CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Both University at Albany and University of Hartford brought home tournament titles this past weekend, and their players were rewarded with weekly honors from the conference office. Great Dane junior middle hitter Casey Wright (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) and freshman setter Kaley Jacobson (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) earned player and setter honors, respectively, while Hawk outside hitter Dionna Kirton (Everett, Wash./King's) received the Rookie of the Week award for the week ending September 19.
Wright was named Most Valuable Player of the Lamar Tournament last weekend with averages of 4.60 kills, 1.50 digs, and 1.50 blocks per set along with a .379 hitting percentage in a three-win week. Her hitting percentage, kills per set, blocks per set and points per set (5.55) led all America East players last week. Her best performance of the weekend was in a 3-1 win over McNeese State where she was one dig and two blocks shy of a triple-double. Wright finished that match with a career-high 25 kills, nine digs, eight blocks, including four solo, and .449 hitting.
Wright also smacked double-digit kills in Friday night's 3-0 sweep of Louisiana-Lafayette with 14 on .357 hitting. It was Wright's third appearance on an all-tournament team this season, and first as MVP. This is her second Player of the Week award of the season.
Jacobson continued in her starting quarterbacking role for the Great Danes with a league-leading 11.40 assists per set last week, improving her season average to 9.58 for her freshman campaign. En route to the Lamar Tournament team title, Albany hit a league-best .240 last week thanks to Jacobson's setting. The rookie also finished the week with 1.80 digs per set, three service aces and four blocks, including one solo, in the three matches last week.
Jacobson opened the tournament on Friday night with 34 assists in a 3-0 win over Louisiana-Lafayette. She put up 40 assists in each of Saturday's wins, a 3-1 defeat of McNeese State and a 3-0 victory over the hosts. Jacobson added nine digs, three blocks and an ace in the weekend finale against Lamar.
Kirton had a strong week to help the Hawks capture the team title at the Kristen Dickmann Memorial Tournament. She earned a spot on the all-tournament team and averaged 2.32 kills and 2.37 digs per set for the four-match week which saw Hartford go 3-1.
Kirton opened the week with three straight double-doubles, including a 11-kill, 16-dig effort in the four-set, home-opening win over Central Connecticut on Wednesday. She tallied 13 kills and 10 digs in a 3-2 win over tournament-host Navy, then 12 kills and 12 digs on Saturday against UMES. l Video Interview with Kirton l
Team Notebooks:
Albany (8-4 overall record, 0-0 America East) won all three matches at the Lamar Tournament over the weekend... The Great Danes swept Louisiana-Lafayette and Lamar, while defeating McNeese State, 3-1... Albany was led by tournament MVP Casey Wright (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa), who averaged 4.60 kills, 1.50 blocks and 1.50 digs along with a .379 hitting percentage over the weekend... Wright's best performance of the weekend came in the win over McNeese State, in which she finished with a career-high 25 kills on a .449 hitting percentage, nine digs and eight total blocks, including four solo... Freshman setter Kaley Jacobson (Watertown, Wisc./Watertown) quarterbacked the Great Danes to a .240 team hitting percentage on the weekend, averaging 11.40 assists and 1.80 digs per set... She recorded 40 assists against both McNeese State and Lamar and finished with 34 versus Louisiana-Lafayette... Traci Vandegrift (Mogadore, Ohio/Field) and Laurie Gonzalez (Carolina, Puerto Rico/St. Francis School) were also named to the all-tournament team... Vandegrift averaged 2.30 kills, 2.60 digs and 1.40 blocks per set while Gonzalez finished with 6.20 digs per set along with four service aces... The Great Danes will return to action on Friday and Saturday, visiting Yale at 7 p.m. Friday evening before hosting the Bulldogs in the home opener on Saturday.
Binghamton University (4-9, 0-0 AE) went 0-3 over the weekend at the Georgetown Classic. The Bearcats dropped games to Georgetown, Furman and East Carolina... Senior captain Michelle McDonough (Orlando Hill, Ill./Andrew) led the way for the Bearcats with 20 kills and 20 digs against East Carolina... Anna Lejina (Riga, Latvia/Riga Secondary/U. of Latvia) followed up her solid performance in the Furman match with a 15 kill, 15 dig encore... Julie Chambers (Nichols, N.Y./Tioga) handed out 50 assists while Xiomara Ortiz (South Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) tallied 24 digs... Versus Georgetown, McDouough led the Bearcats, tallying 15 kills and 10 digs... Freshman libero Ortiz picked up 16 digs while junior setter Chambers dished out 25 assists... The Bearcats were outhit .281-to-.155 and outblocked 14-to-2... Ortiz was named to the all-tournament team... Up next for Binghamton is a match-up against Siena, Wednesday Sept. 22 at 7 p.m.
