CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- The America East Conference volleyball slate opened with a bang as Stony Brook University's Alicia Nelson (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview), who established personal bests on a career day, and University of New Hampshire's Lauren Laquerre (Concord, N.H./Concord), who led the Wildcats to an America East start reminiscient of their 2003 conference championship season, took home co-Player of the Week awards. Wildcat Destiny Tolliver (Rochester, Minn./Notre Dame Prep) repeated as the America East Rookie of the Week honoree, while University at Albany's Abbey Wexel (Virginia Beach, Va./Frank W. Cox) earned the league's Setter of the Week honor.
Nelson, a swing hitter, hit a league-high 4.25 kills per set last week on .384 hitting. The junior also added 2.00 digs per set, four blocks and four aces. In Friday's match at Providence, Nelson hit 14 kills on .500 hitting, and collected nine digs, two blocks and two aces in a 3-0 sweep. She then followed it up on Sunday with a career-high 21 kills and 10 digs in a loss to UNH. Nelson also recorded two blocks, one ace and .400 hitting against the Wildcats.
Laquerre, an outside hitter, led the Wildcats to their best start in conference play since 2003 with 4.00 kills and 1.85 digs per set to go along with .281 hitting. The junior paced UNH with 18 kills and nine digs in a three-set sweep of Hartford in the league opener on Friday. She also hit .325 and added four service acees. In a 3-1 win over Stony Brook on Sunday, Laquerre hit at a weekend-best .368 clip with 17 kills. Earlier in the week, she posted a 17-kill, 15-dig double-double against Harvard in non-conference action.
Tolliver helped UNH start the conference slate 2-0 last week. The right side hitter did a little of everything in three matches, tallying 1.0 kills per set, 1.23 digs per set, nine blocks, five assists and two aces. Against Hartford, Tolliver posted two kills, nine digs, five blocks, three assists and an ace for an all-around effort. In the win over Stony Brook, she finished with four kills, three digs, two assists, one block and an ace. She recorded a week-high seven kills, along with four digs in a mid-week match against Harvard.
Wexel, a junior setter, quarterbacked Albany to a clean sweep of UMBC in both teams' league opener last week. She finished with a double-double of 33 assists and 12 digs to go along with three kills and a .750 hitting percentage. Wexel led Albany to a conference-best .262 hitting percentage as a team, while the Great Danes held UMBC to a .087 team percentage.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (10-5 overall, 1-0 America East) swept UMBC in the only match of the week to kick off America East Conference play... Junior setter Abbey Wexel (Virginia Beach, Va./Frank W. Cox) quarterbacked the Great Danes to the 3-0 win... Wexel finished with a double-double of 33 assists and 12 digs, while also recording three kills on a .750 hitting percentage... Wexel led Albany to a .262 hitting percentage, while the Great Danes held UMBC to .087 hitting as a team... Senior Teresa Coppiellie (Canton, Mich./Salem) led the Albany offense with 10 kills, and just missed out on a double-double with nine digs... Casey Wright (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) added nine kills on .389 hitting, and recorded three digs, three block assists and two service aces... Sophomore Traci Vandegrift (Mogadore, Ohio/Field) also finished with nine kills to go along with 10 digs... Albany will return to action on Wednesday with a home match against Colgate that will be televised on Time Warner Cable... The Great Danes will then host Providence and New Hampshire in America East Conference action over the weekend.
Binghamton University (5-11, 0-1 AE) lost both its matches of the week, including the conference opener to UMBC... Binghamton fell to Syracuse University in four sets in its final non-conference match of the season (25-23, 14-25, 17-25, 11-25)...The Bearcats jumped out to a one set to none lead but were unable to hold off the Orange as they dropped the final three sets... Senior captain Michelle McDonough (Orlando Hills, Ill./Andrew) led the way for the Bearcats with 14 kills and eight digs... Fellow senior hitter Anna Lejina (Riga, Latvia/Riga Secondary/U. of Latvia) recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs for Binghamton... In its conference opener, Binghamton again jumped out to a quick one-set advantage but could not carry that momentum the rest of the match... The Retrievers handed Binghamton its first conference loss of the season... McDonough and Lejina both registered double-doubles for the Bearcats with 18 kills and 13 digs and 15 kills and 13 digs, respectively...Freshman Xiomara Ortiz (South Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) chalked up a game-high 16 digs for Binghamton... UMBC used a 10-3 blocking advantage to hold off Binghamton's offensive attack... Binghamton continues its conference schedule this week with two home matches. First up is New Hampshire on Friday and then Binghamton returns to action Sunday versus Providence.
