophomore setter Rachael Albright came within three kills of a triple-double, settling for 23 assists, 13 digs, and seven kills, while senior Chelsey Denesha nearly notched a triple-double of her own with 15 digs, nine assists, and eight kills. Senior Asjia Stokes tied Churchwell for team-high honors in kills with 11, while junior outside hitter Sabrita Gulley tallied a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs.
* Sophomore middle hitter Holly Knight collected nine kills for the Owls, who improved to 9-7 on the season and 4-5 in A-Sun play, while senior setter Ginny Frederick had 20 assists for KSU, as the Owls finished with 58 as a team.
* Albright and Churchwell played in their home state for the first time this season and Coach Weatherington was quick to give thanks to the 50 fans for the Owls that were in attendance.
* The Owls are nearing the end in a stretch of four consecutive matches against schools from Florida with a 2-1 week, defeating Stetson 3-1 on Thursday, defeating UNF 3-0 on Friday, but falling 3-1 to Jacksonville.
* In KSU's 16 matches this season, only two have ended after three sets. The Owls lost to Lipscomb 3-0 on Sept. 26, but swept UNF 3-0 on Friday.
* The Owls will be back in action Saturday afternoon when they travel to Fort Myers, Fla., to take on FGCU.

Lipscomb
* The Lady Bisons rank in the top 10 as a team nationally in NCAA Division I in two categories. They rank fifth in kills per set with 14.66, while Iowa ranked first with 15 per set. The Lady Bisons are sixth in assists per set with 13.55, while Iowa State ranks first with 14.2 per set.
* Individually, junior setter Stefine “Jake” Pease ranked eighth in NCAA Division I in assists per set with 11.74, while Kaylee Manns from Iowa State leads with 12.29 per set.
* Junior middle hitter Alex Kelly, the Atlantic Sun Player of the Week, ranks 12th nationally in NCAA Division I with 5.18 per set. Yun Yi Zhang from Temple leads with 6.09 per set. Kelly also rates 15th in kills per set with 4.47. Zhang also leads in that category with 5.64 per set.
* The Lady Bisons are one game match away from sweeping the first round of the A-Sun round robin. They play USC Up¬state at Allen Arena on Friday.

Mercer
* Mercer’s senior setter Chelsea Gebben, sophomore outside hitter Amiee Frutchey and sophomore outside hitter Rachel Urbelis all recorded double-double performances against FGCU in Thursday night's Atlantic Sun volleyball match held at Alico Arena. Both Frutchey and Urbelis tallied 12 kills in the 3-1 loss, while Urbelis posted a match-high 26 digs and Frutchey contributed 14 digs of her own. Gebben dished out 29 assists and added 14 digs in the losing effort.
* Mercer junior middle blocker Krista Hurley pounded out 14 kills with only a single error, recording a match-high .481 hitting percentage. Hurley also posted five total blocks against the Eagles.
* Mercer out-blocked FGCU 9-6. * The Bears return to action on Saturday at Stetson. First serve is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

UNF
* Freshman outside hitter Paige Pridgeon collected 13 kills, junior setter Jessica Catelano tallied 25 assists and freshman libero Nicole Baran posted 11 digs for the Ospreys against Southern Conference opponent Georgia Southern on Tuesday night in a non-conference road match at Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, Ga. UNF falls to 7-10 (2-6 A-Sun) on the season. * The Ospreys will be back in action on Friday and Saturday for a pair of Atlantic Sun home matches. On Friday, UNF will host Campbell in a 7:00 p.m. match, while on Saturday, the team will face ETSU at 3:00 p.m. Both matches will be played at UNF Arena.

USC Upstate
* Sophomore middle blocker Morgan Thomas needs just seven blocks to become the first player in the D-I era to reach 150 rejections.
* Junior libero Megan Healey led the A-Sun with seven service aces in two matches last week, becoming the first player in Upstate's D-I era to reach 100 career aces in the process. Healey ranks ninth in school history with 945 career digs, just 55 digs from becoming the eighth in school history to reach 1,000.
* With her 22 assists on Friday night against Stetson, senior setter Morgan Bucciferro became the first player in the D-I era to reach 1,250 career helpers, finishing the night with 1,258 D-I assists. Bucciferro ranks fifth in school history with 2,070 career assists. She also notched a career-high two blocks against Stetson.
* Freshmen setter Emily Sanders and outside hitter Paige Weiland accounted for 10 of Upstate’s 16 double-doubles this season. Sanders leads the team with seven assist-dig affairs and Weiland added the only three of Upstate's kill-dig double-doubles of the year.
* Junior middle blocker Katie Downey posted a season-high 13 kills, hitting .346, against Stetson.

Stetson
* Freshman setter Kelli Carneal racked up career highs in assists (37) and digs (17), adding eight kills, while junior outside hitter Stephanie Canfield led all players in the match with a season-high 12 kills along with a season-high nine digs against conference rival Kennesaw State, Thursday evening at the Edmunds Center.
* Sophomore outside hitter Kaylee Ream hit the floor hard all night, collecting a career-high 12 digs while also slamming a season-best nine kills. Senior right side Sarah Sears enjoyed her finest statistical effort of the season as well, coming up with eight digs, six kills and two service aces, and the final Hatter to reach a season high against KSU was sophomore middle blocker Sam Freeman, who notched seven kills and led Stetson in hitting percentage at a .333 rate.
* Senior libero Anna Becker recorded 14 digs while senior middle blocker Laura Boyd totaled six blocks and five kills. Sears took the court for the 97th time as a Hatter tonight, moving her past Michelle Clonan '03 into sole possession of seventh place on the program's all-time list. She is on pace for her record-setting 107th match played when the Hatters re-match with Kennesaw State in Georgia on November 7.

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.