CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- A pair of Great Danes and a Retriever are the recipients of the week seven America East volleyball awards. Albany senior Teresa Coppiellie (Canton, Mich./Salem) is a second-time Player of the Week, while teammate setter Abbey Wexel (Virginia Beach, Va./Frank W. Cox) takes home the Setter of the Week award for the second straight week. UMBC's outside hitter Ali Goc (Ontario, Canada/R.S. McLaughlin Collegiate) receives the league's Rookie of the Week honor also for her second time this season.
Coppiellie registered three straight double-doubles last week to lead the Great Danes to a 3-0 week, including two wins in conference action. Coppiellie averaged 4.18 kills and 4.27 digs per set last week to go along with two solo blocks and two block assists. In America East action, she hit .308. The senior outside hitter saved her best effort for last in Sunday's 3-1 victory over UNH, recording 21 kills and 15 digs. On Friday evening's sweep over Providence, Coppiellie finished with 15 kills and 13 digs. In a televised mid-week match-up with Colgate, a 3-1 win, she completed her first double-double of the week with 10 kills and 19 digs.
Goc led the Retrievers last week in their 1-1 week. The rookie finished fourth in America East last week with 4.17 kills per set, fourth in hitting with .358 efficiency, and tenth with 3.17 digs per set in two America East matches. Against Stony Brook on Friday night, Goc recorded 10 kills and six digs. Goc rounded out her week with a strong performance against Hartford where she registered 15 kills, 13 digs and hit at a .480 clip. Goc also won week two's award for the top rookie.
Wexel earned a double-double in two of last week's three matches en route to averages of 11.0 assists and 2.64 digs per set. She also added three block assists and three aces to her weekly totals, while the Great Danes hit .269 as a team. Wexel began the week against Colgate with a career-high 50 assists, while also adding 12 digs. In the next match against Providence Friday night, Wexel racked up 31 assists and two aces, while in Sunday's finale against UNH, she completed her second double-double with 40 assists and 14 digs. She also chipped in two kills in the 3-1 win over the Wildcats. This is Wexel's second consecutive setting honor from the conference office.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (13-5 overall record, 3-0 America East) won all three matches last week, with four-set victories over Colgate and New Hampshire to go along with a sweep of Providence... Senior outside hitter Teresa Coppiellie (Canton, Mich./Salem) led the Great Danes, averaging 4.18 kills and 4.27 digs per set... Her best performance of the week came against New Hampshire, where she finished with a match-high 21 kills to go along with 15 digs, completing her third double-double of the week... Junior setter Abbey Wexel (Virginia Beach, Va./Frank W. Cox) quarterbacked the team to the three victories, averaging 11.00 assists to go along with 2.64 digs per set... Wexel recorded a career-high 50 assists in addition to 12 digs for one of her two double-doubles on the week against Colgate... Sophomore middle blocker Traci Vandegrift (Mogadore, Ohio/Field) averaged 3.82 kills, 2.36 digs and 0.91 blocks per set on the week... Vandegrift recorded a double-double of 10 kills and 13 digs against New Hampshire... She totaled 18 kills and five blocks in the win over Colgate... Libero Laurie Gonzalez (Carolina, Puerto Rico/St. Francis School) averaged 5.64 digs per set, including a week-high of 26 in the win over New Hampshire... Albany will continue America East Conference play over the weekend, visiting Stony Brook on Friday and Hartford on Sunday. l Colgate Highlights l
Binghamton University (7-11, 2-1 AE) won both of its conference matches this week...After dropping its conference opener to UMBC, Binghamton was able to improve its conference record to 2-1 following a victorious weekend... Binghamton won 3-1 (25-15, 23-25, 25-18, 26-24) over New Hampshire last Friday and defeated conference newcomer Providence Sunday by the same result (25-23, 25-11, 12-25, 25-23)... The Bearcats were led by senior captain Michelle McDonough (Orlando Hills, Ill./Andrews) who produced quality performances over the weekend... Against New Hampshire McDonough put away 14 kills while picking up eight digs, and versus Providence she terminated a game-high 22 kills as she chipped in seven digs... Junior setter Julie Chambers (Nichols, N.Y./Tioga) dished out 30-plus assists in both games, totaling 32 against New Hampshire and 37 versus Providence... Senior Anna Lejina (Riga, Latvia/Riga Secondary/U. of Latvia) joined the Bearcat attack with 14 kills, four service aces and six digs against New Hampshire... She also put down double-digit kills versus Providence, totaling 10 for the match... Binghamton returns to action Friday, October 15 as it travels to Hartford, Conn. to take on the Hawks. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
The University of Hartford volleyball team (5-15, 0-3 AE) dropped its only match of the week in three sets (13-25, 15-25, 21-25) at UMBC on Sunday afternoon... The Hawks were led by freshman Dionna Kirton (Everett, Wash./King’s), who finished with eight kills, while hitting .174 for the match (four errors, 23 total attacks)... Among the leading hitters in the match were Michelle Cordell (Orlando, Fla./Edgewater) and Lindsay Ford (Carson, Nev./Carson), who each finished with five kills. Ford led all Hawks hitters in the match with a .833 hitting percentage, without hitting an error in six total attacks. She also led the team with 22 assists... Also hitting well for Hartford was Lindsay Anderson (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake), who smacked four kills and had just one error in nine total attacks for a .333 attack percentage... As a team, Hartford hit .100 for the match with 29 kills and 19 total errors, while taking a combined 100 total attacks... Defensively, the Hawks were led by their starting libero, Danielle Etta (Cold Spring, N.Y./Haldane), who finished with 11 digs... The Hartford volleyball team will return home for the first time in October, playing its next two matches in the friendly confines of the Reich Family Pavilion. The Hawks welcome Binghamton to West Hartford on Friday for a 6 p.m. match, while Albany will come to town on Sunday for a 1 p.m. match.
