Aug. 28, 2006
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Offensive Player of the Week
Liz Fazio
Cleveland State, Freshman, Outside Hitter, Akron, Ohio
Fazio's first weekend of collegiate volleyball was a solid one, as she led the Vikings with 49 kills in three matches, averaging 4.45 kills and 4.73 points to help the Vikings to a second-place finish at the Temple Invitational.
She hit .455 with 13 kills in a sweep of Iona and added 10 kills in a blanking of Lehigh. Fazio then closed out the week with a career-high 26 kills and eight digs in a five-game loss to Temple.
Defensive Player of the Week
Ambria Springer
UIC, Senior, Middle Blocker, Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Ambria Springer was named to the all-tournament team for the Chicagoland Challenge with a total of 46 kills, 20 digs and 17 total blocks in three matches. In UIC's opening match against Valparaiso, Springer posted a team-high three solo blocks and four block assists, while chipping in 17 kills in the match.
In the Flames' nail-biting five-game victory over Loyola, Springer totaled eight blocks (four solo). In a three-game sweep over DePaul, to help UIC to a second-place finish in the tournament, Springer tallied ten digs, two service aces and 12 kills in the win.
Other Top Performances for the Week Ending August 27
Jordan Bateman
Cleveland State, So., Libero, Nelsonville, Ohio
Jordan Bateman averaged 5.00 digs per game in CSU's three matches last week, helping the Vikings to a second-place showing at the Temple Invitational.
Bateman had 13 digs in a season-opening three-game win over Iona and 11 digs in a sweep of Lehigh. Bateman then capped off her strong showing with a career-high 31 digs against the host Owls.
Amanda Kenny
UIC, Jr., Outside Hitter, Chicago, Ill.
Amanda Kenny made her UIC debut in the Chicagoland Challenge for the Flames over the weekend, helping the team to a second-place finish. Kenny led the Flames in a sweep over DePaul on Saturday after totaling 16 kills and 18 digs.
Versus Valparaiso in the first match of the tournament, Kenny posted a .263 attack percentage. In three matches, the transfer from the University of Dayton had a combined 33 kills, 34 digs and a team-high .321 attack percentage.
Porshia Allen
Butler, Fr., Outside Hitter, Indianapolis, Ind.
Allen was the offensive catalyst in the Bulldogs' season opener against Marian, pacing the team with 21 kills while committing only three errors. She also registered four total blocks and a service ace for a team-best 6.12 points per game.
Courtney Ashley
Loyola, Sr., Outside Hitter, Naperville, Ill.
Courtney Ashley had a solid start to the 2006 season, hammering down 45 kills to go with 45 digs as Loyola swept DePaul before losing a pair of heart-breaking five-game matches to UIC and Valparaiso last weekend.
Ashley had 14 kills (14-1-31, .419) and 11 digs in the win over the Blue Demons before breaking loose for a career-high 25 kills to accompany 16 digs in the tough loss to the Flames. The 25 kills easily surpassed her previous career-high of 20 put-aways, also set against UIC. Her efforts earned her a spot on the all-tournament team for the Chicagoland Challenge.
Abby Bergsma
UW-Green Bay, So., Middle Blocker, Appleton, Wis.
Abby Bergsma set a career-high in Saturday's match with 21 kills and a .432 hitting percentage in a four-game victory over Indiana State. She matched another career-high with 10 total blocks in the victory. Bergsma also tallied 12 kills and a career-high four service aces against Central Michigan.
Through UW-Green Bay's first three matches of the season, Bergsma leads the team with a .227 hitting percentage and an average of 1.38 blocks per game.
Melissa David
UW-Milwaukee, Sr., Outside Hitter, Savoy, Ill.
David earned all-tournament honors at the State Farm Illini Classic after a strong weekend of play just minutes from her hometown. David, who grew up in Savoy, Ill., and played high school volleyball in Champaign, capped off her weekend with 11 kills and a .391 hitting percentage in Saturday night's loss to Illinois. She also tallied 11 kills and 11 digs vs. Winthrop Friday night and nine kills against Illinois State Saturday afternoon.
Karla Everhart
Youngstown State, So., Setter, Elyria, Ohio
Everhart was named to the Dayton Flyer Classic All-Tournament team after helping the Penguins to a 1-2 record and a 3-0 defeat of Southern Illinois. Everhart averaged 7.10 assists, 2.40 digs and 0.50 blocks per game.
Against the Salukis, Everhart had a double-double with 26 assists and 10 digs while adding four kills and three blocks. Against IUPUI, Everhart tallied 25 assists with seven digs and five kills and dished out 20 assists and seven digs against Dayton.
Sarah Poling
Wright State, Sr., Outside Hitter, St. Henry, Ohio
Sarah Poling posted her first double-double of the season as she paced the Raiders with 25 kills and as many digs against Binghamton.
Poling finished the weekend at the Clarion Hotel Rocket VB Classic in Toledo with 41 kills and 46 digs.
Cleveland State
Cleveland State narrowly missed starting 3-0 for just the fourth time in school history, falling to Temple in five games on Saturday evening. Senior Danielle Siefker and freshman Liz Fazio both earned a spot on the all-tournament team as the Vikings finished second.
