Volleyball On The Road For Three Matches
10/20/2005 9:18:25 AM | Volleyball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Orange, currently on a season-long four match win streak, head to the road to play three matches this weekend. On Friday, SU faces Central Connecticut State at 6:00 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday, the Orange takes on BIG EAST opponents Connecticut and St. John's, respectively. Both of those matches are set for 2:00 p.m.
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EADS TO ROAD FOR THREE MATCHES THIS WEEKENDSyracuse, which has had fi ve days off from match play, will get back on the court when it
faces Central Connecticut, Connecticut, and St. John’s this weekend. SU is coming off of
a 3-1 victory against BIG EAST newcomer Marquette last Saturday.
THE SERIES WITH CENTRAL CONNECTICUT
The Orange has rattled off seven-consecutive wins after the Blue Devils won the first-ever
meeting in 1981. The last match up came in 2003, with SU winning 3-1. Seniors Kristen
Conway notched a career-high 25 kills in that match, and senior Aila Dommestrup dished
out 52 assists.
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COUTING THE BLUE DEVILSCCSU has dominated its opponents in a number of areas, including kills per game (16.83-12.81), hitting percentage (.251-.140), assists per game (15.19-11.71), service aces per game (2.23-1.19), and digs per game (18.25-14.96). The Blue Devils are getting outblocked 107-73. Jacqui Jackson leads the attack with 3.98 kills per game. Brynn Good regiseters 12.46 assists per game,
while Katie Seamon digs 4.60 balls per game. CCSU is perfect at home this season at 6-0.
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HE SERIES WITH CONNECTICUTDating back to 1980, SU owens a 24-12 records against the Huskies. The teams have split
the last two matches, with the Orange winning the match up last season, 3-0.
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COUTING THE HUSKIESUConn enters the match losing its three of its last four. Megan Crawley leads the attack at the net with 3.33 kills per game, and she also leads the team in blocking at 0.88 per game. Jenny Neelands has totaled 800 assists this season, a 12.31 average, while Julie Pickard digs 4.00 attacks per game.
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HE SERIES WITH ST. JOHN’SSince 1994, the two teams have played each other evenly, with SU taking a slight advantage in the all-time series, 6-5, with a 3-2 win last season in Syracuse.
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COUTING THE RED STORMSt. John’s enters Sunday’ s contest with a 5-1 home mark. The Red Storm have outplayed its opponents in every facet of the game so far this season. Shameka Mitchell (3.66), Hui Ping Huang (3.18), and LaToya Blunt (3.15) all average over three kills per game. SJU goes with two setters, as Casie Brooks averages 7.28 assists while Lisa Tedder averages 7.60. Kathleen Yee digs 4.11 balls per game while Anicia Wood averages 1.07 blocks per game.
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ENIOR LEADERSHIPSU returned five players from last year’s squad that won 25 matches, the most wins for an SU volleyball team since 1996. Aila Dommestrup (Ottawa, Ontario) paces the offense with her 11.53 assists per game. Kelly Duan (Baotou City, China) has compiled 323 kills, a 4.25 per game average. Kristen Conway (Bethlehem, Pa.) is second on the team in kills with 236. Katie Allen (Fenton, Mich.) has been strong on defense, as she leads the team in blocks with 83 while Kathryn Dercher (Weatherby Lake, Mo.) has played primarily as a defensive specialist. She has dug 157 balls, a 2.18 average.
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AST TIME OUTMILWAUKEE, Wisc. – Senior Aila Dommestrup distributed 64 assists as the Orange defeated BIG EAST newcomer Marquette, 3-1 (30-27, 30-24, 29-31, 30-21), this afternoon in Milwaukee. This is the second match in a row that Dommestrup has dished out 60 or more assists, and it is just three off of her career best.
