Volleyball Hosts Siena On Wednesday Night
9/27/2005 11:02:55 AM | Volleyball
The Syracuse volleyball team, fresh off of a 2-0 BIG EAST weekend, hosts Siena in a non-conference match Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. in Manley Field House. The Orange has never lost to Siena, owning a 15-0 record dating back to 1979.
SU Hosts Siena In Non-Conference Tilt
The Orange hosts the Siena Saints on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 7:00 p.m. in Manley Field House. SU is coming off of its first weekend of BIG EAST play, where it went 2-0 with sweeps of Georgetown and South Florida.
The Series With Siena
Dating back to 1979, the Orange has dominated the series with the Saints, never losing a match. SU owns a 15-0 record all-time against Siena.
Scouting The Saints
The Saints, who enter the match 8-6, are led by Nadiege Honore who averages 3.51 kills. Christie Gustafson leads the team in kills with 170 and has a 3.40 average. Setter April London averaged 9.58 assists per game. Defensively, Kathi Kobayashi digs 3.33 balls per game.
Common Opponents
Siena has shared a few common opponents with the Orange. The Saints lost to Binghamton in five games and Boston College in three, but beat Colgate 3-0. SU defeated Binghamton and BC in four games, while taking out Colagte in three.
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 (Ottawa, Ontario) paces the offense with her 10.91 assists per game. Kelly Duan (Baotou City, China) has compiled 185 kills, a 4.30 per game average. Kristen Conway (Bethlehem, Pa.) is second on the team in kills with 140. Katie Allen (Fenton, Mich.) has been strong on defense, as she is second in blocks with 36 while Kathryn Dercher (Weatherby Lake, Mo.) has played primarily as a defensive specialist. She has dug 82 balls, a 2.00 average.
Last Time Out
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Senior Kristen Conway recorded a season-high 18 kills and a .515 hitting percentage to lead the Syracuse Orange to a 3-0 (30-17, 30-19, 30-20) sweep of South Florida in BIG EAST action this afternoon.
In game one, the Bulls took an early 4-1 lead with the help of kills from Kristina Fabris and Kelsi Andrew-Wasylik. SU came on strong and tied the game 8-8. Behind senior Kathryn Dercher’s serving, the Orange took an 11-8 lead capped by an Aila Dommestrup kill. SU held a steady lead all the way to 18-14, but two Ellen Bruegge kills built the lead to 22-14, and SU went on to win the game 30-17.
In game two, the two teams went back and forth and were tied 10-10. Dommestrup took the ball to serve and rattled off seven-straight points with the help from a pair of Conway kills. She had seven kills in game two. That run proved to be enough and SU went on to win 30-19.
In the third and final game, USF found itself leading 10-7 early. SU was able to tie the game at 11-11, and then 13-13. A Bulls service error gave SU a 14-13 advantage, and the Orange would never look back. Dommestrup served three points to give SU a 25-17 lead, and a kill from Bruegge closed out the match, with SU taking game three, 30-20.
Dommestrup registered 36 assists in the win while sophomore Joscie Kaup had 15 digs. Dercher tied her season-high with 11 digs. Freshman Brittany Kern proved strong in game three, tallying four kills and three block assists.
For the Bulls (1-9, 0-2 BIG EAST), Michelle Stalbaum had a team-high 15 kills while Kristina Fabris recorded 11 kills. Kate Verhoff compiled 30 assists in the losing effort, while Stephanie Augustavo had 10 digs.
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 4.30 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 118 aces, and has moved up four spots already with 23 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 3,471. 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.
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 9.12 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
Sophomore Joscie Kaup (Ft. Recovery, Ohio), 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 3.67 balls per game, which puts her in second place all-time for digs per game in a career.
Duan Named To BIG EAST Honor Roll
Senior Kelly Duan was named to the conference’s honor roll 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.
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.
Allen Has Career Day Against GU
Senior Katie Allen set a pair of career highs in a 3-0 sweep of Georgetown. She had 15 kills and a .583 hitting percentage in the match, both career-bests.
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.
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 with 39 total blocks, including six solo and 33 block assists.
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 82-33 (.713) mark in Manley, including a 20-13 (.606) 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.
Volleyball Picked To Finish Sixth In BIG EAST
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Syracuse University volleyball team was selected to finish sixth in the BIG EAST Conference by the league’s coaches, announced Tuesday. Seniors Kristen Conway and Kelly Duan were both named to the 2005 All-BIG EAST Preseason Team.
The Orange, coming off of a 25-7 season, return five starters and the libero from last year’s squad. Duan, a 2004 AVCA All-American honorable mention selection, led SU in in kills (385) and service aces (40). Conway, an All-BIG EAST Second Team pick, led the Orange in kills per game (3.56) and was second in kills (352).
Louisville (30-3), ranked No. 16 in the nation, was selected to take the BIG EAST crown, with defending conference champion Notre Dame (21-9) picked to finish second. Pittsburgh (21-11), Cincinnati (22-11), and Marquette (22-7) round out the top five.
This season, the BIG EAST Championship format allows for the top eight teams to make the tournament, which is single elimination. The Championship will be held at the Kentucky International Convention Center and is hosted by Louisville. Championship play opens on Nov. 18.
Rank Team Points
1 Louisville (12) 194
2 Notre Dame (3) 185
3 Pittsburgh 165
4 Cincinnati 153
5 Marquette 144
6 Syracuse 138
7 Connecticut 111
8 Georgetown 75
8 West Virginia 75
10 South Florida 72
11 DePaul 68
12 Villanova 64
13 Seton Hall 50
14 St. John’s 43
15 Rutgers 38
