CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--- Stony Brook University senior Gulce Nazli Dikecligil (Istanbul, Turkey), UMBC freshman Alyssa Lang (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) and University at Albany sophomore Brooke Stanley (Hendersonville, N.C./West Henderson) earned America East volleyball player, rookie and setter of the week, respectively, for the week ending September 28. All three student-athletes are repeat winners this season. View complete weekly release in PDF.
Dikecligil was named the MVP of the Stony Brook Invitational last week, leading the Seawolves to the tournament title and three match winning streak. Her 46 kills (3.83 kps) and .330 hitting percentage led Stony Brook to a 3-1 week. Dikecligil entered the week ranked fifth in the country in aces per set and she increased her season average to 0.70 aces per set with nine aces during the week. She also averaged 2.67 digs per set in the four matches. The senior outside hitter is receiving this aware for the third time this season and for the second consecutive week.
Lang ties teammate Ashley Oscars for the most consecutive rookie of the week awards with five to start the 2008 season. Oscars turned the feat in 2006 and went on to win the top rookie honor that season. Lang led the Retrievers, and the league, last week with 4.0 kills per set in two matches. The rookie also served up five aces for the week. She hit .279 against James Madison on Tuesday with 14 kills against only two errors before hitting another 14 kills in a straight-set victory over Morgan State on Thursday.
Stanley continued her strong play for the Great Danes en route to being named to the all-tournament team at the UAlbany Invitational over the weekend. The sophomore averaged 10.93 assists and 2.86 digs per set and recorded double-doubles in all three matches to bring her streak to four straight. Stanley recorded 47 assists and 13 digs, along with four kills and a .400 hitting percentage in the opening win over Yale on Friday. She then finished with a season-high 58 assists to go along with 16 digs, five kills and two service aces, while hitting .556 for the match in a five-set loss to Long Island. In the tournament finale against Dayton, Stanley recorded 48 assists, 11 digs, three block assists, two kills and one service ace.
America East teams went 9-6 last week against non-conference opponents. All seven squads will begin conference play this week, beginning with three match-ups on Friday night and three more on Sunday afternoon. New Hampshire and Hartford will each play one more non-conference tune-up earlier in the week leading into the weekend.
Team Notebooks:
UAlbany (7-8 overall, 0-0 America East) hosted Yale, Long Island and Dayton at the UAlbany
Invitational at University Gymnasium over the weekend... The Great Danes claimed
the tournament title, defeating Yale, 3-2, and Dayton,
3-1, while dropping a 3-2 decision to Long Island... Senior middle blocker Kamisha Kellam (Forestville, Md./Bishop
McNamara) averaged 3.50 kills and 1.14 blocks per set en route to being named
the tournament MVP... Kellam hit .519 for the weekend, recording just seven
attack errors in 81 attempts... Sophomore setter Brooke Stanley (Hendersonville,
N.C./West Henderson)
averaged 10.93 assists and 2.86 digs per set, while recording double-doubles in
all three matches... She finished with a season-high 58 assists to go along with
16 digs, five kills and two service aces, while hitting .556 for the match
against Long Island... Freshman outside hitter
Kalyn Mostert (Nepean, Ontario/Marivale) averaged 1.27 kills, 2.55
digs and a team-high 1.55 blocks over the weekend... She totaled eight kills and
a career-high 19 digs against Long Island and posted nine blocks, three kills,
six assists and two digs versus Dayton...
Sophomore Amanda Cowdrey (Brampton,
Ontario/Cardinal Leger) averaged
a team-high 3.64 kills over the weekend, while also notching 3.00 digs per set...
Freshman libero Laurie Gonzalez (Carolina,
Puerto Rico/St. Francis School) paced the Great Danes with 5.86 digs per set
and finished with a team-high four service aces, including the match-winning
point against Yale on Friday... UAlbany kicks off America East Conference play
over the weekend, hosting Maine
on Friday at 7 p.m. and New Hampshire on Sunday at 1 p.m.
on Saturday.
Binghamton (5-11, 0-0 America
East) split a pair of games last week, beating
Robert Morris 3-2 but losing to Siena
0-3. Against Robert Morris hitter Michelle
McDonough (Orland Hills, Ill./Andrew)
posted a career-high 20 kills and grabbed 12 digs. Junior blocker Dawn
Lammert (Sussex,
Wis./Arrowhead) knocked down a season-high seven blocks in the match while Ashley
Allen (Mill Creek, Wash./HM
Jackson) totaled six blocks of her own to go along with 13 kills.
Senior libero Jaclyn Strader (Kettering,
Ohio/Julienne Catholic) scooped up a match-high 19 digs for the Bearcats. Sophomore
Lindsey Mueller (West Bend,
Wis./West Bend West) had a solid all-around match, tallying 46 assists, four
kills and eight digs. Against Siena, McDonough came up with 10 kills and six digs and senior hitter Brianna
Strong (Elkhart, Ind./Concord) chipped in with nine kills of her own. Allen had five kills to go along with a match-high five blocks. Mueller dished out a match-high tying 31 assists. With her six
blocks against Robert Morris, Allen now has 250 career blocks and moves into
fifth place on the all-time Division I career list. Binghamton will begin America East play at home on Friday against
Stony Brook at 7 p.m. The match will be the second of a current five-match home
stand. Binghamton will also welcome in Hartford on Sunday.
