CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- The final weekly awards of the 2010 volleyball season were announced today by the conference office. Binghamton University senior outside hitter Anna Lejina (Riga, Latvia/Riga Secondary), Stony Brook University middle blocker Evann Slaughter (Clinton, Md./Oxon Hill) and University at Albany junior Abbey Wexel (Virginia Beach, Va./Frank W. Cox) won the Player of the Week, Rookie of the Week and Setter of the Week, respectively. All three will compete at the 2010 America East Volleyball Championship beginning Friday, November 19 in Albany, N.Y.
Lejina led the Bearcats to a two-win week and the second seed for the upcoming conference tournament. The senior outside hitter averaged a league-best 4.75 kills per set, as well as 4.88 points per set, 2.12 digs per set and a .317 hitting percentage. Lejina finished with 22 kills and 11 digs in Friday night's 3-1 victory over Stony Brook to go along with .333 hitting. In the regular-season finale, a 3-1 win over Hartford, she tallied 16 kills and six digs with two block assists, one assist and a hitting clip of .294. This is Lejina's second Player of the Week honor this season. She ranks second in the conference with 3.79 kills per set and fourth with .247 hitting.
Slaughter captured her second straight award with a fantastic week. She notched 15 kills against both Binghamton and Albany to finish with 3.75 kills per set, tied for third in the league last week. She also hit for a .453 clip, second in the conference, and had six blocks in two matches. In four sets against the Bearcats, Slaughter finished with 15 kills, three blocks and .393 hitting. She matched her kill and block totals against Albany, but hit even more efficiently at a .520 clip. Slaughter ranks in the America East top-10 for both hitting percentage and blocks.
Wexel quarterbacked the Great Danes to two wins last week and the America East Regular Season Championship. Wexel's passing led Albany to a conference-best team hitting percentage of .269 as she also averaged 11.11 assists and 1.33 digs per set, while serving up an ace. On Friday night against Hartford, she totaled a career-high 56 assists, seven digs, an ace and one kill. In Sunday's win over Stony Brook to clinch the regular-season crown, Wexel passed out 44 assists while adding five digs and a kill. This is Wexel's third Setter of the Week accolade this season.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (20-7 overall record, 10-2 America east) clinched the 2010 America East Regular Season title on Sunday with a four-set win over Stony Brook... The Great Danes also defeated Hartford, 3-2, on Friday... It is Albany's sixth regular season title in the last seven years, and its third straight crown... The Great Danes were led over the weekend by senior outside hitter Teresa Coppiellie (Canton, Mich./Salem), who was honored in a pre-game ceremony on Sunday... Coppiellie averaged 4.11 kills and 3.00 digs per set in two matches. She recorded her 12th double-double of the season on Friday with 19 kills and 18 digs along with three service aces. She added another 18 kills on Sunday to go along with nine digs and a solo block that ended the match... Setter Abbey Wexel (Virginia Beach, Va./Frank W. Cox) averaged 11.11 assists and 1.33 digs per set over the weekend... She totaled a career-high 56 assists in the win over Hartford... Freshman Lindsey McCloskey (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) averaged 1.56 digs per set and was tied for a team-high with three service aces... Libero Laurie Gonzalez (Carolina, Puerto Rico/St. Francis School) continues to lead the Great Danes defensively, averaging 5.00 digs per set over the weekend, including 26 against Hartford... The Great Danes will host the 2010 America East Conference Championship on Friday and Saturday. l Albany vs. Stony Brook Highlights l
Binghamton (14-13, 9-3 AE) won its final two matches of the season over the weekend defeating Stony Brook and Hartford... The Bearcats won both games in four sets securing the second seed in this weekend's America East tournament... Binghamton will face number three seed UMBC who swept the season series against Binghamto... In Binghamton's first match of the week against Stony Brook, senior hitter Anna Lejina (Riga, Latvia/Riga Secondary/U. of Latvia) led the Bearcats with a double-double, recording 22 kills and 11 digs... Fellow classmate Michelle McDonough (Orland Hills, Ill./Andrew) registered a double-double of her own, tallying 11 kills and 10 digs... Sunday was senior day for Binghamton and its veteran-laden squad led it to a victory over Hartford... McDonough, on her way to a 17-kill game, set the school record for all-time kills amassing 1,460 in her stellar career... Junior setter Julie Chambers (Nichols, N.Y./Tioga) had a game-high 39 assists for Binghamton while chipping in eight digs, two block assists, a kill and a service ace... Binghamton out-hit Hartford, .209 to .127, with three Bearcats totaling double-digit kills... Binghamton will look to avenge a pair of losses to UMBC on Friday when the America East tournament begins... The tournament berth is the seventh straight for Binghamton as it aims for its third straight conference championship match.
