Sept. 11, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Offensive Player of the Week
Ebony Barbosa
Youngstown State
So., Outside Hitter, Allentown, Pa.
Barbosa led the Penguins to a 4-1 record last week and the Navy Chesapeake Challenge Championship. For the week she averaged 3.94 kills and 3.12 digs per game while hitting at a .296 clip.
At the Navy Chesapeake Challenge, Barbosa hit an impressive .407 rate while averaging 4.54 kills and 3.38 digs per game. She posted three double-doubles and pounded career-high 21 kills against Navy.
Barbosa tallied 12 kills and 10 digs against LaSalle, 15 kills and 10 digs against Providence and 11 kills and a career-high 18 digs against St. Francis (Pa.)
Defensive Player of the Week
Danielle Siefker
Cleveland State
Sr., Middle Hitter, Kalida, Ohio
Siefker had a dominating weekend at the net, averaging 1.91 blocks per game in helping CSU win the Oakland Invitational with three straight victories.
In a five-game, come-from-behind victory over Bowling Green, she had a season-high 10 blocks. Siefker then matched that total with 10 more stuffs in a sweep of Indiana State the next day.
Other Top Performers for the Week
Alexis Korovich
Cleveland State
Fr., Outside Hitter, Geneva, Ohio
Korovich earned MVP honors at the Oakland Invitational after leading the Vikings to three straight wins and the tournament title. She led CSU in kills (4.45 per game) and digs (3.09 pg.), while adding eight blocks and three straight double-doubles. In Friday's comeback five-game win against Bowling Green, she notched a career-high 24 kills and 14 digs. She then went on to pace the Vikings in both kills and digs in sweeps of Oakland (13 kills, 10 digs) and Indiana State (12K, 12D). Korovich leads CSU with six double-doubles on the season.
Ruth Boscaljon
Youngstown State
Fr., Middle Hitter, Elgin, Ill.
Boscaljon averaged 1.43 blocks per game last week with a total of 23 blocks in 16 games. At the Navy Chesapeake Challenge, Boscaljon posted 22 blocks in 13 games for an average of 1.69 blocks per game. In the championship game against St. Francis (Pa.), Boscaljon recorded seven blocks, including four solo blocks. She added five blocks against Navy, five blocks against Providence and five blocks against LaSalle. Offensively, Boscaljon averaged 3.50 kills per game and posted a .360 hitting percentage.
Sarah Elmer
Loyola
Sr., Setter, Ft. Wayne, Ind.
Elmer recorded her third career triple-double and earned all-tournament team honors as Loyola went 2-1 at the Texas A&M Invitational. Elmer started off the weekend with a tremendous performance in a four-game win over McNeese State. Elmer was the catalyst of the Loyola offense, tying her career-high with 14 kills and no errors in 25 swings (a .560 percentage), in addition to pitching in 40 assists and 19 digs to lead LU to victory. It marked the second time this season that Elmer led Loyola in kills from her setter position. For the season, Elmer is averaging (1.98 kpg) to go with 10.43 assists per game.
Leanne Felsing
UW-Milwaukee
Jr., Setter, Hartford, Wis.
Felsing put together another solid week, earning all-tournament honors at the Panther Invitational. Felsing had 39 assists and 11 digs in the win over Central Michigan before tallying six kills, seven digs, six blocks and 30 assists in the win over Northern Colorado. Then, against #11 Wisconsin, Felsing spent more time as an outside hitter, collecting five kills in 19 attempts while also tallying 18 assists and 10 digs. For the week, Felsing averaged 1.56 kills per game. 3.11 digs per game, 1.11 blocks per game and 9.67 assists per game.
Alisha Kimbro
Wright State
Jr., Outside Hitter, Lisle, Ill.
Kimbro was named to the USF Smoothie King Invitational All-Tournament Team. She hit .281 with 11 kills, six service aces and five digs against Texas Tech. Kimbro logged a double-double of 13 kills and 10 digs in a win over South Florida with six block assists. She also posted her second double-double of the day Saturday with 19 kills and 11 digs in a win over Jacksonville, hitting .333 in the process.
