CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- University at Albany's Casey Wright (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa), Kaley Jacobson (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) and University of New Hampshire's Sara Heldman (Greenwood, Ind./Greenwood) are the first recipients of the 2010 player, rookie and setter of the week awards handed out by the conference office. The award winners all led their respective teams to a 2-1 record to begin the volleyball campaign.
Through the first weekend of the season, Wright, a middle hitter, ranks first in America East in hitting percentage (.456), kills (4.30 kps), blocks (1.60 bps) and points (5.85 pps). In last weekend's matches, the junior also registered four service aces and was named to the all-tournament team at Clemson's Big Orange Bash where Albany went 2-1. Wright began the season with a career-high 21 kills against Tennessee Tech on .514 hitting with six blocks. The next day against Jacksonville, she followed up with 13 kills on .600 hitting and six more blocks. In a loss to Clemson to wrap up the tourney, Wright earned nine kills and four blocks. Seven of Wright's 16 blocks last week were of the solo variety. This is Wright's first career weekly award from the conference office.
Jacobson, a freshman setter, saw action in all three matches during Albany's opening weekend at Clemson's Big Orange Bash. She averaged 8.89 assists, good for third in the conference, and 1.78 digs per set last week, while also recording three service aces and four block assists. Jacobson totaled 24 assists, three digs and two block assists in her rookie debut against Tennessee Tech, and followed up with a 30-assist, five-dig performance against Jacksonville. The freshman wrapped up the weekend with 26 assists, eight digs and one service ace against the host Clemson Tigers.
After earning co-Defensive Specialist of the Year honors in 2009, Heldman has moved her stellar play to the offensive side of the court. In a 2-1 weekend for the Wildcats, Heldman averaged 11 assists and 2.4 digs per set. In her season debut, a 3-1 win over St. John's, she recorded 49 assists, nine digs, a block and an ace. Later that night against Army, she handed out 26 assists in a three-set match along with eight digs and two blocks. In the weekend finale, a 3-0 win over Fairleigh Dickinson, Heldman recorded 35 assists, seven digs and an ace.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (2-1 overall, 0-0 AE) defeated Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville before falling to Clemson over the opening weekend of the 2010 season... Junior middle hitter Casey Wright (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) led the Great Danes, averaging 4.30 kills and 1.60 blocks over the weekend. Wright totaled a career-high 21 kills in the season-opening win over Tennessee Tech and was named to the All-Tournament Team for her efforts... Junior libero Laurie Gonzalez (Carolina, Puerto Rico/St. Francis School) joined Wright on the All-Tournament team after averaging 5.70 digs per set over the weekend... Gonzalez had double-digit dig totals in all three matches, including a weekend-high 24 in the finale against Clemson. She also recorded 19 in the opener versus Tennessee Tech and 14 against Jacksonville... Freshman Kaley Jacobson (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) averaged 8.89 assists and 1.78 digs in her collegiate debut weekend. Jacobson also recorded three service aces and four total blocks for the Great Danes... Senior Teresa Coppiellie (Canton, Mich./Salem) averaged 2.80 kills and 2.90 digs per set in the three matches, while also adding two service aces and six total blocks. Coppiellie had a weekend-best 13 kills in the opener versus Tennessee Tech and recorded 11 digs in the finale against Clemson... The Great Danes will return to action next weekend at the Campus USA Credit Union Invite, hosted by Florida.
Binghamton (0-3, 0-0 AE) opened their season at the Rocket Volleyball Classic in Toledo, Ohio this past weekend... The Bearcats competed against #12 Michigan (2-1), Toledo (3-0), and Loyola (MD.) (1-2)... Michelle McDonough (Orlando Hills, Ill./Andrew) earned all-tournament honors... She averaged 3.56 kps and 3.00 dps...Toledo won the tournament with a 3-2 win over Michigan... The Bearcats finished last with a 0-3 record... All three matches ended in straight sets for Binghamton... This weekend the Bearcats will play in the Sacred Heart Invitational in Fairfield, Connecticut...Jacksonville (1-2), Dartmouth (0-0), and Scared Heart (0-3) will compete in the tournament.