The Hartford volleyball team (5-10, 0-0 AE) closed out its best week of the 2010 season with a 3-1 overall record and the team title at the Kristen Dickmann Memorial Tournament ... After defeating fellow Nutmeg State rival CCSU (3-1) in the 2010 home opener at the Reich Family Pavilion, the Hawks headed to Annapolis, Md. for the three-match tournament hosted by Navy… The Hawks played all three matches at the weekend tournament to five sets, finishing with wins over the host Midshipmen and UMES before falling to Howard in the final match of the weekend … Sophomore outside hitter Kami Nethersole (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) led the Hawks in all four matches over the week, earning tournament MVP honors for her work at the Kristen Dickmann Memorial Tournament… Her highlight of the week came against Navy where she smashed her career-high with 28 kills, becoming the first Hawk to finish with 28 or more kills since the 2002 season… For the week, Nethersole put down 67 total kills and sported a .261 attack percentage… Joining her among the leading hitters was rookie Dionna Kirton (Everett, Wash./King’s) who finished with three-straight double-doubles in the first three matches of the week, while also being named to the all-tournament team at Navy… Also leading the way was Michelle Cordell (Orlando, Fla./Edgewater) who finished with a team-high .609 hitting percentage with 15 kills and only one error in 23 total attacks against Navy… Senior setter Lindsay Ford (Carson, Nev./Carson) ran the Hawks offense and finished the week with 173 assists, including a career-high 62 against the Midshipmen, which helped earn her all-tournament honors for the weekend… The Hawks will play back-to-back home matches in the coming week, welcoming the Bryant Bulldogs on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and Sacred Heart on Thursday, also at 6 p.m.
UMBC (4-8, 0-0 AE) dropped all three matches last week at the Seton Hall Invitational… Senior Sabrina Hoeks (Olympia, Wash./AG West Black Hills) was named to the All-Tournament team after recording three double-doubles and now has a streak of five double-doubles in a row. The senior led the team with 38 kills (3.80 kps) and was second on the team with 34 digs (3.40 dps)… Freshman Hallie Carter (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) led the defense with 51 digs (5.10 dps), including 21 against Western Michigan Saturday… Junior Iman Kennedy (Charlotte, N.C./Independence) continues to lead the Retrievers in blocking with 44 total blocks (1.13 bps), while Hoeks leads the team in service aces with 25 (0.64 aps)… The Retrievers have only one match this week, a match-up at Georgetown Tuesday at 7 p.m.
University of New Hampshire volleyball team (4-9, 0-0 AE) went 1-2 at the third-annual Holly Young Invitational... The Wildcats opened with a 3-2 come-from-behind win over in-state rival Dartmouth... Freshman Destiny Tolliver (Rochester, Mich./Notre Dame Prep) had a career day with 17 kills, three blocks, 12 digs and three service aces to lead three Wildcats in double-figures... In addition to Tolliver, Amy Keding (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) posted a career-high 21 kills and added 18 digs, while Lauren Laquerre (Concord, N.H./Concord) had 14 kills... Senior setter Sara Heldman (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) dished out a career-high 60 assists, marking the first time a Wildcat posted 60-plus helpers since the 2007 season... UNH opened day two with a straight-set loss to Sacred Heart before falling to Rutgers, 3-0... Against Sacred Heart, Keding posted a team-high seven kills and added a pair of blocks... Heldman, who was named to the All-Tournament team, dished out 21 assists... In the nightcap against Rutgers, Laquerre put up a team-high 12 kills and seven digs... Keding added eight kills, four digs and three blocks, while Tolliver added six kills, four blocks and a pair of service aces... Heldman registered 28 assists and six digs, while Jessie Schnepp (East Longmeadow, Mass./East Longmeadow) posted a team-high 14 digs...UNH returns to action Friday, Sept. 24 at UConn... The Wildcats return home Tuesday, Sept. 28 against non-conference foe Harvard.
The Providence College volleyball team (6-10, 0-0 AE) went 2-2 on the week... The Friars dropped a home match to Manhattan College in four sets and their first match in Daytona Beach, Fla., at the Bethune-Cookman Beach Bash to the host Wildcats... Providence rebounded with a sweep of Savannah State and a five-set win in the rematch with Bethune-Cookman... Junior MB Lauren Fletcher (Syracuse, N.Y./Marcellus) led the Friars with 3.67 kills per set on the weekend, while classmate Lauren Hendel (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y./Saint Anthony's) led the squad in hitting with a .379 clip... Fletcher and Hendel both earned spots on the Bethune-Cookman Beach Bash All-Tournament Team... Junior setter Carly Morrison (Larkspur, Calif./Redwood) averaged an impressive 9.00 assists per set on the weekend (135 total), while adding 1.87 digs per set and 8 blocks... Senior co-captain Emily Morris (Hermosa Beach, Calif./Marymount) put together a solid all-around week of 17 kills, with four aces and 43 digs... Sophomore DS Cassie Muzzonigro (Gibsona, Pa./Pine Richland) led the defense with 49 digs...The Friars have one match this week, traveling to Hamden, Conn., to take on Quinnipiac on Wednesday, September 22.
The Seawolves (4-10, 0-0 AE) fell to George Mason and Towson at the Marriott Cavalier Classic over the weekend... SBU then lost to American in a non-conference road contest on Sunday... After playing its first 14 matches away from home, the Seawolves play their home-opener on Saturday against Brown... Stony Brook will then host LIU the next Tuesday before hitting the road for three straight road contests... Freshman Hailee Herc (Eden, N.Y.) recorded a season-high 19 digs against both George Mason and Towson... She averaged 4.18 digs per set for the weekend... Sophomore Greta Strenger (Woodbury, Minn.) registered a game-high 14 kills against George Mason... The Seawolves hit .355 in their set three win over George Mason... Senior Ashley Headen (Alexandria, Va.) led the team with a combined 36 kills in the Seawolves three matches this weekend.