Busy Week Starts With FDU On Wednesday

Lady Jaspers Play Six Matches In Next Seven Days

RIVERDALE, N.Y. - To say that the Manhattan College volleyball team has a busy next few days would be an understatement.  The Lady Jaspers (1-3) play five times in the next four days, and six times in the next week.  Fortunately, the squad won't be doing much traveling, as four of the
matches are across town at Fordham and the other two are at Draddy Gymnasium, including Wednesday's 7 p.m. showdown with Fairleigh Dickinson (3-5).

Manhattan picked up its first win of the season over host Central Connecticut State at last weekend's CCSU Blue Devil Invitational before falling to Hartford and NJIT on the second day of the tournament.  Aurore Kullak (Beloeil, Belgium) was named to the all-tournament team after
tallying 22 kills, 31 digs and four service aces in the three matches.  Kullak is currently fourth on the squad in kills (1.78 kps) and tied for third in digs (2.00 dps).  Diane Strutner (San Jose, Calif.)
leads Manhattan with 2.39 kills per set, while Julie Bies (Massapequa, N.Y.) averages 4.56 digs per set.  Laura Bellotti (Dix Hills, N.Y.) dishes out 7.56 assists per set.

FDU went 1-2 at last weekend's Lafayette Tournament.  The Knights defeated Saint Peter's in five games, and fell to Delaware State and host Lafayette.  FDU is 2-0 against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) teams this season, having also defeated Canisius.  Meaghan Wheeler has
accounted for nearly 40 percent of Fairleigh Dickinson's kills, slamming 122 (3.70 per set).  She's also second on the squad with 3.24 digs per set.  Ali Philbrick is second on the team with an average of 1.94 kills per set.  Kelsey Semler paces the Knights with 3.88 digs per set, while Sarah
Willey distributes 7.52 assists per set.

Last season in New Jersey, the Lady Jaspers notched their only non-conference win of 2008 with a five-set win against the Knights.  Manhattan holds a 15-6 edge in the all-time series.  Wednesday's match will be webcast live at www.gojaspers.com as a part of the JasperVision package.

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