Patriot League Volleyball Team News - 10.20.10
American maintains lead as League slate reaches midpoint
Oct. 20, 2010
Center Valley, Pa. — The first half of the League slate has come to a close and American has maintained its position at the stop of the standings. The Eagles posted a pair of 3-0 victories last weekend over visiting Lafayette and Lehigh to improve their League mark to 7-0, a full game ahead of second-place Army. The Black Knights also logged 3-0 wins over the weekend at home against Bucknell and Colgate.
The Bison saw their four-match win streak snapped Friday at West Point, but they rallied for a 3-2 win at Holy Cross Saturday to get back on track and improve to 5-2 in League play. Colgate also went 1-1 by winning Friday in Worcester before dropping Saturday’s match at Army to move to 4-3 against League opponents.
Lehigh took one of two on the road this weekend, taking a four-set win at Navy before losing at American Saturday. The Mountain Hawks are 3-4 in League play and sit in fifth place at the turn.
Holy Cross suffered two crucial home losses last weekend to Bucknell and Colgate to drop to 2-5 in League play. The Crusaders are in sixth place heading into a weekend swing in the Lehigh Valley.
Navy captured its first League win of the year Saturday when it posted a five-set victory over Lafayette.
This weekend there are eight more matches as the second leg of League play begins. American puts its 13-match win streak on the line when it hosts Bucknell and Colgate, while second-place Army visits Lafayette and Lehigh on Friday and Saturday.
Patriot League Weekly Awards
PLAYER OF THE WEEK ARIANA MANKUS, ARMY So., OH, Lisle, Ill.
Mankus posted her 10th double-double of the year in the second of two Patriot League shutouts last week, recording 19 kills and 18 digs in a 3-0 win over Colgate. She finished with 29 kills and 24 digs last week. She had a .313 hitting percentage, two aces and five blocks. She leads the Black Knights with 3.48 kills per set, including an average of 3.52 in Patriot League play.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK JULIANA CRUM, AMERICAN Fr., OH, Hacienda Heights, Calif.
Crum led the Eagles to a 2-0 week after two Patriot League shutouts with 21 kills, four aces and 13 digs. She posted a .459 hitting percentage for the week.
HONORABLE MENTIONS MAGDALENA TEKIEL, AMERICAN Sr., OH, Warsaw, Poland
Tekiel led American to two shutouts with double-digit kills to amass 23 for the week. She had a .478 hitting percentage for the week, including a .625 mark in the Eagles’ win over Lehigh.
MEGAN LYNCH, HOLY CROSS So., OH, Mendham, N.J.
Lynch averaged 4.17 kills per set, totaling 50 last week as Holy Cross went 1-2. She also posted 40 digs and three blocks. She had double-digit kills in all three matches and has hit that mark in 21-of-26 matches this season.
ERIN FORTNER, NAVY Fr., S/OH, Villa Hills, Ky.
Fortner led Navy to its first Patriot League win of the season, posting 13 kills, 13 assists and eight digs in a 3-2 win over Lafayette. She also had nine kills, 18 assists and eight digs in a loss to Lehigh.
Patriot League Notebook ZERO TIES AT THE TURN
One of the more remarkable notes about the Patriot League standings at the midway point of the League slate is the complete lack of ties. From top to bottom, each of the eight teams has a different record and each is one game ahead or behind of the next in the standings. If the season ended today, it would be just the second time in League history that zero ties appeared in the League standings. The first and only time was in 2007, when American finished 13-1, Army 12-2, Colgate 11-3, Navy 8-6, Bucknell 5-9, Lafayette 4-10, Lehigh 12 and Holy Cross 1-13.
TIEBREAKERS ARE CRUCIAL
As the second run through League play starts this weekend, it’s important to keep in mind the importance of tiebreakers. American posted wins at Bucknell and Colgate, which are currently in third and fourth place, respectively, in the League standings. Should the Eagles post victories over those clubs this weekend at Bender Arena, they would secure the head-to-head tiebreaker against those two teams should they finish with the same record at the end of the regular season. The situation is similar for teams like Army, Lehigh and Holy Cross heading into the weekend. The Black Knights have lost only one match in League play so far, so posting a second win over the Mountain Hawks Saturday would secure that ever-important tiebreaker. Lehigh is also looking to go 2-0 against the Crusaders this season after logged a win in Worcester last month.
APPROACHING SOME MILESTONES
Several head coaches are sneaking up on various career victory milestones. In Lewisburg, Cindy Opalski sits with 294 victories as the head coach at Bucknell and 386 overall. Colgate’s Ryan Baker, who is in his fifth year in Hamilton and sixth overall as a head coach, is just six wins shy of the 100th of his career. Army’s Alma Kovaci is in her fourth season at West Point and has accumulated 89 victories so far, just 11 shy of the century mark. One milestone was reached earlier this season as Lafayette head coach Terri Dadio Campbell secured the 100th victory of her tenure in Easton. She now has 261 for her coaching career.
