2008 Volleyball Weekly Recaps
November 24, 2008
Orange volleyball closed out the 2008 season on Friday, Nov. 21 after making its second-straight BIG EAST Championship appearance and seventh under head coach Jing Pu. Syracuse faced a tough Louisville squad in Pittsburgh's Fitzgerald Field House, going 0-3 against the Cardinals.
Junior Sarah Morton led the Orange with 10 kills, followed closely by freshman Noemie Lefebvre and junior Kacie MacTavish who had nine and eight kills, respectively. Senior April Quigley recorded 31 assists. On defense, Lefebvre registered 15 digs to lead the team and sophomore Mindy Stanislovaitis had three block assists.
At the BIG EAST Volleyball Banquet, Morton was named to the All-BIG EAST first team and MacTavish earned second-team honors. The Orange was also honored for its 25-3 second-set victory at Siena earlier this season. It was the largest margin of victory by a team in the conference in 2008.
November 17, 2008
Syracuse (17-14, 8-6 BE) secured a spot in the BIG EAST Championship for the second-straight year after posting wins against Pittsburgh (3-1) and West Virginia (3-0) this past weekend. The Orange are the No. 6 seed and will face Louisville on Friday, Nov. 21 at 3:30 p.m. at Pittsburgh.
Against Pittsburgh on Friday, Nov. 14, the Orange was led by junior Kacie MacTavish who tallied a team-high 16 kills. Senior April Quigley set the pace for the SU offense registering 50 assists. The win put the team in contention for a possible spot in the championship.
With the victory against West Virginia, the Orange officially secured its spot. Junior Sarah Morton led SU with 13 kills and 10 total blocks. Seniors Marissa Kanemura, Emily Kaier, Jacki Kliment, Brittany Kern and Quigley were honored prior to the match.
November 10 , 2008
Syracuse (15-14, 6-6 BE) lost both of its matches this past weekend when it traveled to Seton Hall (3-0) and Villanova (3-0).
Against Seton Hall, SU was led by junior Sarah Morton, who had 11 kills and 10 total blocks. Freshman Noemie Lefebvre tallied six kills and senior April Quigley had 22 assists. Three Orange women recorded double-digit digs. Senior Marissa Kanemura had 12, while Lefebvre and junior Kacie MacTavish had 11 and 10, respectively.
Sophomore Hayley Todd had eight kills against Villanova. Lefebvre was second on the team with seven. Quigley added another 22 assists to her career total and also registered three total blocks. Morton was the blocking leader with four total.
The Orange out-blocked both of its opponents, 20-9.
November 3, 2008
The Orange women's volleyball team (15-12, 6-4 BE) split two BIG EAST matches this past weekend. After suffering a 3-2 setback at Notre Dame on Saturday, the team rallied for a 3-2 victory at DePaul on Sunday.
Junior Sarah Morton led the Orange with 37 kills for the weekend. She had a career-high (also a season-high and match-high) 25 kills at Notre Dame and only two attack errors. At DePaul she was also a leader on defense recording 10 total blocks.
Senior April Quigley was the primary setter for the Orange in both matches with 74 total assists. Freshman Hallie Morse was able to step in for a set against DePaul and recorded six assists.
The Orange have moved into seventh place in the BIG EAST standings after this weekend. The team will spend the week preparing for another BIG EAST road trip to Seton Hall and Villanova the weekend of Nov. 8.
October 27, 2008
Syracuse volleyball has a little less than a week to recover from last week's three matches and begin preparation for its two BIG EAST conference matches coming up this weekend. The Orange finished the week 1-2 after earning a 3-0 win at Siena and playing the tough travel party of Cincinnati and Louisville.
The Orange avenged its early season loss to Siena when it swept the Saints, 3-0, last Tuesday. Syracuse set a scoring record in the BIG EAST for largest margin of victory when it won the second set, 25-3. Junior Kacie MacTavish led the team in kills with 12, while junior Sarah Morton was team-leader in attack percentage with a .600.
SU played Cincinnati in its Women's Building opener in a five set battle. Standouts for the Orange were senior April Quigley who posted a season-high 50 assists, senior Marissa Kanemura who recorded a career-high 32 digs and freshman Noemie Lefebvre who registered a team-leading 15 kills.
