CAA VOLLEYBALL WEEKLY REPORT - SEPT. 2
**Complete PDF of this report located at the bottom of this page**
CAA VOLLEYBALL: The 2008 CAA volleyball season kicked out this past weekend with all 10 schools partaking in tournaments. Towson and William & Mary started out strong going undefeated, 4-0 and 3-0, respectively. Hofstra, Notheastern, UNC Wilmington and VCU all went 2-1 to start the season.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Erin Skipper ? William & Mary
Yorktown, Va./Tabb, So., Outside Hitter
William & Mary sophomore outside hitter Erin Skipper received CAA Player of the Week honors after helping the Tribe to a 3-0 start to the 2008 season. The sophomore led the Tribe with a .304 attack percentage and 49 kills (4.45 kills/set) in 11 sets. The outside hitter also recorded a team second-best 36 digs (3.27 digs/set) for W&M. Skipper finished the weekend with two double-doubles. She posted 20 kills, 17 digs against UMBC and 14 kills, 12 digs in the victory over Eastern Michigan. The sophomore topped the team with seven total blocks in three matches.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Torrie Brown ? Georgia State
Diamond Bar, Calif./Diamond Bar, Fr., Hitter
Georgia State freshman Torrie Brown earned CAA Rookie of the Week after leading the Panthers in three matches at the Georgia Bulldog Invitational. The rookie led the team with 29 kills in her first matches as a collegiate athlete. Brown scored 12 kills in her first match against Furman, while hitting at a .368 clip. She also had a season-high five digs against in-town rival Georgia Tech on Sunday. The Diamond Bar, Calif., native, is averaging 3.22 kills per set thus far this season.
CAA PRESEASON VOLLEYBALL PICKS: Defending CAA volleyball champion Delaware has been picked to win the title once again in 2008 based on the votes from the league’s 10 volleyball head coaches. The Blue Hens received 78 points, including seven first-place votes, earning them the top spot in the preseason poll. Second place went to Northeastern with three first-place votes and 62 points. William & Mary placed third with 59 points, while James Madison finished fourth, followed by VCU, Hofstra, George Mason, Georgia State, Towson and UNC Wilmington.
CAA PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE PICKS: Stephanie Berry, junior libero from Delaware, was selected the CAA Preseason Player of the Year. Joining her on the preseason All-CAA team were teammate senior outside hitter Kelly Gibson, George Mason junior outside hitter Rebecca Walter, Hofstra senior outside hitter Lauren Engle, James Madison senior setter Lauren Miles, Northeastern senior outside hitter Lauren DeTurk and William and Mary senior setter Kim Mount.
MVP STACKED: In the first weekend of play, four CAA members collected Most Valuable Player accolades. CAA Player of the Week Erin Skipper, a sophomore at William & Mary, received MVP honors at the Tribe Invitational after capturing a pair of double-doubles, hitting .304 and averaging 3.27 dig per set. Towson’s Alysha Fanning earned top honors at the Quinnipiac Invitational after hitting .267 and recording nearly two blocks per match, while Harmonie Calinda was named the MVP of the Hofstra/Asics Invitational after posting three double-doubles helping HU to a 2-1 mark. VCU’s Ariel Newman collected the MVP award after hitting .254 and averaging 2.89 digs per set at the VCU/Third Degree Sportswear Invitational.
DELAWARE (0-3, 0-0 CAA)
Delaware, which was selected as the CAA preseason favorite, started the season 0-3 after a tough weekend against Cal State Fullerton, Pepperdine, and UNC Greensboro at the Fullerton Invitational. The Blue Hens took CSF to the fifth and final set where they lost 18-16. UD fell to Pepperdine and UNCG both by a score of 3-0. Preseason Player of the Year pick Stephanie Berry finished the weekend averaging 5.91 digs per set and currently leads the CAA. Sophomores Paige Erickson and Katie Dennehy both tripled their career ace totals during the tournament. Erickson posted three against Cal State Fullerton on Friday, while Dennehy had two against the Pepperdine Waves and one against UNCG on Saturday. Both notched one during their entire freshman campaigns last season. In her first action as the team’s starting setter, sophomore Jess Chason notched a double-double with 46 assists and 10 digs in the match against Fullerton. The sophomore averaged over eight assists per set in her first weekend. Kelly Gibson posted a team high 23 kills in the first match of the season against the Titans. Her total was the highest for a Blue Hen in a season opener in over 10 years. Delaware last started 0-3 in 2003 when the squad eventually finished 11-17 and ranked fifth in CAA play. The Blue Hens will host the Delaware Invitational on Sept. 5-6. They will entertain New Hampshire, Syracuse and Michigan State.
GEORGE MASON (0-3, 0-0 CAA)
George Mason opened its season against three local rivals and was unable to come away with a victory. The Patriots hosted Georgetown for their home opener. Junior Rebecca Walter had a double-double with 14 kills and 13 digs. Mason’s second match against George Washington was a tight contest in which the Patriots won the second set, but ultimately fell. Walters and Noelle Fanella each posted 10 kills. The third match of the weekend was against American, in which the Patriots fell 3-1. Walters posted her second double-double of the weekend with 12 kills and 10 digs. Four Patriots tabbed double-digit digs in the match against the Eagles. Chelsea Kropp led the team with 19, followed by Fernanda Bartels’ 16 and Kelly McCarter joined Walters in recording 10. George Mason will host its annual Patriot Invitational, featuring six teams playing ten matches over a two-day span. The Patriots will host St. Francis (Pa.), Liberty and New Mexico.
