CAA VOLLEYBALL REPORT - SEPT. 6
*The complete report in PDF format is located at the bottom of this release.*
CAA QUICK HITS:
- Two conference teams - Delaware and Towson - won their respective tournaments last weekend. The Blue Hens won the Delaware Invitational for the third consecutive year, while the Tigers captured the Battle of Baltimore Tournament title. Both squads had a player named tournament MVP.
- Towson has jumped out to a perfect 9-0 record this season after going undefeated (5-0) in its second week of action. This matches the Tigers' best start in school history.
- CAA preseason favorite Delaware moved up to second in the league standings after posting a 4-0 mark last week.
- Delaware head coach Bonnie Kenny earned her 150th win at Delaware last week.
- After compiling a 17-15 record (.531) in the opening week of play, CAA teams combined for a 21-13 mark (.618) last week. The conference's overall mark now stands at 38-28 (.576).
OFFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:Paige Erickson - Delaware
Tulsa, Okla./Jenks, Sr., Middle Hitter
Erickson was named the Delaware Invitational MVP after leading the Blue Hens to a 3-0 record and their third victory in as many years at the tournament. The senior outside hitter recorded 23 kills, 10 total blocks and a stellar .450 hitting percentage in the Hens' three-match tournament stretch. Erickson also added eight digs and two services aces to her tournament resume.
Amanda Halls - Towson
Westervile, Ohio/Olentangy, So., Outside Hitter
Halls was tabbed the Battle of Baltimore Tournament MVP after leading Towson to four straight sweeps in tournament play. The sophomore standout posted 33 kills, 29 digs and eight services aces on .284 hitting to pace the Tigers, adding her second double-double of the year against Loyola on Saturday. Hall and the Tigers now own a CAA-best 9-0 record, matching their best start in program history.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:Jessica LaScola - Northeastern
San Diego, Calif./Long Beach State, Sr., Defensive Specialist/Libero
LaScola tallied an impressive 67 total digs and 6.72 digs per game at the Xavier Tournament last weekend, and her 26 digs against the host Musketeers marked a new career high. The senior DS/libero currently leads the Huskies with 121 digs this season and owns a team-best 5.04 digs-pet-set average.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:Kelly Bacon - Outside Hitter
Temecula, Calif./Temecula Valley, Fr., Outside Hitter
Bacon earned all-tournament accolades at the Xavier Tournament after posting 35 total kills, 3.58 kills per set and a .373 hitting percentage in the Huskies' three matches over the weekend. The freshman outside hitter boasts a team-best .371 hitting percentage and ranks second on the team with 64 kills this season.
CONFERENCE NOTES:
SWEET 16: An impressive 16 CAA volleyball players were selected to all-tournament teams last weekend. Delaware led all league squads with three selections, while George Mason, Northeastern, Towson and William & Mary each received a pair of nods. In addition, after a trio of conference players were tabbed tournament MVPs in the first week of play, Delaware’s Paige Erickson and Towson’s Amanda Halls followed suit in last weekend’s tourney action.
THIS WEEK THE WEST IS BEST: Each of this week’s conference players of the week hails from either the Midwest or West Coast. Co-Offensive Player of the Week and Towson sophomore Amanda Halls hails from Ohio, while Blue Hen senior and fellow honoree Paige Erickson calls the Sooner State home. NU’s Jessica LaScola and Kelly Bacon both come to the Huskies from California.
HENS NOT LOOKING SO BLUE: 2010 CAA preseason favorite Delaware moved up two places - from fourth to second - in the conference standings after the second week of the season. The previously 2-1 Blue Hens blew by the competition in the Delaware Invitational to rack up three wins and a 5-1 overall record, now standing second only to unbeaten Towson in the league standings.
KENNY EARNS 150th WIN: Blue Hens’ head coach Bonnie Kenny earned her 150th win at Delaware on Friday when her squad defeated Sam Houston State, 3-1, on Friday. Now in her 10th year at the helm of the Hens, Kenny has recorded a 151-105 overall record. The 26-year coaching veteran has amassed a career record of 491-357 (.579) and now stands just nine wins shy of the 500-win mark.
YOU’VE BEEN SERVED: Towson’s Katy Buck, Shelynne Hoyt and Stacy Niehoff have each slammed a conference-best 18 service aces in nine matches this season. The Tigers’ 82 total service aces leads the league, with the next-highest total belonging to Georgia State at 49.
THE CHASON IS ON: Delaware senior and 2009 conference Setter of the Year Jess Chason’s 10.95 assists per set lead the league after two weeks of play, a stat just above her final assists-per-set average of 10.20 from a year ago. Chason currently owns 242 of the Hens’ 298 total assists this season. The next best assists-per-set average is owned by Towson sophomore Evan Schulz (9.26), who leads the conference in total assists with 287.
THREE AND OUT: League-leading Towson has only dropped one set in its nine matches this season, its lone dropped set coming against Georgetown in the Tigers’ 3-1 triumph over the Hoyas. Delaware is not far behind, however, as the Hens have only dropped four sets this season, only one of which was suffered this past week when Delaware won, 3-1, against Sam Houston State.
BLOCK PARTY: While Delaware’s Paige Erickson boasts a CAA-high 32 blocks this season, Mason middle blockers Kelsey Bohman and Danielle Cook have combined for 53 of their team’s 58 total blocks in 2010. The Patriot tandem has racked up more blocks than eight of the 10 teams in the conference (W&M is tied with Mason atop the league with 58 total blocks).