Dommestrup helped lead the SU attack to a .325 hitting percentage. Senior Kelly Duan hit a season-high .559 while recording 21 kills and seven total blocks. Sophomore Cheryl Cobbina added 14 kills, while senior Kristen Conway and sophomore Jen Malcom each contributed with 12 kills. Senior Katie Allen posted 11 total blocks for the second time this season, including 10 block assists.
Midway through the first game, the two teams were even at 13-13, but a Cobbina kill gave SU a 14-13 edge. The Orange never lost that lead. Marquette stayed close and tied it up once at 20-20, but SU began to slip away after a Golden Eagle attack error, and consecutive Orange kills put SU up 26-21. The Orange took the game, 30-27.
In game two, the teams were deadlocked 12-12 half way through the game. SU went on a 7-2 run, capped by a Malcom kill to take a 19-14 lead, which it would keep the rest of the way to win, 30-24.
The two teams played evenly again in game three, trading points up to 16-16. Malcom and Duan combined for a block and then Duan added a solo block on the following play to give the Orange a two-point lead. The Golden Eagles hung around and tied the game, 26-26, thanks to a four-point run. At 28-28, Theresa Coughlin put down a kill to give Marquette game point. Conway came right back with a kill of her own to tie the game, but Coughlin came through again and put away two balls to give the Golden Eagles a 31-29 game three win.
In the final game, Marquette was up 10-6 early, but SU used an 8-4 run, capped by a Conway and Allen block to take a 14-13 lead. The teams were tied 17-17, but a service ace from Duan and another Cobbina kill gave SU a 19-17 advantage. The Orange added two more points when Dommestrup and Malcom combined for a block followed by a Dommestrup kill. Malcom added one more point to the run, and SU would even build on the 22-17 lead to win the game, 30-21.
For the Golden Eagles (10-9, 3-4 BIG EAST), Coughlin had a match-high 29 kills on 58 swings. Jamie Mueller added 15 kills of her own and 12 digs. Caitie O’Brien dug 17 balls while Katie Weidner registered 50 assists.
SU (16-7, 5-2 BIG EAST) outblocked Marquette, 18.0-8.5, in the match. The Orange has outblocked its opponents in 14 of its 23 matches this season and is 11-3 in those matches.
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UAN CLIMBING UP CHARTSKelly Duan has been chasing several records at SU. Currently, she is in the top-10 in career kills and career attacks, and her 4.25 kills per game this season is second in a single season in history. Duan has also made a splash in the service aces department. She began the season eighth overall with 118 aces, and has moved up to third with 41 service aces this season. Duan was named to the Kent State Invitational All-Tournament Team earlier in the season. In 2004, Duan was named to the All-BIG EAST First Team and was an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American, the first in program history.
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ONWAY SWINGING AT HISTORYKristen Conway is currently fourth all-time in attacks at SU with 3,760. In 2004, she set a new high in a single season for attacks per game with 10.08. Her 1,115 attacks was the third-highest total in a single season. Conway is also currently fourth in career kills. She was an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection in 2004.
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OMMESTRUP ASSISTING OWN CAUSEAila Dommestrup, another senior, is moving her way up the assists chart in 2005. This season, she became just the fourth player in SU history to eclipse the 3,000 assists mark. She currently stands in fourth place all-time. Also, her 9.40 assists per game average in her career is second only to Norreen Carroll (1998-01). Dommestrup was a All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention last season.
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AUP DIGGING HER WAY TO THE TOPSophomore Joscie Kaup (Ft. Recovery,Ohio), in just two seasons, has already staked a claim as one of the best defensive specialists SU has ever seen. In her freshman year, she posted 457 digs, fourth-best in a single season. This year, she is digging an average of 3.82 balls per game, which puts her in first place all-time for digs per game in a career.
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OMMESTRUP TALLIES 60+ ASSISTS TWO TIMES IN A ROWFor two matches in a row, senior Aila Dommestrup dished out 60 or more assists. In the five-game win against Cornell, she registered 62 assists. In the next match against Marquette, a four-game win, Dommestrup totaled 64 assists, which tied the school record for a four-game match. It was the first time Dommestrup recorded back-to-back 60+ assist matches. She entered the season with just two 60+ assists matches, both in her sophomore season.