GEORGIA STATE (0-3, 0-0 CAA)
The Panthers opened their season at the Georgia Bulldog Invitational, falling to top schools from the SEC, ACC and the Southern Conference. Georgia State dropped a 3-1 decision to Furman, before falling 3-0 to both Georgia Tech and host Georgia. State’s highly-recruited freshman Torrie Brown led the Panthers in all three matches, recording 29 kills over the three matches. Junior Jessica Tjaden, a junior college transfer, playing in her first matches with GSU led the squad with 87 assists during the tournament. Red-shirt sophomore Audrey Cantrell was named to the All-Tournament team after leading the Panthers in the libero position. The Panthers won’t travel far from home for next weekend when they partake in the Georgia Tech Invitational. Georgia State is slated the play Xavier, #25 Michigan and Arkansas.
HOFSTRA (2-1, 0-0 CAA)
Hofstra was crowned the champion of the 2008 Hofstra/Asics Invitational this past weekend, marking the first time the Pride has won its home tournament since the 2006 campaign and the third straight season that Hofstra has picked up the title of an in-season tournament. The Pride picked up victories over Siena and Seton Hall after falling to Fairfield, 3-2, in the opener. The Pride’s 3-1 win over Siena marked the first in the Hofstra coaching career of Kristina Hernandez. Junior outside hitter Harmonie Calinda was named MVP of the tournament, which marked the second all-tournament (first MVP) accolades of the junior’s career. She had a solid all-around weekend as she led Hofstra in kills in two of the matches and fell one kill short of her career-high with 22 putaways in a four-set win over Siena. With her 56 kills this weekend, Calinda went over the 500-kill plateau for her career as she now has 508 kills in her two-plus seasons in a Pride uniform. Joining Calinda on the all-tournament team from Hofstra was junior setter Chrissey Cruz and junior middle blocker Ashley Legerretta. Cruz, a transfer from Loyola (MD), totaled 130 assists, 42 digs, nine kills and six blocks on the weekend, including a stellar 44-assists, 22-digs, six blocks and five kills showing in the thrilling come-from-behind win over Seton Hall that gave Hofstra the tournament title. Legerretta hit .371 for the week with 34 kills and also added 11 blocks and nine digs. She established a new career-high with 15 kills in the Pride’s first win of the season over Siena. Hofstra’s rally from two sets down against Seton Hall was something for the ages as it marked the first time Hofstra had done that to an opponent since October 8, 1996 (a span of 362 matches) when the Pride rallied to defeat Rutgers (13-15, 10-15, 15-12, 15-13, 17-15). Hofstra returns to action next weekend when they face arguably their toughest test in recent memory. The Pride will travel to the Holiday Inn LA City Center Trojan Invitational in Los Angeles, Calif., where they will face #21 San Diego, Oklahoma and perennial national power #7 Southern California in the two-day tournament on September 5-6. It will be Hofstra’s first meeting against the Trojans since facing USC in the 1999 NCAA Tournament.
JAMES MADISON (1-2, 0-0 CAA)
James Madison opened its season going 1-2 for a third place finish in the Days Inn JMU Invitational. Virginia won the tournament with a 3-0 record. The Dukes breezed to a 3-0 victory over New Hampshire and led Murray State 2-1 before falling in five sets. Senior Michelle Johnson stepped up with one of her best career performances to open her senior season. The middle blocker earned All-Tournament honors after posting 40 kills (3.33 k/s) with a .333 attack percentage. She added 22 digs and six blocks. Johnston’s two 15-kill performances were just one shy of her career high and her 15-kill, 11-dig effort against the Racers was her first career double-double. Sophomore Lindsay Callahan had 32 kills, including a match-high 17 against MSU and her first double-double of the season against Virginia with 11 kills and 12 digs. Senior setter Lauren Miles recorded 126 assists over three matches for a 10.5 assists per set average. She needs just 141 assists to reach second place on the JMU career charts. Miles entered the season as JMU’s career assists per set leader with a small possibility of reaching the career assist record belonging to Krysta Cannon. However, the new 25-point set rule in collegiate volleyball could hurt both efforts. Freshman middle blocker Kelly Turner made a quick impact in her first weekend, notching 17 kills with a .294 attack percentage and six blocks. James Madison will face Radford on Tuesday night before participating in the Golden Bear Invitational at California. The Dukes will face #5 California, UC Riverside and DePaul. JMU’s match on Friday against #5 California will be the Dukes’ first against a top 25 opponent since facing #25 Ohio last August.
