CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--For the third straight week, Stony Brook senior outside hitter, Jackie Ahlers (Stony Point, N.Y./St. John's) received the America East Volleyball Player of the Week for her efforts in leading the Seawolves' to the number one seed in the conference championship. A pair of Albany freshmen, outside hitter Amanda Cowdrey (Brampton, Ontario/Cardinal Leger) and setter Brooke Stanley (Hendersonville, N.C../West Henderson), also headlined the weekly awards, winning rookie and setter honors, respectively, for the week ending November 4. Click here for full release.
Ahlers led the conference last week in kills (5.75 per game), hitting percentage (.527) and points (6.38 per game). Ahlers' play led Stony Brook to a pair of 3-1 wins over America East foes Maine and New Hampshire and the number one seed in the conference championship. Against Maine on Friday night, Ahlers had 27 kills with a .600 hitting percentage. She came back with 19 kills and a .441 hitting percentage in the Seawolves' 3-1 victory over New Hampshire on Senior Day on Sunday. This senior claims the weekly award for the third straight week and the fifth time this season.
Cowdrey averaged 3.56 kills and 3.44 digs per game to lead the Great Danes to conference wins over Binghamton and UMBC. She finished with 10 kills and 13 digs against the Bearcats and totaled a team-high 22 kills and 18 digs to go along with one service ace and one block assist in the win over the Retrievers. The two performances were Cowdrey's 16th and 17th double-doubles of the season. With her performances over the weekend, Cowdrey has reached double-figure kill totals in 13 straight matches. Cowdrey has received this honor four times this season.
Stanley averaged 12.67 assists, 1.33 digs, 1.22 service aces and 0.78 blocks per game in two matches over conference opponents this weekend. In a 3-1 win over Binghamton, Stanley finished with a match-high 55 assists to go along with six service aces, five digs, four block assists and two kills. In a 3-2 victory over UMBC, she totaled 59 assists, seven digs, five service aces, three block assists and two kills. She is averaging 10.46 assists on the season and has recorded a team-high 48 service aces and 32 total blocks. This is Stanley's second setter honor this year.
With two wins last week, Stony Brook clinched the number one seed in the 2007 America East Volleyball Championship and will host the tournament. The Seawolves are guaranteed at least a share of the regular season crown. Albany, Binghamton and New Hampshire are also guaranteed spots in the championship field, but seeding will come down to the last week of play. The championship semifinals will be held on Saturday, November 17 at 1 and 4 p.m., while the final will be played on Sunday, November 18 at 1 p.m.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (18-8 overall record, 7-3 America East record) was victorious in two conference matches at home over the weekend... The Great Danes defeated Binghamton, 3-1, before claiming a 3-2 victory over UMBC... Junior middle blocker Kamisha Kellam (Forestville, Md./Bishop McNamara) averaged 3.67 kills and 1.89 blocks per game... In the win over Binghamton, Kellam had 13 kills and 11 total blocks, including five solo... In the win over UMBC, she finished with 20 kills and six total blocks... America East Rookie of the Week Amanda Cowdrey (Brampton, Ontario/Cardinal Leger) averaged 3.56 kills and 3.44 digs per game... She finished her 16th and 17th double-doubles of the season, recording 10 kills and 13 digs against the Bearcats and a team-high 22 kills and 18 digs versus the Retrievers... Cowdrey has recorded double-digit kills in 19 of 25 matches this season and double-digit digs in 21 of 25 matches played... With her performances over the weekend, she has reached double-figure kill totals in 13 straight matches... Freshman Setter of the Week Brooke Stanley (Hendersonville, N.C./West Henderson) averaged 12.67 assists, 1.33 digs, 1.22 service aces and 0.78 blocks per game in two matches over the weekend... Against Binghamton, she finished with 55 assists to go along with six aces, five digs, four block assists and two kills, while, against UMBC, she totaled 59 assists, seven digs, five service aces, three block assists and two kills... Freshman outside hitter Teresa Coppiellie (Canton, Mich./Salem) had a career outing versus Binghamton, recording her first double-double with 17 kills and 15 digs, as well as three service aces and two total blocks... The Great Danes hit the road to wrap up the regular-season conference schedule, visiting Maine at 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 9 and New Hampshire on Sunday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m.