The Hartford volleyball team (0-3, 0-0 AE) opened the 2010 season with three losses at the La Salle Invitational, falling to Niagara (12-25, 20-25, 17-25) on Friday and Valparaiso (19-25, 16-25, 20-25) and La Salle (9-25, 25-19, 20-25, 22-25) on Saturday... The Hawks were led over the weekend by sophomore outside hitter Kami Nethersole (Cortland Manor, N.Y.) who led the offense through all three matches and was named to the La Salle Invitational All-Tournament team for her performance... She finished with a season high of 13 kills in the opening match against Niagara, finishing that match with a .417 attack percentage with just three errors in 24 total attacks... Freshman Dionna Kirton (Everett, Wash.) set her career mark at seven kills in the loss to Valparaiso, to finish second on the team with 12 kills on the weekend... The Hawks will play one mid-week tune-up at Marist on Tuesday at 7 p.m. before heading to Storrs, Conn. for the UConn Toyota Classic, where they will join Southern Illinois and Brown for a three-match weekend.
This year’s UMBC team (0-0. 0-0 AE) will feature a great amount of youth, with nine freshmen on the roster... The squad’s veteran is senior outside hitter and defensive specialist Sabrina Hoeks (Olympia, Wash./AG West Black Hills), a 2007 all-rookie selection who led the league in service aces (0.43 saps) last season... The Retrievers, who topped all teams but Albany in blocks, were led in that category by junior Iman Kennedy (Charlotte, N.C./Independence) who tallied a team-high 77 total blocks... The Retrievers open the 2010 season with the Battle of Baltimore at the RAC Arena on Friday, Sept. 3 at noon against Coppin State followed by a matchup with Loyola at 6 p.m.
The UNH volleyball team (2-1, 0-0 AE) opened the season with a 3-1 win over Big East foe St. John's... UNH lost to Army in the night cap, 3-0, before rallying for a 3-0 win of its own over Fairleigh Dickinson University on Saturday... On Friday against St. John's, the 'Cats dropped the first set 25-17 before rattling off three sets by scores of 25-22, 29-27 and 25-19... The 'Cats were led by Lauren Laquerre (Concord, N.H./Concord), who had 20 kills and hit at a .235 clip... Taylor Dressing (Gillette, N.J./Watchung Hills) and Amy Keding (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) each added 12 kills... The pair combined for seven blocks as Dressing recorded four and Keding three... Against Army, Laquerre posted a team-high 13 kills, while Keding added seven kills and three blocks... In a straight-set win over Fairleigh Dickinson, Laquerre and Justine Elliott (Mitchellville, Md./St. John's) each registered 10 kills... In addition to Elliott and Laquerre, Keding added seven kills, while Dressing and Morgan Thatcher (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) each added six kills. Sara Heldman (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) paced the New Hampshire offensive attack with 35 assists, while defensively Jayde Huxtable (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) had a match-high 21 digs... UNH returns to action when it travels to the Harvard Invitation Sept. 3-4. The Wildcats open with Boston College on Friday, Sept. 3 at 5:30 p.m.
The Providence College volleyball team (0-4, 0-0 AE) got off to a rough start, dropping all four matches it played at the Spartan Classic, hosted by Norfolk State University... The highlight of the weekend was the play of junior middle-blocker Lauren Fletcher (Syracuse, N.Y.), who earned a spot on the all-tournament team by racking up 61 kills on the weekend, good for a 4.07 kill per set average. Her best performance came against host Norfolk State, when she notched 11 kills and nine service aces, including four during a stretch of nine-straight serves that helped the Friars open up a 22-14 lead in the third set, which they would go on to win 25-20... Setting up the Fletcher-led attack was sophomore Cassie Muzzonigro (Gibsonia, Pa.). After recording the highest assist total for a Providence freshman since 2006, the setter notched 93 assists on the weekend, good for an average of 6.20 per set... The squad also got strong play from freshman Anne Powers (La Selva Beach, Calif.) during her debut weekend. The versatile rookie saw action all over the floor, notching nine kills, 29 assists and 21 digs. The Friars open up their home schedule on Wednesday, Sept. 1 when they play host to Holy Cross before heading on the road to Lewisburg, Pa., for a tournament hosted by Bucknell University Sept. 3-4.
The Seawolves (0-3, 0-0 AE) dropped three matches this weekend at the 2010 Golden Gopher Invite... SBU fell to Marquette, 3-0, in its season opener before losing, 3-0, to No. 6 Minnesota on Day 2 of the Invite... The Seawolves won the opening set of their match against Denver before the Pioneers rallied to win the final three sets... The Seawolves held Denver to a hitting percentage of .185... SBU hit .281 in the opening set win against Denver... Junior Alicia Nelson (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) had a career-high 20 kills against Denver including six in the opening set win... She also added 10 digs for her first career double-double... Nelson led SBU in kills in each of its three matches... The Seawolves travel to take on Big East foe St. John's on Tuesday before traveling to New Haven this weekend to particpate in the Yale Invitational.