CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- In a relatively quiet week with only nine matches around the league last week, the University of New Hampshire volleyball team made some noise during the final week before America East play begins this Friday. Junior outside hitter Amy Keding (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North), freshman right side hitter Destiny Tolliver (Rochester, Mich./Notre Dame Prep) and senior setter Sara Heldman (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) swept the volleyball player, rookie and setter of the week awards, respectively.
Keding led the Wildcats to a thrilling five-set victory over the Big East's Connecticut on the road Friday night in UNH's only match of the week. The junior registered 21 kills (4.20 kps), 20 digs (4.00 dps), three blocks (0.60 bps) and hit at a .333 clip. In the come-from-behind win, Keding also recorded 11 receptions with a 1.000 receiving percentage. In the decisive fifth set, 15-13, Keding tallied four of the team's eight kills with zero errors on six attempts, along with four digs. With the solid week, she slides into the America East top-ten rankings with 2.71 kills per set for the season.
Tolliver tallied eight kills (1.6 kps), seven digs (1.4 dps) and a career-high seven blocks (1.40 bps) in the Wildcats' winning effort. She also added two aces to her stat line. Of her blocks, which ranked second in the league last week, four were of the solo variety. For the season, Tolliver now ranks sixth in America East for blocks with 0.76 bps in 34 sets.
Heldman anchored the UNH offense in the win with 44 assists (8.80 aps) and a .786 setting percentage. The senior added two aces, 19 digs (3.80 dps) and a block. In the final three sets of the match, all of which the Wildcats won, Heldman averaged 9.33 assists and 3.33 digs per set, while adding both her aces and her block. The senior setter ranks third in America East with 9.15 assists per set this season. This is Heldman's second Setter of the Week award of the season, as she also won week one recognition.
New associate member Providence College will get its first taste of America East play when the Friars host Stony Brook this Friday at 6 p.m. New Hampshire and UMBC will host Hartford and Albany, respectively, at 7 p.m. League play continues on Sunday when the Wildcats host the Seawolves, the Friars welcome the Hawks, and Binghamton travels to face the Retrievers in Baltimore.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (9-5 overall, 0-0 in America East) split home-and-home matches with Yale over the weekend... The Great Danes fell to the Bulldogs, 3-1, in New Haven on Friday, before winning a 3-2 decision in the home opener on Saturday... Sophomore Traci Vandegrift (Mogadore, Ohio/Field) averaged 3.33 kills on .394 hitting to go along with 1.56 digs to lead Albany... She recorded a team-high 17 kills at Yale and recorded 13 kills at home... Junior Casey Wright (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) averaged 2.89 kills and 1.33 blocks per set in the two matches... She recorded 12 kills and six block assists in New Haven before smashing 14 kills and recording six blocks, including five solo, at home... Setters Kaley Jacobson (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) and Abbey Wexel (Virginia Beach, Va./Frank W. Cox) split duties over the weekend... Jacobson finished with a double-double of 43 assists and 16 digs at Yale, while Wexel totaled 39 assists, nine digs and two service aces in Albany... Libero Laurie Gonzalez (Carolina, Puerto Rico/St. Francis School) averaged 5.11 digs per set over the weekend, while also recording five of the Great Danes' 12 service aces in the home match on Saturday... Albany will return to action on Friday, kicking off America East play at UMBC.
Binghamton University (5-9, 0-0 AE) won its sole match of the week with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-22) sweep over the Siena Saints… The Bearcats sealed their fifth win of the season behind a steady hitting performance and a dominant defense… Binghamton out hit Siena .204 to .044 while gaining a 10-6 blocking advantage… Sophomore Alex Roland (Austin, Texas/Austin) led the Bearcats with four block assists and one solo block… Senior hitter Anna Lejina (Riga, Latvia/Riga Secondary/U. of Latvia) tallied 13 kills on a .393 hitting percentage… Junior setter Julie Chambers (Nichols, N.Y./Tioga) dished out 28 assists while chipping in seven digs… Senior captain Michelle McDonough (Orlando Hills, Ill/Andrew) and freshman libero Xiomara Ortiz (South Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) both had a solid match defensively totaling eight and 12 digs, respectively… All 11 Bearcats saw action for head coach Glenn Kiriyama… This is the second straight year the Bearcats swept Siena, giving Binghamton an 8-2 all-time record over the Saints… Binghamton is now 2-0 over Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) opponents this season, as Binghamton also defeated Niagara on Sept. 8… Up next for Binghamton is a trip to Syracuse, N.Y. Wednesday, Sept. 29 to take on the Orange where first serve is set for 7 p.m.
