Women's Volleyball Weekly Release #3

Sept. 4, 2006

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Offensive Player of the Week

Leanne Felsing

UW-Milwaukee

Jr., Setter, Hartland, Wis.

Felsing earned tournament MVP honors as UWM won the Bama Bash with three impressive three-game sweeps. She directed the Panther offense flawlessly, with UWM hitting better than .300 in all three matches over the weekend. The most impressive performance came against Alabama, which went to the NCAA Tournament a season ago and is expected to compete for the SEC title again this season. The Panthers hit .352 as a team, while Felsing collected 44 assists, 11 digs, five kills and two blocks. Felsing was also stellar in UWM's two matches Friday, recording 38 assists and 13 digs in the win over Ball State and six kills, seven digs, five aces and 24 assists in an easy win over Mercer.

For the week, Felsing averaged nearly 12 assists per game as the Panthers hit .334 in the three matches. She also added 3.44 digs per game and 1.56 kills per game.

Defensive Player of the Week

Ann Deelo

Loyola

Sr., Libero, St. Louis, Mo.

Ann Deelo became Loyola's all-time digs leader after a strong week that saw her average 5.40 dpg in four matches. 

Deelo opened the week strong, notching 26 digs in the five-game win over Oregon State and added 11 digs in Saturday afternoon's loss to Ole Miss to put her within striking distance of the record.  Deelo then broke the record in style on Sunday morning, digging a career-high 32 balls, a performance that ties her for third on Loyola's single-game digs chart, in a four-game loss to Illinois. 

After 12 more digs against Marquette, Deelo now stands at 1,324 career digs after passing Lauren Holbrook's (2001-04) previous record of 1,297.  For the season, Deelo is averaging 5.14 dpg and is on pace to break her own single-season record of 445 digs, set last season.

Other Top Performers for the Week

Tara Geegan

Wright State

Jr., Middle Blocker, Algonquin, Ill.

Named to the Jefferson Cup All-Tournament Team...hit .400 (16/4/30) with 16 kills and five block assists against East Carolina...five kills and three block assists at Virginia...nine kills in hitting .318 with six block assists versus Georgetown.

Abby Bergsma

UW-Green Bay

So., Middle Blocker, Appleton, Wisc.

Bergsma helped the Phoenix post a 2-1 record at its own AmeriHost Inn Classic. For her efforts she was named to the all-tournament team. Bergsma recorded double-digit kill totals in all three matches. In Friday night's sweep of Drake, she recorded 12 kills and only one error on her way to posting a career-best .478 hitting percentage. Bergsma also contributed four service aces in the match. She followed up the performance with 15 kills and seven block assists in a comeback victory over Kent State.

Courtney Ashley

Loyola

Sr., Outside Hitter, Naperville, Ill.

Senior Courtney Ashley had another solid week leading the Loyola offense, averaging 2.80 kpg, 4.00 dpg and 3.86 ppg as the Ramblers went 1-3 in four matches.  Ashley was at her best in the mid-week match against Oregon State, finishing with 18 kills and a career-high 32 digs as Loyola rallied from an 0-2 hole to win in five games.  She pounded out 15 kills against Ole Miss in the opener of the Marquette Kick-Off Tournament and closed out play with 14 kills and no errors in 33 swings against the host Golden Eagles.  For the season, Ashley leads the Ramblers in kills (97, 3.46 kpg) and points (109, 3.98 kpg) and ranks second in digs (106, 3.79 dpg).

Mel Snyder

Cleveland State

Jr., Setter, Amherst, Ohio

Snyder earned MVP honors as she directed CSU to the UNC Asheville Volleyball Classic title and a 3-1 mark on the week. In the trio wins in Asheville, she averaged 12.45 assists and 1.91 digs while leading the Vikings offense to a .266 hitting percentage as they dropped just two games in three matches. In a five-game win over East Tennessee State, she helped CSU rally from a two-games-to-one hole and 7-1 and 14-11 deficits in the fifth game, finishing with 51 assists and six digs.

Julie Popp

UIC

Sr., Libero, Chicago, Ill.