Binghamton (15-16, 6-4) fell into fourth place in the league standings following a 3-1 loss at Albany on Friday...Senior middle Jacki Kane (Centennial, Colo./Grandview) led the Bearcats with 15 kills at a .375 clip (15-3-32) and added a team-high eight blocks. With the 15 kills, Kane became the eighth player in Binghamton University volleyball history to record 1,000 career kills. She is now seventh on the all-time kill list with 1,008 for her career. The eight blocks bring her to 593 for her career - 21 shy of Susan Rinde '84 for the program's all-time lead. This season, has been Kane's most prolific at the net. She currently has 168 blocks on the season, topping her previous best mark of 162, set in 2005, and she entered last week averaging 1.52 blocks per game - the 18th highest mark in the nation....Junior outside hitter Ashley Allen (Mill Creek, Was./Mill Creek) and freshman setter Lindsey Mueller (West Bend, Wis./West Bend West) each added double-doubles for the Bearcats. Allen had an 11-kill, 17-dig performance, while Mueller had 41 assists to go along with 16 digs. Mueller now has 22 double-doubles on the season... Junior libero Jaclyn Strader (Kettering, Ohio/Julienne Catholic) ranks third in the America East with 4.57 digs per game. She has recorded double-digit digs in 29 of 31 matches this season. Strader had a team-high 21 digs in the loss at Albany...Binghamton wraps up its regular season schedule with a pair of home matches, Thursday, November 8 against first-place Stony Brook and Sunday, November 11 against Hartford.
Hartford (8-21 overall, 1-9) finished with one win over three matches last weekend. The win was the first over a conference team since November 15, 2003, a span of 47 matches. The Hawks opened the week with a 3-1 loss to Providence to close out the non-conference portion of the schedule. Hartford was led in that patch by Erin Macro (Lincoln, R.I./Lincoln) and Jennifer Monroy (Rahway, N.J./Union Catholic), who both finished with 19 kills. The 19 kills was a career-high for Macro and a season best for Monroy. Hartford finished with five players in double figures and hit .256 as a team against the Friars. The Hawks then hosted New Hampshire, dropping a three-game decision to the Wildcats. Hartford was led in that match by Katie O’Hara (Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton/Colorado State) who finished with 10 kills, the only Hartford player in double figures. She again led the Hawks in their first conference win of the season, a 3-1 victory over the Maine Black Bears. O’Hara finished that match with 16 kills and four blocks. She also led the way with a .414 attack percentage against Maine. The Hawks will play two final games this season at UMBC on Friday afternoon and at Binghamton on Sunday afternoon to close out the 2007 season.
Maine (3-21, 2-9) traveled to conference rivals Stony Brook and Hartford on Friday night and Sunday afternoon, respectively... Maine lost both matches by scores of 3-1... In the match against Stony Brook, Maine was led in kills by junior Lindsay Allman who tallied 11... Classmate Amy Lawson added nine kills of her own... Freshman Paige Tortorello started as setter for the Black Bears totalling 42 assists... Allman also had a match-high of 16 digs completing her double-double... Stony Brook tallied 56 kills to Maine’s 57 in the match... The Seawolves edged Maine 8.5 to 8 blocks in the match... In the match against Hartford, again Maine lost three games to one... Junior Margaret Page led the Black Bears with 14 kills... Juniors Lindsay Allman and Laura Goettsch added 13 and 12 kills, respectively... Freshman Paige Tortorello again started for the Black Bears totaling 41 assists to make it 83 on the weekend... Junior Ashlee Wright had a team-high 14 digs while Allman recorded 13 digs for her second double-double in as many matches... Her totals for the weekend were 24 kills and 29 digs... She averaged three kills per game and 3.625 digs per game... Hartford had 59 kills to Maine’s 52 and outblocked the Black Bears 13-6... Maine returns to action this weekend to finish off their conference and home schedule by playing host to the University at Albany on Friday.
