Volleyball Weekend Recap

HL Volleyball Stats

The 2012 volleyball season began on Friday with all eight Horizon League teams in action in tournaments across the country. The League was paced by Cleveland State and Loyola who both went undefeated in their respective tournaments.

Here’s a team-by-team look at the first weekend of play.

Cleveland State (3-0) at IPFW Invitational
Results:
Cleveland State def. Kent State, 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-21)
Cleveland State def. IPFW, 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-17)
Cleveland State def. Murray State, 3-1 (25-19, 26-28, 25-20, 25-16)

The Vikings opened the 2012 season by claiming the title at the IPFW Invitational. CSU opened the tournament by sweeping Kent State on Friday night behind Horizon League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Kara Koch. The senior led the team with 18 kills, while junior Annie Djukic had 40 assists to help a Viking offense that had a .361 hitting percentage in the match. On Saturday, the Vikings defeated IPFW and Murray State to finish the weekend undefeated. In the victory over IPFW, Koch and Kerry Winchester each tallied 11 kills, while the trio of Dayna Roberts (16), Koch (15) and Amanda Medvetz (15) combined for 46 of CSU's 68 digs. Marie Frease posted five blocks, with Winchester adding a career-high four, including two solo blocks. Koch had a team-high 50 kills for the invitational as she was named the tournament MVP. Djukic (131 assists in 10 sets) and Jackie Dabbelt (25 kills, .412 hitting percentage) joined Koch on the All-Tournament team.

Green Bay (1-2) hosted Green Bay/Country Inn & Suites Tournament
Results:
Green Bay def. Drake, 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-20)
Central Michigan def. Green Bay, 3-0 (25-20, 27-25, 25-14)
Auburn def. Green Bay, 3-0 (32-30, 28-26, 25-21)

Green Bay opened the season by hosting the Green Bay/Country Inn & Suites Tournament at the Kress Center. The Phoenix opened the tournament by dropping Drake, 3-0. The Phoenix hit .227 for the match and registered 47 kills, led by junior Lyndsay Zabkowiczwho tallied a match-high 13 to go along with 14 digs. Senior Carmen Leitermann added 12 kills with a .455 hitting percentage, while junior Monica Anderson chipped in nine kills. Preseason All-Horizon League selection Brittany Groth led the Phoenix with 24 digs on the night, while last year's Horizon League assists leader Leah Poel finished with 36 assists in the victory. Green Bay dropped both of its matches on Saturday, falling to Central Michigan and Auburn in three sets. The Phoenix were in it all three sets with the Tigers, falling 32-30 and 28-26 in the first two sets before Auburn finished them off in the third set, 25-21. Groth finished the weekend with 72 digs in nine sets, an 8.0 avg/set, to lead all players in the Horizon League. Leitermann’s .475 hitting percentage through the weekend ranks as the second highest hitting percentage in the conference.

Loyola (4-0) at La Salle Invitational
Results:
Loyola def. Manhattan, 3-0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-19)
Loyola def. Niagara, 3-0 (29-27, 25-23, 26-24)
Loyola def. La Salle, 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-21)
Loyola def. Bucknell, 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-16)

A year after only winning four matches all season, Loyola matched that total in its first weekend of play as the Ramblers went to Philadelphia and won all four matches to start the season 4-0. Loyola opened the season on Friday by sweeping Manhattan and Niagara. Senior newcomer Anna Eytchison set a career-high with 21 kills in her first match as a Rambler in the win over Manhattan  and followed up that performance with 17 kills in the win over Niagara. For the weekend, Eytchison  led the team with 59 kills in 12 sets to rank second in the conference in kills per set (4.92). Sophomore Laura Purcell was also an offensive force for the Ramblers this weekend, slamming down 43 kills and leading the team with a .352 hitting percentage. Freshman Brittany Brown, playing in her first collegiate matches, directed the Loyola offense efficiently, recording 131 assists in the four matches as the Ramblers hit .267 as a team in the tournament.
 
Milwaukee (2-1) at Duke Invitational
Results:
Milwaukee def. Fairfield, 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-20, 25-21)
Milwaukee def. William & Mary, 3-1 (26-24, 19-25, 25-22, 25-16)
Duke def. Milwaukee, 3-0 (25-21, 25-11, 25-23)

The defending Horizon League Champions went 2-1 in opening their season at the Duke Invitational. The Panther started the season by defeating Fairfield, 3-1, as four players recorded double-digit kill totals in the victory. Sophomore Julie Kolinske had a team-high 19 kills, while junior Rachel Neuberger (13), senior Elizabeth Egerer (13) and freshman Maggie Dunbar (10) also reached double figures for UWM. In the 3-1 win over William & Mary, Neuberger led the team with 18 kills, while Kolinske (13) and Egerer (12) also reached double-figures in kills. The Panthers also had four players reach double figures in digs in each of their first two contests. Senior Anna Bartz had 14 digs in both games to lead UWM. In the team’s final match of the weekend, a 3-0 loss to host Duke, Kolinske was the only Panther to reach double figures in kills, recording 10 to pace Milwaukee. Kolinske finished the weekend with three double-doubles as she also recorded 10+ digs in all three contests. Neuberger (40 kills, .449 hitting percentage) and Kayla Price (117 assists) were named to the All-Tournament team.