A trio of CSU freshmen acquitted themselves very nicely in their collegiate debuts at the Temple Invitational. After three matches, Liz Fazio paces the squad in kills, Beth Greulich leads the team in hitting percentage and blocks and Alexis Korovich is second in kills and digs.
The Vikings continue their season-opening 11-match road swing with four matches this week including a Tuesday contest at Bowling Green and an appearance in the UNC Asheville Invitational over the weekend.
UIC
UIC captured second place in the third annual Chicagoland Challenge with a 2-1 record in the Flames' 2006 opening weekend. Katie Kozak posted a triple-double versus DePaul with 11 kills, 43 assists and 11 digs, while also leading the team with four service aces. Kozak was also named to the all-tournament team alongside teammate Ambria Springer. Springer led the Flames in kills (46) and Amanda Kenny and Julie Popp both 34 digs each for the three-match tournament.
Butler
After falling in the second game against Marian, the Bulldogs clamped down on defense in the final two, never trailing while holding the Knights to just 17 points in the third game and 14 in the fourth for a 3-1 season-opening victory.
Freshman outside hitter Porshia Allen put together a break-out first collegiate match, leading the team with 21 kills and 12 digs.
Junior middle hitter Michelle DeGeeter was the most accurate hitter against the Knights, scoring 13 kills without a miscue for a .619 attack percentage.
The win over Marian gives head coach Sharon Clark the 197th win of her 14-year career and her 95th win as the head coach of the Bulldogs.
Loyola
Loyola fell to 1-2 for the season after dropping matches to UIC and Valparaiso over the weekend at the Chicagoland Challenge. Senior Ann Deelo's 63 digs over the weekend moved her career total to 1,243, just 54 digs behind Lauren Holbrook's school-record mark of 1,297.
Loyola opens its home schedule on Wed., Aug. 30 when it welcomes Oregon State to Alumni Gym. The match is the Ramblers' first-ever meeting with a team from the Pacific-Ten Conference. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
UW-Green Bay
UW-Green Bay senior outside hitter Sarah Rauen was named to the all-tournament team at the Super 8 Chippewa Classic. Rauen recorded a team-high 47 kills and five service aces in the Phoenix's three matches. All five aces came in the season-opener against Idaho State.
Phoenix sophomore middle blocker Abby Bergsma had a career match in the team's four-game victory over Indiana State. Bergsma's 21 kills were a career-high. She added 10 total blocks in the match to go along with a .432 hitting percentage. In the previous match against Central Michigan, Bergsma collected a career-high four service aces.
Junior setter Betty Slinger posted her fourth career triple-double in UW-Green Bay's season opener against Idaho State. She totaled 10 kills, 14 digs and 46 assists in the match. All three of her previous triple-doubles came during the 2005 season.
UW-Green Bay will play host to the annual AmeriHost Inn Classic this Friday and Saturday, welcoming Drake, Delaware and Kent State.
UW-Milwaukee
Leanne Felsing just missed out on two triple-doubles this weekend. Against Winthrop, she tallied nine kills and eight digs to go with 36 assists. Against Illinois State, she collected eight kills and 10 digs to go with 24 assists.
Becky Peters saw her streak of 31-straight matches reaching double figures in digs snapped in Saturday night's loss to Illinois. She collected four digs in the first two games before freshman Lauren Felsing played libero in game three.
Melissa David was named to the all-tournament team at the State Farm Illini Classic.
Youngstown State
The Penguins win over Southern Illinois snapped a 21-match losing streak for the Penguins.
Senior Cari Leslie turned in a solid performance at the Dayton Flyer Classic. The 5-foot-8 outside hitter averaged 2.40 kills and 3.10 digs per game last weekend. Leslie posted a double-double with 11 kills and 15 digs and added two aces and four assists in the 3-0 win over Southern Illinois. Leslie needs 256 more kills and 62 more digs for 1,000 in each category.
Freshmen Ruth Boscaljon and Kailtin O'Hara proved to a tough block to get past last weekend. Boscaljon led the Penguins with 13 total blocks for an average a 1.30 blocks per game while O'Hara added 10 blocks for an average of one block per game.
Wright State
The Raiders opened the season by going 1-3 at the Clarion Westgate Hotel Rocket Classic in Toledo, picking up a three-game win over Toledo in the process. Junior setter Lindsey Frank was named to the All-Tournament Team after hitting .359 with 19 kills and recording 141 assists and 36 digs in the four matches. Seniors Sarah Poling (25 kills, 25 digs) and Jenny Schultz (19 kills, 16 digs) each had double-doubles in a five-game setback to Binghamton.
Wright State heads to Virginia this week for the Jefferson Cup Tournament, taking on the host Cavaliers along with East Carolina and Georgetown.
Valparaiso
Jessie Fox was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player and was one of four Crusaders selected to the All-Tournament Team at the Chicagoland Classic over the weekend in Chicago, Ill. Joining Fox on the All-Tournament team were sophomores Allison Sears and Brittany Marks and freshman Angie Porché.
Fox, led the team with 42 kills during the tournament, hitting .311 in the process. The Crusaders won their first match Friday night, 3-1 over host UIC, and beat DePaul 3-0 and Loyola (Chicago) 3-2 on Saturday to win the tournament title.