The Hartford volleyball team (5-11, 0-0 America East) finished its
final regular-season tournament with a 2-1 finish and two players named to the
All-Tournament team, Erin Macro
(Lincoln, RI/Lincoln) and Lindsay Ford (Carson,
NV/Carson), at the Quinnipiac Bobcat Invitational. The Hawks opened the
tournament with a three-set win over Copping State (25-16, 25-8, 25-21) before
dropping the second match on Saturday in three-sets (25-27, 21-25, 23-25) to
NJIT. The Hawks then picked up their first five-set win of the season over
Quinnipiac (25-20, 25-27, 25-20, 24-26, 15-12). Macro led the Hawks throughout
the weekend with 38 kills and a .244 attack percentage (17 errors, 86 total
attacks). She tied her career-high with 19 kills in the weekend finally, a 3-2
win over the host. Ford finished the tournament with 106 assists, including a
new season best with 49 against the Bobcats. Maddison Molyneux (Caledon, Ontario/Mayfield Secondary) also hit
well for Hartford with 37 kills and a .230 attack percentage (17 errors, 87
total attacks). Freshmen Michelle Cordell (Orlando,
FL/Edgewater) and Lindsay Makowicki
(Norwich, CT/Norwich Free Acad.) hit well over the three matches, each
finishing the weekend with 19 kills. The Hawks return home for just the second
time this season on Tuesday night, welcoming in-state rival Central Connecticut
to the Reich Family Pavilion for a 7 p.m. start.
Maine (7-7, 0-0 America East) took down their longtime local opponent Husson
(5-4) in three sets to return to .500... The win gives the Black Bears their best
record since the 2005 season when they reached the America East Tournament
Semifinals... Maine took the first two sets by identical scores of 25-10 before
sealing the match with a 25-6 victory in the third set... The Black Bears
finished with a .479 attack percentage, more than double their conference
leading season average of .226 heading into the match...Paige Tortorello
(Mundelein, Ill.) got her first start of the season and delivered in a big way...
Tortorello had 32 assists, seven served aces, five digs and four kills... Lindsay
Allman (St. Louis, Mo.) led Maine with eight kills, six digs and two served
aces... Amy Lawson (Coeur D’Alene, Idaho) had five kills in seven attempts while
also providing two and a half of the team’s three total blocks... Going back to
their first meeting in 1978, the Black Bears have won all nine matches against
Husson... Maine will kick off conference play this Friday as they travel to New
York to take on Albany (7-8) at 7 p.m.
UMBC (10-6, 0-0 America East) finished the week 1-1
after dropping a four-set loss to James Madison on Tuesday before posting a
straight-set victory over Morgan State on Thursday... Freshman Alyssa Lang
(Richmond, Va./Deep Run) led the Retrievers with 28 kills (4.00 kps) and five
service aces for the week Lang now has 173 kills (3.04 kps) on the season...
Freshman Allie Spaay (Kenosha, Wisc./Kenosha Tremper) directed the UMBC
offense, averaging 10.86 assists per set for the week... Junior Bridget Scheetz
(St. Louis, Mo./Ursuline Academy) hit .378 for the week with 18 kills on 37
swings. Scheetz added six assisted blocks to give her 60 for the season (1.07
bps)... Junior Sarah Ball led UMBC with 25 digs (3.57 dps), while adding 15 kills
for the week... The Retrievers open America East play on Friday when they play
host to New Hampshire at 7 p.m. before hosting Maine on Sunday at 1 p.m.
New
Hampshire (3-12, 0-0 America East) went 0-1 on the week, dropping a
non-conference home match to CAA-foe Northeastern on Tuesday night at
Lundholm Gymnasium...The match scores were 25-15, 25-14, and 25-17... Freshman Lauren
Laquerre (Concord, N.H./Concord) led the Wildcats offensively with six
kills and a block... Pauline Acres (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira
Costa) and Lindsay Fogarty (Pleasanton, Calif./Amador Valley)
each added five kills, while setter Sara Heldman (Greenwood,
Ind./Center Grove) had a match-high 19 assists... UNH returns to action on
Tuesday, Sept. 30 against Harvard. Match time is 7 p.m. at Lundholm Gymnasium...
The Harvard match is the final non-conference contest of the 2008 season... The
Wildcats officially open league play at UMBC on Friday, Oct. 3.
Stony Brook (9-9, 0-0 America East) lost its match-up with
St. John’s early in the week, 3-0, but rebounded over the weekend, sweeping the
Stony Brook Invitational...The Seawolves opened the Invitational with an
impressive 3-0 win over Xavier...Senior Gulce Nazli Dikecligil led the way with
18 kills...Both Dikecligil and sophomore Alicia Nelson registered .500 attack
percentages against the Musketeers...The following day, Stony Brook redeemed a
3-2 loss to Brown earlier in the year by cruising to a 3-0 victory...Dikecligil
recorded a double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs, while junior Lisa Doremus
added ten digs of her own...The Seawolves completed the sweep of the
Invitational with a 3-0 win over St. Francis later in the day. Nelson led Stony
Brook with 15 kills and junior Michelle Burrola had 14 digs. Dikecligil was
named the MVP of the Invitational while freshman Kelsey Sullivan (11.5 assists/set)
and sophomore Ashley Headen (1.33 blocks/set) were both named to the
all-tournament team.