UIC (2-1) at Colgate Classic
Results:
Syracuse def. UIC, 3-2 (13-25, 26-24, 25-18, 21-25, 9-15)
UIC def. Colgate, 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-21)
UIC def. Bryant, 3-0 (25-10, 25-22, 25-22)

The Flames started their season by winning two of three games at the Colgate Classic. UIC opened the season on Friday with a tough five-set loss to Syracuse. Aubrey Sniegowski led the team with 15 kills in the match, while MaryKate Imrie had 39 assists and Maggie Strus finished with 21 digs. The Flames had more success on Saturday, sweeping both of their matches. UIC posted an overall .321 hitting percentage in the victory over Colgate. In the first set, the team compiled a .400 hitting percentage, including 15 kills with just one error. Sniegowski paced the Flames again with 12 kills, while Janise Dismuke had nine kills and seven blocks. Kelsey Safranek led the Flames with 11 kills in UIC’s victory over Bryant. Dismuke had another solid contest as well, finishing with nine kills, with just one attack error, and also contributed five blocks. After one weekend of play, Dismuke leads the conference in blocks, averaging 1.82 per set. Strus is ranked third in the conference in digs, averaging 4.73 per set.

Valparaiso (2-2) at Hawkeye Challenge
Results:
Southeast Missouri State def. Valparaiso, 3-1 (14-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-18)
Valparaiso def. Chicago State, 3-0 (25-8, 25-15, 25-14)
Valparaiso def. South Dakota State, 3-2 (25-23, 15-25, 16-25, 25-18, 15-8)
Iowa def. Valparaiso, 3-1 (21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-16)

The Crusaders went 2-2 in opening the season at the Hawkeye Challenge in Iowa City, Iowa. Valpo lost their first game of the season, falling to Southeast Missouri State, 3-1. Morgan Beil paced Valpo with 14 kills in the contest as the Crusaders won the first set against SEMO, but dropped the next three to lose. Valparaiso picked up its first win of the season later in the day as the Crusaders easily dispatched Chicago State, 3-0. Valpo used big runs in all three sets to sweep the match. On Saturday, Valparaiso battled back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat South Dakota State, 3-2. Beil led the Valpo offense against the Jackrabbits with 12 kills, while Ellen Vanden Berg and Kelsey Victor each picked up 11 kills apiece.  Kelsey Berrington registered a double-double with 27 assists and 15 digs to go along with her four service aces. The Preseason Horizon League Defensive Player of the YearTaylor Root paced the Crusaders with 22 digs, while Sarah Dooms tallied 20 digs as well in the winning effort.  The Crusaders hit just .049 over the first three sets, but swung at a .317 clip over the decisive final two frames. In the tournament finale against the host Hawkeyes, Valpo took the opening set with a late push, scoring nine of the final 14 points after being tied at 16 apiece.  The Crusaders held an early lead in set two and rallied to tie that frame at 17, 18 and 19-all, but Iowa scored six of the final eight points to tie the match at one set apiece into the in-game break.  A 6-1 run late in set three gave Iowa a lead it wouldn’t relinquish, and the Hawkeyes scored 14 of the match’s final 19 points in set four to close the contest.After one week of play, Root leads the League with 83 total digs and ranks second in the conference with an average of 5.19 digs per set.

Wright State (0-3) at Thunder Invitational
Results:
Marshall def. Wright State, 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-12)
Miami def. Wright State, 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-18)
IUPUI def. Wright State, 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-19)

Wright State began its season at Marshall’s Thunder Invitational in Huntington, West Virginia. On Friday, the Raiders fell to host Marshall, 3-0 in both teams opening match of the year. WSU led 17-16 in the first set before Marshall took control to win. The Thundering Herd jumped out to early leads in the second and third sets that Wright State could never recover from. Heidi Splinter paced the Raiders with 10 kills and added seven digs while Marisa Aiello, in her collegiate debut, chipped in seven kills. Natalie Catani, also appearing in her first college match, had six kills and a team-high nine digs.Wright State could never get on track against Miami in the second match of the tournament, falling to the RedHawks, 3-0. The Raiders also fell to IUPUI, 3-0, despite Ashleigh Lucco’s 32 assists and eight digs. Lucco was named to the All-Tournament team after recording 68 assists and 19 digs in WSU’s three games.

Youngstown State (1-2) at Spartan Showcase
Results:
Eastern Kentucky def. Youngstown State, 3-2 (19-25, 20-25, 26-24, 25-15, 16-14)
Michigan State def. Youngstown State, 3-1 (22-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-22)
Youngstown State def. McNeese State, 3-2 (25-17, 25-22, 20-25, 29-31, 15-13)

Youngstown State opened the 2012 season at the Spartan Showcase in East Lansing, Mich. The Penguins got started on Friday, dropping a tough five-set decision to Eastern Kentucky. YSU won the first two sets and had a total of six match points before falling to the Colonels. Sophomore Shannon Watson finished with a career-high 17 kills, and fellow middle blocker Aly Ryan posted seven kills and six blocks in her Penguins debut. Junior Missy Hundelt had 10 kills for YSU. Youngstown State opened Saturday by taking the first set against host Michigan State, but the Spartans rebounded to win the final three sets to claim the victory. Hundelt posted 14 kills and 10 digs while hitting .290 to lead the Penguins. Setter Erin Muir posted 18 assists and two aces in her Penguins debut, and Casey D’Ambrose recorded 20 assists. YSU picked up its first victory of the season, and first for new head coach Mark Hardaway, when the Penguins outlasted McNeese State, 3-2. YSU won the first two sets, but dropped the next two, including a 31-29 fourth set, before rebounding to win the fifth set, 15-13. Hundelt, who earned All-Tournament honors,finished with 17 kills and 13 digs while hitting at a .359 clip. Jenna Cavanaugh posted a career high with 11 kills and 10 blocks.