Popp averaged 5.18 digs per game in three matches last weekend at the USF Invitational. Totaling 58 digs, Popp was named to the all-tournament team. The senior added two service aces on the weekend. Versus USF, Popp led the team with 12 digs, while pounding a team-high 17 against UTEP. The libero posted a career and team-high 28 digs in four games against Towson on Sept. 2.

Krystal Hendrix

Butler

Sr., Middle Blocker, Salt Lake City, Utah

Hendrix was the Bulldogs' offensive catalyst last week, helping the team to a 3-1 mark during that span.  She hit .611 (11-0-18) to help the Bulldogs to a 3-0 sweep in the home opener against Chicago State.  She concluded the weekend by collecting 44 kills in three matches, including a career-high 21 against Evansville, to earn a spot on the all-tournament team.

Cheryl Hegemann

UW-Milwaukee

Sr., Middle Blocker, Waterford, Wis.

Hegemann contributed to a strong UWM defensive effort in both the front and back

rows while earning all-tournament honors at the Bama Bash. She averaged 2.33

digs per game and 1.11 blocks per game as UWM won all three matches in

three-game sweeps. Hegemann had eight digs and two blocks against Ball State,

seven digs and five blocks against Mercer and three blocks and six digs against

Alabama.

Ruth Boscaljon

Youngstown State

Fr., Middle Hitter, Elgin, Ill.

Boscaljon led the Penguins to a 1-2 record and was named to the Western New York Invitational All-Tournament Team after averaging 4.45 kills 0.64 digs and 1.55 blocks per game while hitting at a .358 clip for the week... for the week, Boscaljon tallied 49 kills, seven digs and 17 total blocks in 11 games played. Against Canisius, Boscaljon drilled a career high 28 kills with a .438 hitting percentage and nine blocks. She added 10 kills and five blocks against Buffalo and 11 kills and three blocks against Fordham.

News From Around the League

Cleveland State

Cleveland State extended its streak to five consecutive years with an early season tourney title after posting a spotless 3-0 mark at the UNC Asheville Volleyball Classic over the weekend. Junior setter Mel Snyder earned MVP honors, while freshman outside hitter Liz Fazio and sophomore middle hitter Jenni Ramminger joined her on the all-tournament team. CSU rallied from a two-games-to-one hole and 7-1 and 14-11 deficits in the fifth game to upend East Tennessee State in its second match of the weekend.

Freshman opposite Beth Greulich continues to lead the team with a .464 hitting percentage. She was nearly flawless in three matches over the weekend, recording 25 kills and just one error in 42 swings to help CSU to the UNC Asheville Volleyball Classic title with a .571 hitting percentage.

The Vikings continue their season-opening 11-match road swing with three matches this weekend at the Oakland Invitational. CSU will face Bowling Green on Friday (Sept. 8), followed by contests with the host Golden Grizzlies and Indiana State on Saturday (Sept. 9).

Butler

With a thrilling 3-2 victory over Evansville on Saturday evening, head coach Sharon Clark notched her 200th career coaching win.  In her 14th season as a collegiate head coach, Clark touts a 200-192 overall record and stands just two wins shy of eclipsing 100 wins in her seventh season at Butler.

Sophomore setter Dana Daprile put together an all-around impressive performance in the Bulldogs' match against Army, recording a triple-double with 11 kills, 30 assists and 17 digs while hitting a team-high .450 (11-2-20) in the match.

With 25 block assists on the year, senior Krystal Hendrix had moved up into fourth-place in school history with 328.  Next up is Beth Christiansen with 331 career block assists.  She is also in ninth-place with 358 total blocks and just five behind Candance Washington in eighth place with 363.

The Bulldogs had a significant edge on their four opponents in blocking, putting back a combined 60 to the opposition's 37.  On the year, Butler has blocked double their opponents (82 to 41).

UW-Milwaukee

UWM claimed an in-season tournament title for the first time since 2003. The win over Alabama was just the second win over an SEC foe in school history.