The University of Hartford volleyball team (8-21, 3-8 AE) concluded the 2010 season with a four-set loss to Binghamton University on Sunday, in the final match of the regular season in the America East Conference. The Hawks close out the season with an 8-21 overall record, including a 3-9 mark in conference play... The Hawks' three conference victories is the most since the 2002 season. Hartford finished sixth out of seven conference teams. The lone senior on the squad, Lindsay Ford (Carson, Nev./Carson) ran the Hawks' offense for the final time wearing the scarlet and white. She finished with 37 assists against the Bearcats, closing out her career with 3,456 assists, third-most in school history... Michelle Cordell (Orlando, Fla./Edgewater) and Kami Nethersole (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) led the Hawks in the final match of the season with 14 and 11 kills, respectively. Nethersole’s 11 kills marks the ninth-straight match she has recorded double-figure kills. She also led the team on the season with 325 kills, while Cordell added 242 kills.
UMBC (11-16, 7-5 AE) concluded the 2010 regular season on a high note, defeating Providence, 3-0, on Sunday… The Retrievers fell to New Hampshire, 3-2, on Friday night… Senior Sabrina Hoeks (Olympia, Wash./AG West Black Hills), who already led the conference in service aces per set, had the best serving weekend of her career, notching 12 in two matches (1.50 aps) and now has 58 (0.59) on the season… The senior also leads the team in kills with 297 (3.03) and is second on the team with 291 digs (2.97 dps)… Junior Iman Kennedy (Charlotte, N.C./Independence) broke the 100-block mark for the season against the Friars, finishing the regular season with 102 total blocks, the eighth-most in a single season at UMBC, and 92 assisted blocks, one shy of third all-time… The Retrievers return to action Friday for the America East semifinals against No. 3 Binghamton in Albany, N.Y. l UMBC vs. Providence Highlights l
New Hampshire (10-17, 5-7 AE) closed out the season with a 3-2 come-from-behind win over UMBC... In that match, Amy Keding (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) posted a double-double with a team high 18 kills and 15 digs... In addition to Keding, Lauren Laquerre (Concord, N.H./Concord) posted a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs... Sara Heldman (Greenwood, Ind./Glenbrook North) also tallied a double-double with 48 assists and 15 digs... Defensively, Jayde Huxtable (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) registered a team-high 24 digs... The Wildcats finished with double-figure wins for the fifth time in the last six seasons... The match was the final one for senior tri-captains Heldman, Huxtable and Justine Elliott (Mitchellville, Md./St. John's College).
The Providence College volleyball team (10-23, 2-10 AE) saw its season come to a close with a defeat at the hands of UMBC... The Friars fell to the Retrievers in straight-sets (9-25, 17-25, 17-25) in the final regular-season match in Baltimore, Md... The Friars were led by junior MB Shelagh Dolan (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy), who notched eight kills... Classmates Carly Morrison (Larkspur, Calif./Redwood) and Lauren Hendel (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y./St. Anthony's) added five and four kills, respectively... The setting duties were shared by freshman Anne Powers (La Selva Beach, Calif./Notre Dame-Salinas) and Morrison... Powers recorded 10 assists while Morrison added eight… Sophomore libero Cassie Muzzonigro (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine Richland) led the defense with eight digs... The Friars will return their leaders in kills, digs and assists in 2011... Junior Lauren Fletcher (Syracuse, N.Y./Marcellus) finished the season with 3.69 kills per set, while Morrison averaged 7.55 assists per set and Muzzonigro led the squad with 3.95 digs per set.
The Seawolves (11-17, 6-6 AE) finished up the regular season with 3-1 road losses to Binghamton and Albany... Senior Ashley Headen (Alexandria, Va.) recorded 15 kills in each of the two matches, averaging 3.75 kills per set... Freshman Evann Slaughter (Clinton, Md.) also recorded 15 kills in each of the two matches... She hit .393 against Binghamton and then hit .520 against Albany... Slaughter recorded double-digit kills and 17.0 points in each of her last three matches... Senior Jeanette Gibbs (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) had18 digs against Binghamton before recording 20 against Albany. She recorded double-digit kills in 10 of her last 11 matches... Junior setter Kelsey Sullivan (Alexandria, Va.) had a season-high 50 assists against Albany.