Volleyball Hosts Georgetown In BIG EAST And Home Opener On Friday Night
9/22/2005 11:35:25 AM | Volleyball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Syracuse Orange opens its BIG EAST schedule as it hosts Georgetown on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in Manley Field House. The match is also the first at home for SU, which is coming off of a 3-0 sweep at Colgate on Tuesday. The Orange has taken the last two meetings between the two teams, including a 3-0 victory last season.
SU Takes On GU/USF In BIG EAST Opening Weekend
The Orange comes home for the first time this season when it hosts a pair of BIG EAST matches this weekend in Manley Field House. On Friday, Sept. 23, SU faces Georgetown at 7:00 p.m. Then on Sunday, Sept. 25, South Florida makes its first trip to Syracuse at noon.
The Series With Georgetown
The two teams have split their 32 matches all-time, but SU has won the last two meetings, including a 3-0 victory in the nation’s capital a year ago. In that match, Kelly Duan recorded 17 kills and nine digs. Aila Dommestrup registered 33 assists while Jen Malcom added nine kills and five total blocks.
Scouting The Hoyas
The 4-8 Hoyas have put up good individual numbers this season. Rachel Nelson and Jenny Weed are putting down 3.49 and 3.24 kills per game, respectively. GU utilizes two setters, as Caitlin Boland records 10.00 assists per game while Kate Fisher adds 9.64. Defensively, Katie Nulty digs 3.33 balls per game, while Nelson and Jessica Buffum average 2.91 and 2.70 diigs, respectively.
Senior Leadership
SU returned five players from last year’s squad that won 25 matches, the most wins for an SU volleyball team since 1996. Aila Dommestrup paces the offense with her 10.63 assists per game. Kelly Duan has compiled 161 kills, a 4.35 per game average. Kristen Conway is second on the team in kills with 112. Katie Allen has been strong on defense, as she is second in blocks with 30 while Kathryn Dercher has played primarily as a defensive specialist. She has dug 68 balls, a 1.94 average.
Orange Ranks In The BIG EAST
Duan currently ranks second in the conference in service aces (0.59) and sixth in kills (4.35) while Dommestrup is 10th in the BIG EAST in assists (10.63). As a team, SU is third in service aces (1.98), fourth in kills (15.56) and blocks (2.50), and fifth in hitting percentage (.230).
Last Time Out
HAMILTON, N.Y. – Syracuse redshirt freshman April Quigley totaled 22 assists as the Orange (8-4) defeated Colgate, 3-0 (30-22, 30-17, 30-19). Sophomore Ellen Bruegge added 10 kills while the defense held the Raiders to a 0.16 hitting percentage.
Sophomore Joscie Kaup posted a season-high 18 digs in the sweep. Senior Kelly Duan tallied nine kills and four service aces while freshman Brittany Kern recorded eight kills.
For Colgate, Katrina Zawojski had ten kills while Sheila Giovannini added eight. Allie Nichols dished out 20 assists in the loss.
The Raiders (1-12) registered just 28 kills in the three games while recording 26 attack errors.
Duan Climbing Up Charts
Kelly Duan has been chasing several records at SU. Currently, she is in the top-10 in career kills and career attacks, and her 4.35 kills per game this season would be the best in a single season in history. Duan has also made a splash in the service aces department. She began the season eighth overall with 188 aces, and has moved up four spots already with 22 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.
Conway Swinging At History
Kristen Conway is currently fourth all-time in attacks at SU with 3,412. 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 fifth in career kills. She was an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection in 2004.
Dommestrup Assisting Own Cause
Aila 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 9.10 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.
Kaup Digging Her Way To The Top
Joscie Kaup, in just two seasons, has already staked a claim has 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 3.42 balls per game, which puts her in second place all-time for digs per game in a career.
Quigley Sets Career-High
Redshirt 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.
Malcom In The Middle
Sophomore Jen Malcom (Schaller, Iowa) has been a force at middle blocker. She leads the team in blocking at 0.97 per game with a total of 34 blocks. Malcom has 29 block assists, also a team-best.
On the offensive side, Malcom is sporting the best hitting percentage on the team. She has 67 kills and 21 errors on 151 attacks, which equates to a .305 hitting cliip.
Venue Change
The 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).
SU Impressive At Manley
The Orange has enjoyed great success when playing in Manley Field House. All-time, SU has an 80-33 mark in Manley, including an 18-13 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.
SU In BIG EAST Openers
SU has gone 11-12 in BIG EAST openers since the conference began sponsoring volleyball in 1982. The last time the Orange opened up the conference slate against Georgetown in Manley Field House was in 2003, when SU won 3-1 (30-26, 30-32, 31-29, 30-27).