UMBC (19-10, 4-6 America East) lost their fifth straight match on Sunday as they fell to defending America East champion Albany, 3-2... With the loss the Retrievers are eliminated from America East Conference Tournament contention... After taking a 2-0 lead in the match, the Retrievers dropped the next two sets (30-18, 30-10) to the Great Danes to force a fifth and final tiebreaking game... The Retrievers had a commanding lead in game five, but couldn’t hold on as the Great Danes earned the 15-11 set and match victory... Sophomore Ashley Oscars (Bakersfield, Calif./Liberty) led the Retrievers in the loss, tallying 20 kills, a .204 hitting percentage, and nine digs... Sophomore Tiffany Johnson (Abingdon, Md./Arundel/Kansas State) and freshman Bridget Scheetz (St. Louis, Mo./Ursuline Academy) also tallied double-digit kills with 12 each and hit .432 and .375, while adding five and three block assists, respectively... The Retrievers play their final away and non-conference match on Tuesday when they take on Navy at 6 p.m. before returning to the RAC Arena for their final regular season matches against Hartford on Friday and Stony Brook on Sunday.
New Hampshire (18-8, 7-4) went 1-1 on the week and secured its place in the upcoming America East Championship... The Wildcats return to the post season after a three-year absence... The last two times the Wildcats made the tournament, they went home with the hardware as they captured back-to-back titles (2002, 2003) and own a current four- game tournament winning streak... Earlier this week, the Wildcats swept Hartford, 3-0, on the road... In that match, Toni Barnas (Cary, Ill./Cary Grove) (.290 hitting %) and Lindsay Fogarty (Pleasanton, Calif./Amador Valley) (.476 hitting %) each recorded 13 kills... The win was the Wildcats' fifth in a row and was part of a larger seven- of-eight game streak... On Sunday, UNH saw its five-game streak snapped at the hands of first-place Stony Brook... The Seawolves, who have also secured a spot in the tournament, are 9-1 this season... In the loss at Stony Brook, Jessica Compton recorded a team-high 16 kills, hit at a .444 clip and had a team-high three blocks... In addition to Compton, senior Emmy Blouin (St. Albert, Alberta/Paul Kane) notched 14 kills, while Barnas and Kirsten Bates (Calgary, Alberta/Bishop Carroll) had 13 and 11, respectively... Sophomore Kate Uitti (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney) registered a match-high 48 assists... Uitti, the program's second all-time assists leader, recently moved into fifth in the single-season assist club with 1,1,39... She needs 211 assists to capture the top spot away from UNH assistant coach Stacy Barnett (1,350 - 2000)... Other notable stats, Blouin (1,266 kills) is just 15 kills away from moving into third on the all-time kills lists... The Wildcats return home on Sunday, Nov. 11 (1 p.m.) against Albany... The match, which is the regular-season finale, has been targeted as “Senior Day” when the program will honor the accomplishments of its four-player senior class.
Stony Brook (21-7, 9-1) has won nine matches in a row and 17 of 18, while capturing the number one seed at the America East Championship. America East Player of the Week senior Jackie Ahlers (Stony Point, N.Y.) tallied a match-high 27 kills as Stony Brook rallied to a 3-1 victory at Stony Brook Arena on Friday night. Ahlers hit .600 for the Seawolves who won three straight after dropping the opening game. Junior Noelle Bay (Selden, N.Y.) led Stony Brook with a team-high 12 digs. Ahlers totaled a match-high 19 kills and senior Morgan Sweany added 17 as Stony Brook celebrated Senior Day with its ninth straight victory, a 3-1 (30-27, 30-25, 24-30, 30-24) win over New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon. Ahlers hit .441 for the Seawolves who also got a double-double from senior Kaityln Deutsch (44 assists, 10 digs) and a match-high 20 digs from Bay. Bay has now recorded 20 or more digs 10 times this season. The Seawolves totaled 17.5 blocks over the weekend, including 10 apiece from Ahlers and senior Amy Oleksiej. The Seawolves are now hitting .247 on the season while holding their opponents to an attack percentage of .203.