On Sunday, the Orange faced a tough Louisville team, but suffered a 3-1 setback to the Cardinals. Lefebvre led the team with 17 kills and had her sixth double-double of the season after contributing 10 digs. Juniors Kacie MacTavish and Shanetha McLaurin and Kanemura each had 11 digs.
October 20, 2008
The Syracuse University volleyball team (13-9, 5-1 BE) had another successful week after posting wins against non-conference opponent Niagara at home and BIG EAST foe Marquette on the road. With the victory against Marquette, the Orange extended its road winning streak with eight-straight games.
In the 3-0 sweep of the Niagara Purple Eagles, juniors Kacie MacTavish and Sarah Morton led the Orange with a11 kills apiece. Every player on the SU roster made an appearance in the matchup. Senior April Quigley shared the setting duties with freshman Hallie Morse. Quigley had 21 assists and Morse recorded 11.
The Orange earned a 3-2 win against Marquette on Saturday afternoon. Freshman Noemie Lefebvre led the attack for Syracuse with 15 kills. MacTavish and Morton tallied 13 and 10, respectively. Quigley paced the Orange offense with 41 assists and led the defense contributing seven total blocks. Morton followed suit with six, while senior Brittany Kern and MacTavish each registered five.
October 13, 2008
The Orange volleyball team went 2-0 this past weekend after facing BIG EAST foes Georgetown and South Florida on the road.
Junior Kacie MacTavish led the Orange in kills in both matches, posting 13 against the Hoyas and 17 against the Bulls. She also tallied double-digit digs in both matches, 10 at Georgetown and 15 at USF. Junior Sarah Morton added 10 kills in each match for the Orange. Senior setter April Quigley recorded 34 and 39 assists against Georgetown and USF, respectively. She also had a career day in block assists, recording eight against the Bulls.
The Orange are now 11-9 overall and 4-1 in the BIG EAST.
October 7, 2008
In it's first full weekend of BIG EAST action, the Orange volleyball team went 1-1 against two tough opponents. In front of a big home crowd Friday night, Syracuse posted a 3-1 victory against Connecticut to continue its winning streak to five. The Orange went up 2-0 after the first two sets, but the Huskies managed to grab the third forcing a forth set. Syracuse rallied for the victory with a fourth set win to keep the streak alive. Freshman Noemie Lefebvre led the Orange with 15 kills and was third on the team with 11 digs.
On Sunday, the Orange welcomed the Red Storm of St. John's to Manley Field House for a 2 p.m. matchup. The first set was a close 26-24 win for the Red Storm, but it wasn't until the third set the Orange grabbed a win, with a 25-20 victory. However, the Orange couldn't manage a full comeback, and lost to the Red Storm, 3-1.
Junior Sarah Morton led the Orange with 17 kills and five total blocks. For the weekend, Morton tallied 30 kills, and 12 total block, six of which were solo.
September 29, 2008
Orange volleyball is on a four-game win streak after posting wins against Cornell and Rutgers this past week. On Wednesday, Syracuse traveled to nearby Ithaca, N.Y. to take on the Big Red of Cornell. Junior Kacie MacTavish, sophomore Hayley Todd and freshman Erin Little each tallied eights kills in the 3-0 victory. Little contributed seven block assists, while junior Sarah Morton and Todd added six block assists apiece.
In the BIG EAST opener for the Orange, the team traveled to Piscataway, N.J. to take on the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers. In the 3-0 win, Morton registered 11 kills, senior April Quigley posted 37 assists and Todd recorded four block assists.
The ability to limit errors contributed to both of SU's wins. Against Cornell, the Big Red tallied 45 kills to SU's 38, but the Orange only had eight errors, while Cornell tallied 25. The Orange again limited its errors against Rutgers, only registering five on 112 attacks. The Scarlet Knights, however, totaled 19 errors.
September 22, 2008
Syracuse swept the Colgate Invitational after coming out victorious against both Princeton and host Colgate. Up first for the Orange were the Princeton Tigers. In the 3-0 Syracuse victory, junior Sarah Morton led the Orange with 14 kills and was second on the team with a .524 attack percentage. Sophomore Hayley Todd recorded 10 kills, but led the team with a .571 attack percentage. On defense, freshman Noemie Lefebvre registered a team-high 14 digs.