The Hawks volleyball team (5-12, 0-0 AE) dropped a pair of non-conference home matches to close out the non-conference portion of the schedule... The Hawks fell to Bryant on Wednesday in four sets (25-27, 16-25, 25-20, 22-25) before succumbing to Sacred Heart in three sets (16-25, 21-25, 13-25) on Thursday... For the week, the Hawks hitters were led by junior Michelle Cordell (Orlando, Fla./Edgewater) who finished with 18 total kills, including 13 against the Bulldogs, marking the sixth time she has hit double-figure kills... She finished the week hitting .310 with five errors in 42 total attacks... The Hawks will begin conference play in the coming week with a pair of trips in the future... They open the conference season on Friday when they travel to New Hampshire (7 p.m.) before heading to the newest conference opponent on the schedule, Providence, on Sunday at 1 p.m.
UMBC (4-9, 0-0 AE) played one match last week, dropping a five-set heartbreaker at Georgetown, 3-2, Tuesday night… Senior Sabrina Hoeks (Olympia, Wash./AG West Black Hills) tallied her sixth straight double-double with 11 kills and 15 digs… The Retrievers were led by sophomore Ali Loynachan (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada/Sinclair), who hit .323 with 11 kills and only one error… Junior Iman Kennedy (Charlotte, N.C./Independence) tallied seven kills and a game-high four blocks, while freshman Hallie Carter (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) had a game-high 26 digs… For the season, Hoeks leads the team in kills (2.82 kps) and aces (0.61 aps), while Kennedy leads the team in blocks (1.09 bps) and Carter leads the team in digs (3.98 dps)… The Retrievers take on local rival Towson Tuesday night before opening America East play this weekend, when they play host to Albany on Friday at 7 p.m. and Binghamton on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The University of New Hampshire (5-9, 0-0 AE) went 1-0 on the week with a dramatic 3-2 come-from-behind win over UConn... Amy Keding (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) and Lauren Laquerre (Concord, N.H./Concord) registered 21 and 20 kills, respectively, in the win over UConn... Keding added three blocks, while Laquerre tallied five blocks and eight digs... Freshman Destiny Tolliver (Rochester, Mich./Notre Dame Prep) registered eight kills, two aces, seven digs and a career-high seven blocks... Senior setter Sara Heldman (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) dished out 44 assists and added 19 defensive digs... The Wildcats return to action Tuesday, Sept. 28 in the final non-conference match of the regular season against Harvard University... Match time is 7 p.m. at Lundholm Gymnasium in Durham, N.H.
The Providence College volleyball team (7-10, 0-0 AE) picked up a win in its only match of the week at Quinnipiac... The Friars rallied for a four-set win after dropping the opening set... Junior MB Lauren Fletcher (Syracuse, N.Y./Marcellus) led the way with 15 kills, hitting .406 and adding six digs... Junior Shelagh Dolan (Westford, Mass./Westford Acadamey) added 11 kills against Quinnipiac, which is where the middle-blocker played as a freshman... Junior setter Carly Morrison (Larkspur, Calif./Redwood) picked up 35 assists while picking up seven digs and four kills... The Friars return to the court on Tuesday, September 28, when they travel to Hanover, N.H., for a showdown with Dartmouth. They open league play on Friday, October 1, playing host to Stony Brook in their first-ever America East match... The Friars wrap-up play hosting league foe Hartford on Sunday, October 3.
The Seawolves (4-11, 0-0 AE) lost in five sets to Brown in their home opener on Saturday... It was the Seawolves' first home match after playing their first 14 matches away from home... Senior Jeanette Gibbs (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Ward Melville) recorded a match-high 21 digs while junior Alicia Nelson (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) tallied a match-high 19 kills... Nelson has had double-digit kills in five of her last six matches... Stony Brook is now 1-1 in five-set matches... The Seawolves hit .407 in their set three win... Stony Brook held Brown to a .169 hitting percentage... Freshman Hailee Herc (Eden, N.Y./Eden) had 16 digs and has had double-digit digs in five of her last six matches... Stony Brook will host LIU on Tuesday before beginning conference play on Friday at Providence... The Providence match will be the first of three straight road matches for the Seawolves .. Senior Ashley Headen (Alexandria, Va./St. Stephen's & St. Agnes) tallied 17 kills on Saturday, hitting .314... She has now hit over .300 in four of her last six matches.