Sarah Rauen
UW-Green Bay
Sr., Outside Hitter/Libero, Stacy, Minn.
Rauen's 52 digs Saturday helped the Phoenix post a 1-1 mark at the IUPUI/Hampton Inn Downtown Invitational. After totaling 23 digs in UWGB's five-game loss to Tennessee-Martin, Rauen followed up the effort with a 29-dig performance in a win over host IUPUI. The 29 digs were a large part of a 114-dig effort by the Phoenix team. The 29 digs by Rauen tie for the fifth-highest single-match total for a five-game match in UW-Green Bay history and also mark a tie for the third-best total in Rauen's career. In the two matches she averaged 5.2 digs per game. The 52 digs raised Rauen's career total to 1210 and into fourth place in UW-Green Bay history.
Ambria Springer
UIC
Sr., Middle Blocker, Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Powering the Flames on offense last week, senior Ambria Springer averaged 3.67 kills per game while leading UIC with 14 totals blocks (0.93 per game) in four matches. The middle blocker also recorded 21 digs and owned four service aces. In a sweep over Chicago State on Sept. 5, Springer posted a team-high .348 attack percentage with 12 kills and four blocks against the Cougars. In Springer's hometown of Murfreesboro, Tenn., the middle blocker led the Flames in the Blue Raider Bash in kills (43) in each of the three matches, while also grabbing a team-high 11 blocks on the weekend. In UIC's five-game thriller over Miami (Ohio), the senior guided the team with 20 kills, four blocks and owned a .293 attack percentage.
Michelle DeGeeter
Butler
Jr., Middle Blocker, Warsaw, Ind.
DeGeeter was the team's top defensive performer last week, registering 39 digs and 18 total blocks. She put back four total blocks against Eastern Illinois, five against Western Illinois and six against DePaul.
News From Around the League
Wright State
After winning just once in their first eight matches, the Raiders turned the tables Saturday at the USF Smoothie King Invitational, rallying for a five-game win over host South Florida and then defeating Jacksonville in four games. WSU finished second in the tournament behind Texas Tech, who defeated the Raiders in four games Friday.
Wright State has had success on the opponent's home court so far this season as the win over South Florida improved the Raiders' road record to 2-1.
Juniors Tara Geegan and Alisha Kimbro continued their strong play as both were named to the USF Smoothie King Invitational All-Tournament team. Geegan, who was also selected to the All-Tournament Team last week in Virginia, hit .274 with 36 kills and 14 blocks in the three matches in South Florida, including 11 kills and six block assists against the Bulls and hit .324 with 16 kills versus Jacksonville. Kimbro totaled 43 kills, 26 digs, 11 block assists and eight service aces in hitting .279 over the three matches, including 11 kills and six aces against Texas Tech, a double-double of 13 kills and 10 digs along with six block assists versus South Florida and another double-double of 19 kills and 11 digs in hitting .333 against Jacksonville.
Wright State opens the home portion of its schedule this week with the Pepsi Raider Challenge at the C.J. McLin Gymnasium, welcoming in West Virginia, Akron and Denver. After being on the road for the first 10 matches of the year, WSU will now be at home for 13 of its next 22 matches, including the Horizon League Tournament in November.
Youngstown State
The championship at the Navy Chesapeake Challenge was YSU's first in-season tournament title since 2001. YSU's current four-match win streak is the longest since 2003.
Senior Cari Leslie became the ninth YSU player to record at least 1,000 career digs and now ranks ninth all-time with 1,048 digs. She also needs 198 more kills to reach the 1,000 kills plateau.
Freshman Kaitlin O'Hara turned in another solid week, averaging 3.19 kills and 0.94 blocks per game.
Senior libero Janelle McDonald averaged 4.44 digs per game last week and posted a season-high 21 digs against St. Francis (Pa.) and was credited with 19 digs against LaSalle.