The 10 points the Panthers allowed in game two against Ball State tied a school

record for fewest points allowed in a game under the new volleyball scoring format. Plus, the 46 total points allowed against Mercer set a school record for a three-game match.

Leanne Felsing was named MVP of the Bama Bash, while Cheryl Hegemann and Melissa David joined Felsing on the all-tournament team. UWM hit better than .300 in all three matches this past weekend, the first time that has happened since 1999.

Wisconsin will be a part of the Pepsi Panther Invitational this weekend, with

the matchup between the Panthers and Badgers set for 7 p.m. Saturday. UWM beat Wisconsin the last time the Badgers came to the Klotsche Center, opening the

1999 season with a four-game upset of then-#9 Wisconsin.

UW-Green Bay

UW-Green Bay head coach Debbie Kirch's career win total entering play this week stands at 99. She can earn career win No. 100 with a Phoenix victory over UT-Martin or IUPUI Saturday.

Phoenix junior middle blocker Leah Steinbauer posted a career high for blocks in a match in back-to-back contests last weekend. She posted eight blocks in a three-game win over Drake Friday before following it up with a nine-block effort in a victory over Kent State Saturday.

Senior outside hitter Sarah Rauen recorded 43 digs last weekend to raise her career total to 1,158 and move her into fifth place on UW-Green Bay's all-time list. She can make another jump up into fourth place this weekend with 16 more digs.

Youngstown State

Freshman Kailtin O'Hara turned in a solid weekend with 2.73 kills per game, including a career-high 14 kills against Canisius. Classmate Allison Heinz also posted a career-high 14 kills against Canisius.

With 49 digs over the weekend, senior Cari Leslie inched closer to the coveted 1,000 career digs mark. Leslie has 987 career digs and needs just 13 more to become the ninth player in school history to reach at least 1,000 career digs.

Sophomore Karla Everhart continues to improve throughout the season. The 5-foot-10 setter dished out a career-best 65 assists against Canisius and averaged 11.73 assists per game. Her 65 assists against Canisius were more than her season total (57) in 2005.

Senior Amanda Cindric needs 98 more digs to reach 1,000 career digs.

UIC

UIC senior Julie Popp averaged 5.18 digs per game in the USF Invitational, which earned her all-tournament honors. Junior Katarina Nedeljkovic led the Flames with 47 kills, while Ambria Springer was close behind with 41 in three matches. Springer also paced the Flames with 14 blocks and five service aces. Sophomore Christin Hunt produced a stellar performance against Towson after posting a career and team-high .321 attack percentage, while also tying a career-high with 11 kills.

The Flames look to host Chicago State at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 5 at the Flames Athletic Center.

Loyola

Loyola's win over Oregon State on Wednesday night was not only its first-ever win over a Pacific-Ten Conference team, it was its first-ever meeting against a Pac-10 opponent.

Setter Sarah Elmer reached double figures in kills twice in LU's four matches, including a team-high 13 against Illinois.

Loyola will be back in action on Friday against McNeese State as part of the Texas A&M Invitational at College Station, Texas.)

Wright State

It was a tough weekend for the Raiders at the Jefferson Cup Tournament in Charlottesville, Virginia, as WSU won the first two games against East Carolina, but managed just one more win the rest of the weekend in falling to the Pirates in five games, Virginia in three and Georgetown in four. 

A pair of juniors had strong weekends for the Raiders in middle blocker Tara Geegan and outside hitter Alisha Kimbro.  Geegan was named to the All-Tournament team after recording 30 kills and a .288 hitting percentage, including .400 with 16 kills against East Carolina, along with 14 block assists, six of those coming versus Georgetown.  Kimbro tallied 25 kills in hitting .291, including a .500 (16/2/28) performance against East Carolina.  She also added 29 digs, including 12 versus Virginia, with 14 block assists, six coming against both East Carolina and Georgetown.  

Wright State will compete in its final road tournament of the year this weekend in the USF Smoothie King Invitational in Tampa.  The Raiders open play with Texas Tech on Friday, followed by matchups with two teams from the Sunshine State on Saturday in host South Florida and Jacksonville.