The Hartford volleyball team (5-14, 0-2 AE) dropped its first two conference matches of the 2010 season this past week, falling at New Hampshire in the conference opener (14-25, 25-20, 12-25, 23-25) and to Providence (20-25, 20-25, 18-25) on Sunday... For the week, sophomore outside hitter Kami Nethersole (Corltandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) led the team with 18 kills, averaging 2.57 kills per set... She also finished the week as one of six players with double-figure digs, compiling 14... Also among the leading hitters this week were junior Michelle Cordell (Orlando, Fla./Edgewater) with 14 kills, including a team-high nine against New Hampshire, and Lindsay Makowicki (Norwich, Conn.) with 11 kills... Cordell and senior setter Lindsay Ford (Carson, Nev./Carson) led the team defensively with 18 digs each... Ford also led the team in hitting percentage over the week, finishing with seven kills and only one error in 14 total attacks for a .429 hitting percentage... The Hawks will play a single conference match in the coming week when they travel to UMBC for a Sunday afternoon matinee (1 p.m.)
UMBC (5-11, 1-1 AE) went 1-2 last week, defeating Binghamton on Sunday for its first America East victory of the season after falling to Towson and Albany earlier in the week... Junior Iman Kennedy (Charlotte, N.C./Independence) led the Retrievers over the Bearcats, hitting .438 with 17 kills... Three Retrievers, senior Sabrina Hoeks (Olympia, Wash./AG West Black Hills), junior Allie Spaay (Kenosha, Wis./Kenosha Tremper) and freshman Ali Goc (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada/R.S. McLaughlin Collegiate) all recorded double-doubles... Hoeks leads the team this season in kills (2.71 kills per set), while Kennedy leads the Retrievers in blocks (1.04 blocks per set)... The Retrievers have two matches this week, hosting Stony Brook and Hartford on Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., respectively. l UMBC vs. Binghamton Highlights l
The University of New Hampshire (7-10, 2-0 AE) is off to its best start in conference play since the 2003 season, when it won seven of the first eight matches in league play en route to a conference title... New Hampshire has now won three of its last four with the lone loss coming to non-conference foe Harvard, 3-2, on Tuesday night... In the Harvard match, Lauren Laquerre (Concord, N.H./Concord) recorded a match-high 17 kills and added a team-best 15 digs... In addition to Laquerre, Amy Keding (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) and Morgan Thatcher (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) added 12 and 10 kills, respectively... Setter Sara Heldman (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) dished out 44 assists, added 13 digs and four kills... The 'Cats bounced back in a big way with back-to-back conference wins over Hartford (3-1) and Stony Brook (3-1)... Against Hartford, Laquerre recorded a match-high 18 kills and added nine digs... Keding registered a double-double with 16 kills and 13 digs and also added five blocks on the night, while Heldman handed out 40 assists, added six digs, two blocks and five kills... Heldman became just the eighth player in UNH history to register 1,000 assists and after 28 digs on the weekend is just 63 digs shy of becoming the second player in program history with 1,000 digs and assists... Heldman's nine kills, .643 hitting percentage and 38 assists helped the 'Cats to a 3-1 win over Stony Brook on Sunday... The Wildcats look to continue their success in league play when they travel to Binghamton (Friday, 7 p.m.) and Albany (Sunday, 1 p.m.) over the weekend. l Hartford and Stony Brook Highlights l
Providence College (8-12, 1-1 AE) went 1-2 on the week, but did pick up the program’s first-ever win as an America East member with a 3-0 sweep of Hartford on Sunday…The Friars were led in the match by junior MB Lauren Fletcher (Syracuse, N.Y./Marcellus), who picked up 13 kills while hitting at a .310 clip… Classmates Shelagh Dolan (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) and Lauren Hendel (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y./St. Anthony’s) also had solid days, picking up 10 and seven kills, respectively... Another junior, setter Carly Morrison (Larkspur, Calif./Redwood), picked up 31 assists in the three-set match…The Friars dropped their America East debut, falling at home to Stony Brook in three sets…Fletcher again led the way, this time with eight kills, while Hendel added seven… The first match of the week saw Providence fall on the road to Dartmouth in three sets… Senior co-captain Emily Morris (Hermosa Beach, Calif./Marymount) led the way against the Big Green, picking up six kills and 10 digs…Dolan and Hendel each notched five kills against Dartmouth…The Friars return to the court on Tuesday when they host in-state rival Rhode Island at 7 p.m....Providence then hits the road in league play for the first time, traveling to Albany on Friday and Binghamton on Sunday.
The Seawolves (6-12, 1-1 AE) won two of their three matches this week, defeating LIU and Providence before falling to New Hampshire... Stony Brook rallied from a two sets to one deficit in defeating LIU... It was the Seawolves' second-straight five-set match... Stony Brook is now 2-1 in five-set matches this season... The match against LIU was the second of two straight home matches for Stony Brook after playing its first two away from home... Senior Ashley Headen (Alexandria, Va.) had a game-high 19 kills against LIU... Headen has recorded double-digit kills in eight of her last nine matches... She also had hit .300 or over in four straight matches prior to Sunday's match at New Hampshire... Stony Brook then won its conference opener, 3-0, against Providence on Friday... Junior Alicia Nelson (Apple Valley, Minn.) recorded a team-high 14 kills to go along with nine digs. She hit .500 for the match... Nelson then totaled a career-high 21 kills in the four-set loss at New Hampshire on Sunday. She hit .400 for the match and also added 10 digs... It was her fifth double-double of the season.