Cleveland State
At 8-2, the Vikings trail only the 1974 and 1977 squads in terms of the best 10-match starts in the 35-year history of the program (both opened 9-1). In the midst of a six-match winning streak, CSU finally closes out it season-opening 11-match road swing - the longest since beginning the 1994 campaign with 15 straight away from home. The Vikings will host Robert Morris on Saturday.
Freshman opposite Beth Greulich continues to lead the Horizon League with a .475 hitting percentage. She was nearly flawless in three matches over the weekend, recording 27 kills and just three errors in 48 swings (a .500 hitting percentage) to help CSU to the Oakland Invitational title. On the year, she has committed just nine errors in 158 attempts.
Alexis Korovich earned MVP honors at the Oakland Invitational after posting three consecutive double-doubles. She was joined on the all-tournament team by fellow freshmen Liz Fazio and Beth Greulich. Fazio was named to the all-tournament team at all three of CSU's early-season events. Junior setter Mel Snyder was the MVP of the UNC Asheville Classic the previous week.
UIC
Senior Ambria Springer powered UIC with 55 kills, averaging 3.67 per game in four matches last week. Springer also led the Flames at the net, posting 11 total blocks. Junior Amanda Kenny guided UIC with 34 kills, 27 digs and seven blocks versus Chicago State and three matches in the Blue Raider Bash. Kenny recorded a double-double against Miami of Ohio with ten kills and a team-high 16 digs. Freshman Lana Lobdell also dominated at the net after posting 14 blocks, while owning a .237 hitting percentage in four matches. Lobdell led UIC versus Chicago State with seven blocks.
The Flames battle Northern Illinois on the road on Sept. 12 before hosting the UIC Invitational, Sept. 15-16.
Loyola
Senior Sarah Elmer led the Ramblers to two victories over McNeese State, while recording her third career triple-double on Friday. Loyola ended up 2-1 for the weekend after dropping a match to tournament host Texas A&M.
Loyola is back in action on Friday, hosting the Loyola Invitational. The Ramblers take on Oakland, Jacksonville State and St. Louis.
UW-Milwaukee
UWM finished second in the Pepsi Panther Invitational, with Leanne Felsing and Jamie Gabrielsen named to the all-tournament team. Melissa David, Cheryl Hegemann and Sarah Moore all averaged better than 3.0 kills per game this past week.
The crowd for Saturday's match with #11 Wisconsin was 1,121 - the largest home volleyball crowd in UWM's Division I history.
UWM's .111 hitting percentage against Wisconsin was a season low. It was also the first time the Panthers have hit less than .200 in a match since the season opener against Winthrop. UWM's two service aces were also a season-low.
Wisconsin is the first opponent to hit better than .300 against UWM this season, posting a .308 mark.
UW-Green Bay
UW-Green Bay's win over IUPUI last Saturday marked career win No. 100 for Phoenix head coach Debbie Kirch. All 100 of the wins have come at UW-Green Bay.
The 127 digs by IUPUI in its loss to the Phoenix Saturday were the most ever by a UW-Green Bay opponent in a match.
Sophomore libero Chelsea Lyga earned the first two starts of her career on Saturday. After posting a career-high 17 digs against UT Martin, Lyga quickly topped the mark with 27 digs in a victory over IUPUI.
After posting 52 digs last weekend to move into fourth place on UW-Green Bay's career list, Sarah Rauen can jump up another spot this weekend. Currently with 1,210 career digs, Rauen stands 38 shy of third place.
Butler
The Bulldogs' win over St. Joseph's [Ind.] on Sept. 5 puts head coach Sharon Clark just one win away from her 100th victory as the head coach at Butler. She touts a 99-87 record at the university and claimed her 200th collegiate on Sept. 2 against Evansville.
With 40 block assists on the year, senior Krystal Hendrix had moved up into second place in school history with 343, passing Beth Christiansen (331) and Keely Norris (338). Amy Pickett holds the school record with 413. With 50 total blocks on the year, Hendrix has also passed two-time All-American Ariel Bienemy for seventh place in total blocks with 377. Norris is next up with 409.
The Bulldogs continue to have a significant edge on their opponents when it comes to blocking, more than doubling their foes totals at 92.0 to 44.5.