Syracuse also came out victorious against the Raiders of Colgate. Despite losing the third set, the Orange rallied in set four to win the match, 3-1. Todd had a career match against Colgate. Todd not only recorded a career-high in kills with 11, but she also set career records in attacks (24) and block assists (8). Morton again led the Orange in kills with 12, while junior Kacie MacTavish tallied eight total blocks for the Orange defense.
September 15, 2008
In less than a week, the Orange volleyball team played in six matches. Up first was Binghamton in the home opener on September 9. Junior Sarah Morton and freshman Hallie Morse led the Orange offense with 19 kills and 27 assists in SU's come-from-behind 3-2 win against the Bearcats.
On Friday, the Orange played in the second match of its Big Orange Tournament facing the Northeastern Huskies. Despite losing the first set, the Orange fought back for a 3-1 victory against the Huskies. Senior April Quigley posted a season-high 34 assists in the win.
On Saturday, SU faced Siena at noon and Ohio at 7:30 p.m. Both teams proved to be a challenge for the Orange. Senior Marissa Kanemura led the Orange defense with 10 digs in the 3-0 setback to the Saints, while Morton and junior Annabelle Pellerin posted six kills apiece. In the 3-1 setback to the Ohio Bobcats, Morton and freshman Noemie Lefebvre led the team will 11 kills each and junior Kacie MacTavish added 10.
The Orange concluded the Big Orange Tournament on Sunday facing the Black Knights of Army. Despite the Black Knights walking away with a 3-0 victory, Morton grabbed all-tournament honors after posting eight kills and three solo blocks. Morse also contributed offensively with 22 assists.
The Akron Zips, who were recently added to the Syracuse schedule due Akron having to cancel a trip south due to weather, played the Orange Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. Morse and MacTavish led the Orange offensively with 32 assists and 16 kills, respectively, in the 3-1 loss to the Zips. Freshman Erin Little was second on the team with nine digs and freshman Ashley Williams recorded 10 digs.
September 8, 2008
Junior Sarah Morton led the Orange offense this weekend at the Delaware Invitational where there Orange finished 1-2. On her way to garnering all-tournament accolades, Morton tallied 29 kills and nine total blocks. Senior April Quigley also made her mark on the weekend tallying 75 assists to move into fifth place on the career assists list with 2,731.
The Orange faced three tough teams in Delaware, Michigan State and New Hampshire. Despite suffering two setbacks against Michigan State and Delaware, two 2007 NCAA Tournament teams, everything came together for the Orange against New Hampshire and the team posted a 3-0 win against the Wildcats.
August 31, 2008
The Orange volleyball team opened its season going 1-2 in No. 19 Clemson's Big Orange Bash. Senior Marissa Kanemura set a career-high with nine digs against Clemson on Friday night. She almost doubled that total against Florida International in the Saturday morning match tallying 17 digs.
Against the Clemson Tigers, junior Sarah Morton led the Orange with eight kills and senior April Quigley handled the offense posting 17 assists. In the 10 a.m. match against the FIU Golden Panthers, freshman Hallie Morse took over the offensive duties for two set and had 17 assists. Junior captain Kacie MacTavish made her season-debut and and posted eight kills.
The Orange posted its first win of the 2008 campaign with a 3-0 defeat of the Charleston Southern Buccaneers. Freshman Noemie Lefebvre garnered all-tournament honors. She posted a team-high 13 kills against CSU and weekend total of 23.
August 25, 2008
Veteran head coach Jing Pu and his 2008 volleyball team open the fall season Friday night at 7 p.m. against Clemson in the Clemson University Big Orange Bash. Following Friday's match, the Orange will continue the tournament on Saturday facing Florida International at 10 a.m. and Charleston Southern at 4 p.m.
The Orange finished the 2007 season with an overall record of 21-13, going 8-6 in the BIG EAST. Pu led the squad to its sixth BIG EAST Tournament appearance.
Pu welcomes back 12 letterwinners and four starters from 2007. Leading the Orange are seniors Brittany Kern and April Quigley, junior captain Kacie MacTavish and junior Sarah Morton.
This will be the second meeting between Syracuse and Clemson, who last played each other in 1990 with Syracuse coming out with the win.
Clemson, the reigning ACC Volleyball Champion, was selected to repeat as champion in 2008. The Tigers closed out 2007 with an overall record of 29-4 (21-1 ACC) and are currently ranked 19th in the Preseason AVCA Rankings.
