CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Binghamton University's Anna Lejina (Riga, Latvia/Riga Secondary/University of Latvia) captured the season's final America East Volleyball player of the week award for the week ending November 16. UMBC rookie Iman Kennedy (Charlotte, N.C./Independence) and junior Kira Giles (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Glenlawn) earned the rookie and setter of the week after leading the Retrievers to two league wins and a seed in the America East Volleyball Championship.
Sophomore hitter Lejina averaged a conference-high 5.22 kills per set on the week while hitting at a .389 percentage in two conference matches. Against Maine, Lejina posted a career-high 29 kills while hitting at a .411 percentage (29-6-56). The 29 kills ties Binghamton's DI era single-match high and is a conference-high this season. Lejina followed that performance with an 18 kill effort on a .359 hitting percentage while adding four blocks in Binghamton's victory over the Wildcats. This is the second weekly award for this sophomore who ranks second in America East with 3.59 kps.
Kennedy led the Retrievers to two conference wins this past week to launch UMBC into the third spot entering the America East Championship. Kennedy hit an outstanding .643 in conference action, and .390 overall with only three errors on 41 attacks. In the two league matches, the rookie recorded 18 kills (2.57 kps) and 11 total blocks (1.57 bps) against Stony Brook and Hartford. For the week, Kennedy finished fifth in the conference with 1.44 bps.
Giles directed the Retriever offense with 90 assists this past week, including averaging 10.86 assists per set in conference wins over Stony Brook and Hartford. Overall, the junior setter averaged 10.00 assists, 2.0 digs and 1.56 blocks per set. In a win against Stony Brook, which clinched a postseason berth for UMBC, Giles recorded 29 assists, an ace, five digs and five blocks. On Sunday against Hartford, Giles posted 47 assists, nine digs, an ace and five blocks in a four-set win. This is the first weekly award of the season from the conference for Giles.
The 2008 America East Volleyball Championship gets underway this Friday, November 21 at University at Albany's University Gymnaisum. All three of this week's honorees will be on the court on Friday.
Team Notebooks:
Albany
(20-8 overall record, 12-0 America East record) won the final two matches of the 2008 regular season, becoming
just the third team since 1998 to finish the America East Conference season
with an undefeated slate... The Great Danes are in the midst of a 14-match
winning streak, their longest since the 2004 season when they won 18 straight
in the regular season... Senior middle blocker Kamisha Kellam (Forestville,
Md./Bishop McNamara) averaged 4.00 kills and 1.00 blocks per set while hitting
.462 in two matches over the weekend... She was honored as the team’s lone
graduating senior in a ceremony on Sunday and recorded her 1,000th
career kill in the match over Stony Brook... In the victory over the Seawolves,
Kellam had a team-high 17 kills with a .441 hitting percentage, while also
recording four total blocks... In a three-set sweep of Hartford on Friday, Kellam had a team-high 11
kills, hitting .500 for the match with three total blocks... Kellam is now 10th
on UAlbany’s career kills chart with 1,014... Sophomore setter Brooke Stanley (Hendersonville, N.C./West Henderson) averaged 10.14 assists, 2.29 digs
and 1.00 kills per set over the weekend... In the sweep of Hartford, Stanley
recorded 29 assists to go along with seven digs, four kills and one block
assist, while also posting a .571 hitting percentage... Stanley finished with 42 assists, nine digs,
three kills and one service ace in the win over Stony Brook... In the fourth and
deciding set of the match, she served for the first 11 points to lead UAlbany
to a convincing 25-9 win... UAlbany will host the America East Championship for
the fourth time in the past five seasons next weekend.
Binghamton (15-14, 9-3 AE) split a pair of
America East matches last week at on the road home, losing 3-2 to Maine before
defeating New Hampshire 3-1. The Bearcats finish the regular season in third
place for the third time in the past four seasons. Sophomore hitter Anna Lejina
(Riga, Latvia/U. of Latvia)
averaged 5.22 kills per set on the week while hitting at a .389 percentage.
Sophomore Michelle McDonough (Orland Hills, Ill./Andrew)
also had a solid week by averaging 3.22 kills, 3.00 digs and 1.22 blocks per
set. In the team's win over New Hampshire McDonough recorded 12 kills, 11 digs
and 10 blocks. This was the first triple-double for a Bearcat since 2006 when
Ashley Meffert achieved the task. After completing their regular season
schedule, Lejina leads the team with 3.59 kills per set while McDonough trails
closely behind with a 3.53 average. Junior middle Dawn Lammert (Sussex, Wis./Arrowhead)
leads the team with 1.10 blocks per set and sophomore Mercedes Montford (Gilbert, Ariz./Highland) is second on the team with 0.87
blocks per set. Senior libero Jaclyn Strader (Kettering, Ohio/Julienne)
leads the team in digs with 3.21 per set. Binghamton
will travel to Albany
for its fifth consecutive America East tournament and will take on UMBC in the
semifinals on Friday at 4 p.m. The Bearcats defeated the Retrievers twice this
season, winning each game in four sets.