ARMY SELECTED TO REPEAT BY NARROW MARGIN
After capturing its third overall League title and making its first trip to the NCAA Tournament last year, Army was selected to repeat as Patriot League volleyball champions in 2010, it was determined in a vote by the League’s head coaches and sports information directors who could not vote for their own teams. The Black Knights captured 92 points and nine first-place votes to narrowly claim the poll’s top spot. American, winners of eight consecutive Patriot League titles from 2001-08, finished second in the poll with 90 points and the seven remaining first-place votes. Colgate captured third with 74 points, followed by Lehigh, which garnered 62 points. Bucknell (49), Lafayette (29), Navy (28) and Holy Cross (24) rounded out the poll, which mirrored the final regular season standings from 2009.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Twelve of the 14 student-athletes who earned All-Patriot League honors last season were underclassmen. Only Maureen Bannon of Army and American’s Claire Recht were seniors honored with All-League laurels, with both making the First Team. Of the 10 of 12 returning for 2010, Army (Ariana Mankus, Amanda Rowell and Francine Vasquez) welcomes back three, Colgate (Kaylee Dougherty and Casey Ritt) and American (Magdalena Tekiel and Angelina Waterman) return two, while Lehigh (Angelika Kopacz), Bucknell (Heidi Kamp) and Holy Cross (Megan Lynch) each return one.
THE 2010 PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2010 Patriot League volleyball tournament will take place Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 20-21, at the site of the regular season champion and No. 1 seed. Saturday will feature the two semifinal matches when the top seed hosts the No. 4 squad, while the second and third seeds play in the second tilt of the day. The winners will square off Sunday with the 2010 Patriot League title and an automatic NCAA Tournament berth on the line.
Team Notebooks
AMERICAN If the season was to end today, Magdalena Tekiel’s .366 hitting percentage would rank as the seventh-highest in school history … Winners of 13 straight, the Eagles continue to keep pace with the 2001 team which finished 26-4 and won the first League title in program history … American has won 15 straight at Bender Arena dating back to last season, dropping only two sets over that span … The Eagles have a non-League contest at UMBC Wednesday before hosting Colgate and Bucknell over the weekend.
ARMY Sophomore outside hitter Ariana Mankus has played in all but one set this season. She leads the team and is fourth in the League with 3.47 kills per set and averages 3.52 in League play … Each of the team’s last seven matches have been sweeps, with Army going 5-2 during that stretch … Karyn Powell remains in the League’s top 10 in assists, posting 9.35 per set … Sophomore RSH Francine Vasquez enjoyed a standout weekend during which she averaged 4.33 kills per set and hit .385 … The Black Knights visit Lafayette and Lehigh this weekend.
BUCKNELL Senior Heidi Kamp shared the team lead in kills in the loss to Army and victory at Holy Cross last weekend. She tallied seven against the Black Knights and 10 in Worcester. She also hit .500 against the Crusaders, going 10-for-20 with no errors. She has at least shared the team lead in kills in each of the last four matches … With a 5-2 record at the turn, the Bison are in third place in the League standings … Bucknell visits Navy Friday and American Saturday.
COLGATE The Raiders are coming off a split last weekend, defeating Holy Cross while dropping a three-set match to Army. It marked the first time since Sept. 10 that Colgate had been swept (Indiana) … The Raiders are 4-3 in League play at the turn. They finished with an 11-3 League record last year … Colgate heads south to visit American Friday and Navy Saturday.
HOLY CROSS Megan Lynch posted the 22nd and 23rd double-doubles of her career last week against Quinnipiac and Bucknell. She tallied a season-high 23 kills against the Bison and has 350 for the year, which is fifth all-time on the Holy Cross single-season list … The Crusaders’ 10 wins are the most since 2001 … Senior Chelsey O’Donnell set a new Crusader career assists record with 3,228 last week. Michelle Leahy, who played from 2001-04, held the previous record with 3,177 … Holy Cross hits the road this weekend to visit Lehigh and Lafayette.
LAFAYETTE Karissa Ciliento and Sarah Frohnapfel both posted double-doubles for the Leopards on Saturday afternoon at Navy. Ciliento is also second in the League and 26th nationally with 0.43 aces per set … Lafayette hosts defending champion Army and Holy Cross this weekend … As they have done throughout October, the Leopards will be collecting donations for the Side-Out Foundation in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
LEHIGH Freshman Amanda Clark has played solid defensively for the Mountain Hawks, posting at least four blocks in six matches this season … Junior Brittany Reichwein set a season-high with nine kills Friday at Navy … The Mountain Hawks are home this weekend, where they have posted a 1-3 mark this year. In road and neutral matches, Lehigh is a combined 8-7 … Lehigh entertains Holy Cross Friday night and Army Saturday afternoon.
NAVY With half of the League season still remaining, Erin Fortner ranks fifth during the rally scoring era among Navy freshmen with 196 kills, second among freshmen with 353 assists, fourth with 26 aces and fourth with 163 digs. She played three rotations as a setter and three at outside hitter … Freshmen have accounted for 60 percent of Navy’s kills during the League schedule and half of the team’s kills overall … The Mids are home this weekend to host Bucknell and Colgate.