ROAD TRIP FOR THE AGES: VCU opens its season with 10 straight road contests, tied with Northeastern for the most of any team in the conference. The Rams play their first home match on Sept. 14 when they host Georgetown. After concluding its 10-match road swing, VCU will have faced six teams ranked in this week’s AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 poll and another in Ohio State that was the leading vote-getter outside of the top 25.
TEAM NOTES:
DELAWARE (5-1 overall, 0-0 in CAA): Preseason CAA favorite Delaware went 4-0 this week after sweeping Villanova on Tuesday and winning each of its three matches in capturing its own Delaware Invitational for the third consecutive year. Head Coach Bonnie Kenny became the second coach in program history to reach 150 victories after the Blue Hens defeated Sam Houston State, 3-1, on Friday. Senior middle hitter Paige Erickson was named the tournament MVP after amassing 23 kills, 12.5 total blocks and a .450 hitting percentage in the Hen's three matches. A pair of Hens in senior Greta Gibboney and junior Kim Stewart joined Erickson as all-tournament honorees.
GEORGE MASON (3-3 overall, 0-0 in CAA): George Mason finished 2-1 at its own Patriot Invitational last week to capture second place at the event. The Patriots won a five-set barnburner over Army on Friday and swept West Virginia in its opening two matches. The team then fell to Charlotte, 3-0, in the championship match. Senior Holly Goode, who collected 3.27 kills per set and 3.27 digs per set, and junior Kelsey Bohman were awarded all-tournament accolades.
GEORGIA STATE (4-2 overall, 0-0 in CAA): After going undefeated in its first week of play, GSU dropped two of its three matches this past week at the Cal State Fullerton Titan Classic. The Panthers fell, 3-1, to Colorado and were swept by the host Titans before blanking Montana, 3-0, to close out the tournament. Junior middle hitter Muki Kangwa earned an all-tournament nod after posting 30 kills and 13 service aces over the weekend.
HOFSTRA (2-4 overall, 0-0 in CAA): After getting off to a winless start, the Pride rebounded with a pair of wins last week. Hofstra posted a sweep of visiting Iona on Wednesday to notch its first win of the season and improve to 9-0 all-time against the Gaels. The team then traveled to the Thunder Invitational Tourney, where it dropped a five-set match to host Marshall and was swept by Cleveland State before rallying for a five-set win over High Point to wrap up the tournament. Rookie outside hitter Nikki Kinnier tallied 31 kills and 27 digs en route to being named to the all-tournament squad.
JAMES MADISON (4-2 overall, 0-0 in CAA): Previously undefeated JMU went 1-2 last week at the Cincinnati Bearcat Invitational. The Dukes were blanked by Murray State and host Cincinnati before picking up a win over Kent State in five sets in their tournament finale. Junior middle blocker Kelly Turner received all-tournament honors after turning in 23 kills and six blocks on the weekend. Senior Lindsay Callahan and sophomore Danielle Erb tallied double-doubles against Kent State, the first time a pair of Dukes had done so in the same game since the same duo did it last Novembmer.
UNC WILMINGTON (2-4 overall, 0-0 in CAA): The Seahawks captured one win in their three attempts as the team hosted the UNCW Couryard by Marriott Tournament last week. UNCW split its opening round matches, falling in three sets to Central Florida and earning a sweep of South Carolina State before being swept by in-state foe UNC Greensboro. Senior outside hitter Kelli Clear was selected to the all-tournament team after collecting 3.00 kills per set on .233 hitting.
NORTHEASTERN (4-2 overall, 0-0 in CAA): The Huskies went 2-1 for the second straight week after netting a pair of wins at the Xavier Tournament. NU was swept by Western Kentucky on Friday before downing host Xavier, 3-1, and blanking IPFW to wrap up tournament action on Saturday. Senior setter Britney Brown notched her first triple-double of 2010 after posting 16 kills, 25 assists and 15 digs against Xavier, and freshman outside hitter Kelly Bacon collected 35 kills on .373 hitting over the weekend. Both Huskies were named all-tournament selections.
TOWSON (9-0 overall, 0-0 in CAA): Unbeaten Towson matched its best start in school history at 9-0 after nabbing a league-best five wins last week. The Tigers opened the week with a four-set victory over Georgetown in its home-opener on Tuesday before rattling off four straight sweeps over the weekend to claim the Battle of Baltimore Tournament crown. Sophomore outside hitter Amanda Halls was named tournament MVP after recording 33 kills, 29 digs and eight services aces. Joining her on the all-tournament squad was senior middle blocker Shelynne Hoyt.
VCU (1-6 overall, 0-0 in CAA): VCU picked up its first win as it went 1-2 last week at the Hampton Inn Classic. The Rams dropped a five-set thriller against Colgate on Friday before rebounding the following morning with a sweep of Seton Hall. The team closed out tournament play with a straight-set loss to top-ranked host Penn State. Libero Marisa Low's 4.18 digs per set over the weekend earned the sophomore standout a place on the all-tournament team.
WILLIAM & MARY (3-3 overall, 0-0 in CAA): The Tribe evened its record to 3-3 on the year after going 2-1 at its own Colonial Challenge last week. W&M won its opening-round match with Campbell, 3-1, on Friday and split its Saturday series, sweeping Hampton before falling, 3-0, to American. Senior middle hitter Ginny Bray and junior outside hitter Lindsay Kresch were tabbed all-tournament selections for their efforts.