UNC WILMINGTON (2-1, 0-0 CAA)
The Seahawks opened their 2008 campaign with a 2-1 finish at the Battle at the Beach Tournament in which UNC Wilmington hosted. The Seahawks dropped the opening match to eventual champion Radford, but rallied to close out the weekend with victories over Hartford and North Carolina A&T. The match with the Highlanders was the first between the two schools since the 1996 season and evened the all-time series at 2-all. The Seahawks were paced by all-tournament selections junior Anna Price and sophomore Rachael Caricato. Price averaged 3.36 kills and 2.45 digs per set and recorded her fourth career double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs over Hartford. She also established a new personal best with 17 kills against Radford. Caricato averaged 2.45 kills per set and led the squad with eight total blocks, including seven block assists versus Hartford. The Seahawks return to action this weekend when they travel West for the Elon Volleyball Classic. UNCW are slated to face a trio of in-state rivals in Campbell, host Elon and North Carolina A&T.
NORTHEASTERN (2-1, 0-0 CAA)
Northeastern opened the season in Tampa, Fla. at the USF Invitational and completed the weekend with a 2-1 record. The Huskies captured 3-0 victories over Eastern Kentucky and Grambling, before falling to host South Florida, 3-1. Sophomore Britney Brown led the way for the Huskies posting 25 kills, 40 assists, 25 digs and four blocks over the weekend. Preseason All-CAA selection, Lauren DeTurk also played well accumulating 21 kills and 24 digs. Junior Jessica Tkachuk leads NU in assists with 48 averaging 4.8 per set. The 2007 CAA Rookie of the Year, Caitlin Tittl started the 2008 season with 22 kills, while hitting .526. Northeastern will travel to the west coast to participate in the Cal Poly Invitational. Tkachuk was joined by Sarah Stein on the All-Tournament team for Northeastern. The Huskies are scheduled to play #2 Nebraska, Tulane (receiving votes in top 25 poll) and host #14 Cal Poly.
TOWSON (4-0, 0-0 CAA)
The Tigers opened the season 4-0 and captured the Quinnipiac Invitational title in the process. Towson’s 4-0 start is the best since the 2002 campaign. The Tigers picked up victories over Rhode Island, Fordham, Morgan State and host Quinnipiac. Senior middle blocker/right side Valerie Chromy posted a team-high .324 attack percentage, while tabbing 32 kills. Junior middle blocker Alysha Fanning finished the week hitting .267, six service aces, five digs and seven total blocks. Sophomore setter Katee Luecke averaged nearly 7.5 assists per set last weekend and finished with one double-double of 12 digs, 39 assists in the match against Fordham. Senior outside hitter Maddie Haseltine recorded a pair of double-doubles with 10 kills, 13 digs in the match against Rhode Island and 11 kills, 10 digs against Fordham. Senior outside hitter Ally Perko tabbed 11 kills, 17 digs in The Tigers victory over Fordham. Fanning was named the Quinnipiac Invitational MVP, while Chromy joined her on the all-tournament team. The Tigers will travel to participate in the Dayton Flyer Tournament next weekend. Towson will face Cleveland State, host Dayton and Northwestern.
VCU (2-1, 0-0 CAA)
Virginia Commonwealth started the 2008 season 2-1 after hosting the VCU/Third Degree Sportswear Invitational. The Rams picked up 3-0 victories over N.C. State and Kansas, before falling 3-0 to Maryland. Sophomore outside hitter Ariel Newman averaged 3.11 kills and 2.89 digs per set and hit .254 on the way to being named MVP of the tournament. Sophomore Jessica Ojukwu, who hit .360 and averaged 2.89 kills per set, joined Newman on the all-tournament team. In the win over the Jayhawks, three players had seven or more kills and VCU out-hit KU .216 -.158 on the way to the victory. Junior Ivana Rich had seven kills and five total blocks in the win. VCU hit .225 in all three matches over the weekend, a solid improvement over last season’s .161 hitting percentage. Sophomore middle blocker Kelsie Clegg, who played sparingly in 2007, played all nine sets this past weekend and averaged 1.11 blocks per set. The Rams will travel to Miami, Fla., to participate in the Hurricane Invite this weekend. VCU will face South Dakota State, Alabama and host Miami.
WILLIAM & MARY (3-0, 0-0 CAA)
William & Mary won the Tribe Invitational with a 3-0 record to open the 2008 season. It is the first time since 1992 that the Tribe has started 3-0. Melissa Shelton, a W&M alumna, is the first William & Mary volleyball coach to start her career at the school, 3-0. The Tribe recorded victories over UMBC, Eastern Michigan and Appalachian State. Sophomore outside hitter Erin Skipper received MVP honors after completing the tournament leading the team with a .304 attack percentage, 49 kills (4.45 kills/set), and a team second-best 36 digs (3.27 digs/set). The sophomore was joined by teammates Kim Mount, senior setter, and Ginny Bray, sophomore middle blocker, on the all-tournament team. Skipper finished the weekend with two double-doubles, while Mount posted one. Skipper’s double-doubles came in the UMBC (20 kills, 17 digs) and EMU (14 kills, 12 digs) matches and Mount posted a 11 digs, 44 assists double-double against Appalachian State. The Tribe will participate in the Billiken Tournament in Saint Louis. William & Mary will face #3 Stanford, host Saint Louis and #19 Illinois.