Nov. 7, 2005
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Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week
Sarah Elmer
Loyola, Junior, Setter, Fort Wayne, Ind
Elmer averaged 13.50 assists and 5.33 digs per game on the week as Loyola surged to a tie for third place in the League standings. She tallied two double-doubles with 36 assists, 16 digs plus four blocks in a win over Butler and a 46-assist, 16-dig, five-kill performance in a sweep of Wright State.
Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week
Danielle Siefker
Cleveland State, Junior, MH, Kalida, Ohio
Siefker recorded 18 blocks in Cleveland State's two weekend matches. Her 11 blocks against UW-Green Bay not only tied a season-high, but were more than the entire Phoenix team (six). In a loss to UW-Milwaukee on Saturday, Siefker led all players with seven blocks. For the week, she averaged 2.57 blocks per game. Siefker also leads the Horizon League with 1.38 bpg on the season.
Other Top Performers
Melissa Lange
UW-Milwaukee, S, Sr., Abbotsford, Wis.
Lange put together two double-doubles as UW-Milwaukee claimed the regular season title. She tallied 41 assists and 12 digs in a loss to Marquette, then guided the Panther offense to a .390 hitting percentage while dishing out 28 assists and adding 12 digs against Youngstown State. Lange averaged 17.5 assists per game on the weekend to surpass 1,000 for her career and move into third place all-time at UWM.
Maura McCarthy
UIC, OH, Jr., Orland Park, Ill.
McCarthy posted a double-double in UIC's sweep of Wright State on Friday, tallying 13 kills and 11 digs, plus one block. McCarthy also led the team with 14 kills in a 3-1 loss to Butler on Saturday.
Sarah Poling
Wright State, OH, Jr., St. Henry, Ohio
Poling posted two double-doubles on the weekend, including a 12-kill, 12-dig performance against UIC and a 14-kill, 11-dig outing versus Loyola. Poling averaged 4.33 kills and 3.83 digs per game on the week.
Nickole Kennedy
Cleveland State, Opp., Sr., Sunbury, Ohio
Kennedy notched 12 kills on a .320 hitting percentage in a win over UW-Green Bay on Friday. On Saturday, Kennedy led the Vikings with 11 kills plus four blocks in a loss to UW-Milwaukee. For the week, she averaged 3.29 kills and 1.29 blocks per game.
Susana Henri
Butler, OH, Jr., Vancouver, B.C.
Henri posted 15 kills and 13 digs on Saturday against UIC for her team-leading tenth double-double of the season. She also hit a team-best .375 on the match, while adding four blocks. Henri currently leads the Bulldogs with an average of 3.14 kills per game this season.
Katie Shea
Youngstown State, MH, Sr., East Aurora, NY
Shea led the Penguins last week with 3.00 kills and 0.88 blocks per game while hitting at a .293 clip. She boasted a career-high 17 kills and six blocks in a five-game loss to UW-Green Bay on Saturday, plus seven kills against UW-Milwaukee on Friday.
Betty Slinger
UW-Green Bay, S, So. Faribault, Minn.
Slinger averaged 12.00 assists per game in a 1-1 weekend road trip for the Phoenix. She dished out 60 assists to go with 10 digs and seven kills in a five-game win over Youngstown State. Slinger leads all Horizon League setters this season with 12.16 assists and 1.57 kills per game.
Megan Knightly
Butler, L, Sr., Chicago, Ill.
Knightly moved into second place on Butler's career digs list with 30 digs in two weekend matches, notching 15 digs against both UIC and Loyola. She now has 1,684 for her career. Knightly continues to lead the Horizon League at 5.34 digs per game, an average that jumps to 5.58 in League play.
Becky Lowery
Wright State, DS, So., Fremont, Ohio
Lowery averaged 4.67 digs per game in two weekend matches for the Raiders, besting her season average by nearly three digs per game (1.90). She tallied 10 digs in a loss to UIC on Friday, then added a team-high 18 digs in a loss to Loyola on Saturday.
Katarina Nedeljkovic
UIC, OH, So., Kragujevac, Serbia & Montenegro
Nedeljkovic tallied a team-high 12 digs and three blocks in UIC's sweep of Wright State on Friday. She also added 13 digs in a loss to Butler, while adding nine kills and two assists.
Becky Peters
UW-Milwaukee, L, Fr., Germantown, Wis.
Peters posted three double-digit dig performances last week, notching 20 in a non-league match-up with Marquette, 22 against Youngstown State and 17 in a win over Cleveland State. She now has 477 digs on the year, eclipsing the single season school record. On the week, Peters averaged 5.90 digs per game.
Amanda Cindric
Youngstown State, DS, Jr., Pittsburgh, PA
Cindric averaged a team-best 3.38 digs per game last week, including 11 against UWM on Friday and 12 against UWGB on Saturday. For the season, Cindric is averaging 4.01 digs per game.
Ann Deelo
Loyola, L, Jr., St. Louis, MO.
Deelo anchored the Loyola defense this weekend, digging 27 balls overall, including a match-high 19 against Wright State. She also added eight digs against Butler on Friday. The Rambler defense limited their opponents to a .142 hitting efficiency on the weekend.