The Hartford volleyball team (6-25, 0-12
AE) dropped its final two matches of the season, in three sets at Albany and
four sets at UMBC ... For the weekend, the Hawks were led by Erin Macro (Lincoln, RI) who finished with 16 kills, one of four
players to record double digit kills over the team matches ... Joining her was Hallie Fullagar (Mesa, AZ) with 14, and
Maddison Molyneux (Caledon, Ontario)
and Lindsay Makowicki (Norwich, CT)
each added 13 ... Lindsay Ford
(Carson, NV), the Hawks starting setter not only led the team in assists (54
total) but she also led the hawks hitters with a .235 attack percentage (six
kills, two errors, 17 attempts) ... Following her in the hitting column was
Makowicki with a .219 attack percentage on 13 kills, six errors in 32 total
attempts ... Defensively the Hawks were led by Sarah Boss (Fremont, NH) with 26 total digs, including a
career-high 22 in the season finale at UMBC ... For the season Macro led the team
with 314 kills and Ford finished with 882 assists.
Maine (14-12, 7-5 AE) entered the final weekend of
regular-season play with the chance to improve their standing before taking
part in the America East tournament... The Black Bears hosted second place
Binghamton in a potential playoff preview if UMBC were to lose that weekend...
Maine downed the Bearcats in five sets (26-24, 29-27, 15-25, 24-26, 15-12) to
finish with its second most wins since the 2004 season... Lindsay Allman (St.
Louis, Mo.) had a team-high 20 kills and 11 digs... Laura Goettsch (Woodstock,
Ontario) added 13 kills and a team-high 22 digs... Jessica Wolfenden (Ottawa,
Ontario) coordinated the Black Bear attack with 50 assists and 12 digs... Margaret
Page (Winnetka, Ill.) brought the defense with a match-high seven total blocks
and 14 kills... Defensive specialist Ashlee Wright (Muncie, Ind.) dug 17 balls...
Brittany Kiehl (Virginia Beach, Va.) had 12 kills and four block assists... The
match also served as an opportunity to honor Maine’s seven seniors who played
their final home matches in the Memorial Gym... The Black Bears will graduate
Wright, Wolfenden, Kiehl, Page, Goettsch, Allman and Amy Lawson (Coeur D’Alene,
Idaho)... Maine finishes the season in fourth place in America East and will face
tournament host Albany in the first round on Friday, Nov. 21.
UMBC (18-12, 7-5
AE) finished the regular season with two conference wins over Stony
Brook and Hartford after falling to Delaware, 3-0 on Tuesday... Junior Ashley
Oscars (Bakersfield, Calif./Liberty) became the seventh Retriever in school
history to reach the 1,000 kill milestone Friday night against the Seawolves...
Freshman Iman Kennedy (Charlotte, N.C./Independence) led the Retrievers,
hitting an outstanding .643 in conference action with 18 kills (2.57 kps)
without an error. The freshman was also second on the team with 11 total blocks
(1.57 bps) in conference action... Sophomore Bridget Scheetz (St. Louis,
Mo./Ursuline Academy) led the team in hitting for the week, leading the team in
hitting percentage at .500 and tied for the lead with 23 kills (2.56 kps) in
three matches. The sophomore also added seven assisted blocks for the week,
giving her 106 for the season, the second-most in school history... Freshman
Alyssa Lang (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) earned her 10th double-double of the
season in the win over the Hawks with 13 kills and 13 digs... The third-seeded
Retrievers return to post-season play after missing out last season, facing off
with the second seed, Binghamton, on Friday at 4 p.m. in the America East
Tournament semi-final in Albany, N.Y.
New
Hampshire (7-21, 4-8 AE) closed out the regular season with a 3-1 lose to
Binghamton... The set scores were 25-12, 21-25, 25-15,
25-22... Kirsten Bates (Calgary, Alberta/Bishop Carroll) recorded a
team-high 13 kills and six digs... Lindsay Fogarty (Pleasanton,
Calif./Amador Valley) tallied nine kills and a team-high .238 hitting
percentage for the Wildcats. Kate Uitti (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney) finished
with 34 assists and 10 digs... Lucia Bridova (Bratislava, Slovakia/Gym a
Stredni Frydek-Mistek), the lone senior on the UNH roster, had a match-high 14
digs -- as well as one kill -- as the libero... Bates had 345 kills and was one
of five Wildcats with over 100 kills... With 2,653 assists, Utti finished her
junior year second on the all-time assists list behind Associate Head Coach
Stacy Barnett (3,977)... Alyse Lahti's (Pepper Pike, Ohio/Orange) 1,334 digs
ranks second all time just 64 behind the all-time leader Jen Williams
(2001-04).
Stony Brook (12-18, 3-9 AE) lost its final two matches of the 2008 season. UMBC beat the Seawolves 3-0 (25-23, 25-10, 25-19) on
Friday night and Albany
took the win 3-1 (23-25, 27-25, 25-20, 25-9) on Sunday. Sophomore Alicia Nelson
(Apple Valley, Minn.) led Stony Brook with a 4.00 kills/set
average and a .327 attack percentage. Defensively, junior Michelle Burrola (Glendale, Ariz.)
average 3.29 digs/set while junior Lindsey Gordon (N. Patchogue, N.Y.) had a
team-high five blocks.