UMBC (6-12, 2-2 America East) split a pair of America East matches over the weekend, defeating Hartford, 3-0, Sunday after dropping a 3-0 decision to Stony Brook Friday… In the win over the Hawks, the Retrievers hit .387 as a team… Freshman Ali Goc (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada/R.S. McLaughlin Collegiate) led the team, hitting .480 with 15 kills and 13 digs, while senior Sabrina Hoeks (Olympia, Wash./AG West Black Hills) also recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 14 digs… Sophomore Ali Loynachan (Whitby, Ontario, Canada/Sinclair) hit a team-high .529 with 10 kills and only one error… Hoeks continues to lead the America East Conference with 0.61 service aces per set after serving six this weekend. She also leads the team with 2.80 kills per set… Junior Iman Kennedy (Charlotte, N.C./Independence) leads the Retrievers with 1.00 blocks per set, while freshman Hallie Carter (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) continues to lead the team with 3.72 digs per set… The Retrievers return to action this weekend for a pair of conference road games, travelling to New Hampshire on Saturday and Providence on Sunday. l UMBC vs. Hartford Highlights l
The University of New Hampshire volleyball team (7-12, 2-2 AE) dropped a pair of America East road matches at Binghamton and Albany over the weekend... At Binghamton, Sara Heldman (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) quarterbacked the UNH offense with six kills, a .500 hitting percentage and 27 assists while also contributing a team-high 12 digs defensively... The Wildcats were defeated 3-1 at West Gym... The set scores were 25-15, 23-25, 25-18, 26-24... Lauren Laquerre (Concord, N.H./Concord) recorded a team-high 10 kills for the Wildcats... Amy Keding (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook Norh) was next with nine kills... Destiny Tolliver (Rochester, Mich./Notre Dame Prep), the two-time America East Rookie of the Week, contributed six kills and three blocks... Justine Elliott (Mitchellville, Md./St. John's) tallied a team-high four blocks... At Albany, Tolliver posted a team-high 15 kills and hit at a .364 clip in a 3-1 loss at Albany on Sunday... Set scores were 24-26, 25-16, 28-26 and 25-20... In addition to Tolliver, Keding posted a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs... Heldman added six kills, 13 digs and a team-high 39 assists... Defensively, Jayde Huxtable (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) tallied 14 digs, while middle blocker Elliott recorded seven blocks... UNH returns to action Oct. 16 (2 p.m.) vs. UMBC. It is the Dig Pink: Breast Cancer Awareness fundraiser in which fans are encouraged to wear pink.
The Providence College volleyball team (9-14, 1-3 AE) went 1-2 on the week, picking up a home victory over intrastate rival Rhode Island on Tuesday, before falling on the road to Albany and Binghamton in league play...Junior MB Lauren Fletcher (Syracuse, N.Y./Marcellus) led the way against URI, picking up 21 kills while hitting at a .463 clip... Junior setter Carly Morrison (Larkspur, Calif./Redwood) recorded a double-double against Rhode Island, with 43 assists and 11 digs... The setter also picked up six kills, five service aces and four blocks against the Rams... Fletcher led the way in the losses to Albany and Binghamton. She recorded 10 blocks against the Great Danes, while picking up 12 against the Bearcats... Also strong on the week was freshman setter Anne Powers (La Selva Beach, Calif./Notre Dame Salinas), who showed her versatility by picking up 18 digs in the win over URI, before matching her season-high with seven kills in the loss to Binghamton... The Friars return to the court Wednesday, October 13, when they host Central Connecticut State, before playing one league match this weekend when they play host to UMBC on Sunday, October 17.
The Seawolves (7-12, 2-1 AE) won their only match of the week, defeating host UMBC, 3-0 ... It was the Seawolves' third win in their last four matches... SBU hit a season-high .346 for the match including .556 in the opening set... Junior Alicia Nelson (Apple Valley, Minn.) totaled a game-high 18 kills on a .333 hitting percentage... Nelson has double-figure kills in nine of her last 10 matches... Senior Jeanette Gibbs (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) led Stony Brook with 11 digs... Freshman Hailee Herc (Eden, N.Y.) just missed on a double-double, recording nine kills and nine digs... Sophomore setter Corinne Perry (Northport, N.Y.) tallied 32 assists to go along with seven digs... Stony Brook will now play six of its next seven matches at home.