Sarah Rauen
UW-Green Bay, L, Jr., Stacy, Minn.
Rauen continued her stready season for the Phoenix with 40 digs in a pair of road matches for a 4.44 digs per game average. On the season, Rauen ranks third in the Horizon League with 4.50 digs per game.
Pasquinelli reaches another milestone; Cindric passes 800-dig plateau
Senior setter Angie Pasquinelli tallied 53 assists on Saturday to become only the second player in school history to record at least 1,000 assists in three different seasons. The only other player to do so is YSU's all-time assists leader Melissa Lyczkowski, who recorded 1,000 assists in all four seasons (1998-2001). Junior Amanda Cindric passed the 800 career dig plateau last week after posting 23 digs over the weekend. She currently has 818 digs for her career and needs 182 more to become the ninth player in school history to record 1,000 digs in a career.
Panthers claim regular season League title
UW-Milwaukee claimed the regular season Horizon League title with a win over Cleveland State on Saturday. The title is the third straight for the Panthers and the seventh under head coach Kathy Litzau. UWM is just one win away from reaching 20 wins for the season, a milestone the Panthers have reached in seven of the last eight seasons. Over those eight seasons, UW-Milwaukee has averaged 22 wins per year, including three 25-win seasons.
Martin marks career-high against Raiders; Flames at home to end the regular season
Sophomore Ashley Martin set a career-high with a 16-kill performance against Wright State on Friday. Her previous high for this season was an eight kill showing against UWGB on Oct. 21. For the season, Martin is averaging 1.30 kills per game. The Flames will end the regular season at home with matches against Cleveland State and Youngstown State, prior to hosting the 2005 Horizon League Volleyball Championship, beginning Nov. 17 at the Flames Center.
Loss to UW-Milwaukee ends Viking League win streak; Hatcher joins elite group at CSU
A 3-0 loss to UW-Milwaukee on Saturday ended Cleveland State's seven-match League winning streak, the longest in its 12-year tenure in the Horizon League. Despite the loss, the Vikings can lock up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Horizon League Championship with one win and could tie for the best record in the League with a pair of victories and a loss by UW-Milwaukee. During Friday's win over UW-Green Bay, senior libero Alisa Hatcher became the ninth player in the school's history with 1,000 career digs. She now has 372 digs on the year and needs 47 more to break the single season record of 418 set by Elisa Caraulia in 1988.
DeGeeter, Washington tie career-highs against UIC; Knightly moves into second place on all-time digs list
Senior Candice Washington and sophomore Michelle DeGeeter each tied career-highs in a win over UIC on Saturday. Washington tallied nine blocks on the match, while DeGeeter matched her personal-best of 17 kills. With 30 digs over the weekend, senior Megan Knightly moved into second place on Butler's career digs list. Her team-high 15 digs on Saturday pushed her career total to 1,684. With one match remaining in the regular season, she is 38 digs off the pace set by all-time leader Jessica Taylor. . The Bulldogs will round out the regular season with a trip to Wright State on Friday.
Loyola exhibits balanced offense in weekend wins
Four hitters averaged at least 3.00 kills per game over the weekend for the Ramblers, who have now won three straight matches. Courtney Ashley led the way with 22 kills (3.67 kpg), with Shelby Henriksen (21, 3.50), Audrey Davis (18, 3.00) and Hilary Stromath (18, 3.00) right behind her.
Raiders host Senior Day on Saturday, Nov. 12 against Dayton
Wright State concludes the 2005 regular season with three matches this week, including Xavier on Tuesday night and Butler on Friday. The Raiders will honor seniors Lisa Griffith and Nicole Scheltema before the final match of the regular season -- a 4:00 p.m. contest against non-League foe Dayton.
Phoenix host League-leading Panthers to end regular season
UW-Green Bay will host Horizon League regular season champion UW-Milwaukee on Friday Nov. 11 to close out the regular season. The Phoenix fell to the Panthers in three games during the last meeting between the two teams on Oct. 14. UW-Green Bay is currently tied with Butler at 6-7 in League play.
Final Weekend of Regular season approaches; Teams inch closer to Horizon League Championship
The Horizon League Championship, hosted by UIC, will be held Nov. 17-20 at the Flames Center in Chicago, Ill. Match one will begin on Nov. 17 at 5 p.m., pitting the No. 5 seed against the No. 8 seed. A match between seeds 6 and 7 will follow at 7:30 p.m.
The second round of action begins on Nov. 18 at 5 p.m. as the winner of match one takes on the No. 3 seed. The winner of match two will battle the No. 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Semifinal action takes place on Saturday, Nov. 19, beginning at 2 p.m. as the No. 1 seed squares off against the match four winner. The second game of the afternoon will feature the No. 2 seed and the winner of match three.
The championship match is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 20. The tournament champions received an automatic berth into the NCAA Championships.
After finishing last year's regular season at 10-4, Loyola defeated UW-Green Bay, Butler and Cleveland State to win the 2004 Horizon League Championships. The Ramblers advanced to the NCAA Championships where they suffered a first-round loss to Wisconsin.
The regular season champion has not won the Horizon League Championship tournament since 2000, when Loyola swept both honors.