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OUR STARTERS ALMOST TOP CAREER HIGHS - DUAN DOESIn SU’s five-game win against Cornell, four Orange players almost tabbed new career bests. Senior Aila Dommestrup dished out 62 assists, fi ve short of her career high. Senior Kathryn Dercher notched 16 digs, two off of her career high. Sophomore Joscie Kaup dug 28 balls, one short of her best in Orange. Sophomore Jen Malcom tallied 11 block assists to match her career high from a season ago. Senior Kelly Duan added a new career best with her nine block assists.
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OBBINA MATCHES CAREER BEST AT WEST VIRGINIASophomore Cheryl Cobbina (Scarborough, Ontario) tied her career best with 15 kills while leading the Orange to a 3-0 sweep of the Mountaineers. She also notched 15 kills against Boston College in 2004.
DUAN EARNS SECOND HONOR IN AS MANY WEEKS
Last week, Senior Kelly Duan earned her second-consecutive BIG EAST honor, as she was named to the Honor Roll again. In the five-game loss to Siena, Duan registered 17 kills and 10 digs for her third double-double of the season. She was also the only player in that game for SU in double-digit kills. Against No. 10 Notre Dame, Duan again had 14 kills. Finally, in the 3-1 win against DePaul, she put together 19 kills and six block assists. For the week, Duan averaged 4.17 kills and 1.25 blocks per game. Duan was also named to the conference’s honor roll for the week of Sept. 26 for her performances last week against Colgate, Georgetown, and South Florida. Against, Georgetown, Duan had match-highs in kills (16) and digs (19). For the week, she averaged 4.12 kills and 4.25 digs per game. She also had five service aces and two block assists.
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LLEN IS BIG IN CONFERENCESenior Katie Allen set two more career-highs in the 3-1 win against DePaul. She had 11 block assists and a .647 hitting percentage, which topped her old career best (.583) which she set earlier in the year. She also set a new career-high in kills with 15 against Georgetown. Currently, Allen ranks second in the conference in hitting percentage (.365), and first in conference games (.540).
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ERN SETS CAREER HIGHS AGAINST SIENAFreshman Brittany Kern (Indianapolis, Ind.) set three new career highs in the 3-2 loss against Siena on Sept. 28. Her eight kills tied her career high, while her two solo blocks and five block assists set new highs.
CONWAY SETS SEASON-HIGH VS. SOUTH FLORIDA
Senior Kristen Conway paced the Orange to a 3-0 sweep of the Bulls on Sept. 25. In the match, Conway compiled 18 kills, her season best, on 33 swings. She only had one error, good enough for a .515 hitting percentage.
DOMMESTRUP NAMED SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Senior Aila Dommestrup was honored as the SU Scholar-Athlete of the Week for the week of Sept. 19. She has been named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll four times and has been a BIG EAST Academic All-Star twice.
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UIGLEY SETS CAREER-HIGHRedshirt freshman April Quigley (Warwick, N.Y.) had her first-career start against Delaware State in the HIlton Albuquerque Volleyball Classic. She made the most of it, totaling 31 assists in a 3-0 sweep of the Hornets.
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ENUE CHANGEThe Orange volleyball team will now call Manley Field House its home court. However, two matches will be played in the Women’s Building this year (Oct. 28 vs. Rutgers and Oct. 30 vs. Villanova).
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MPRESSIVE AT MANLEYThe Orange has enjoyed great success when playing in Manley Field House. All-time, SU has an 85-35 (.708) mark in Manley, including a 23-14 (.621) record in BIG EAST matches held at Manley. SU won 13-consecutive matches in Manley from 1994-1996, and had an overall record of 24-2 between 1994-1997.
