Patriot League Volleyball Team News - 10.13.10
Army and Bucknell to battle in key League weekend matchup
Oct. 13, 2010
Center Valley, Pa. — The usual Friday-Saturday schedule of matches resumes this weekend as the first half of the League schedule comes to a close. Several interesting matchups dot the schedule and special interest will be paid to a particular match Friday evening at West Point when Bucknell and Army take the floor opposite one another. The Bison come into the contest with a four-match winning streak and both teams are tied for second place in the League standings with a 4-1 mark.
Patriot League Volleyball Release - 10.13.10
The second match Friday night involving teams that are very close to one another in the standings will happen in Worcester when Colgate visits Holy Cross. The Raiders are 3-2 in League play and sit alone in fourth place in the standings, while the Crusaders are in a fifth-place tie with Lehigh at 2-3.
Lafayette and Navy embark on the weekend with each looking for their first League victory of the year. The Leopards visit American Friday while the Mids entertain Lehigh. The two will then square off Saturday at noon in Annapolis.
Saturday’s slate is rounded out with Lehigh visiting American, Bucknell at Holy Cross and Army entertaining Colgate.
Patriot League Weekly Awards Player of the Week Rachel Rodriguez, Bucknell Sr., S, Sagamore Hills, Ohio
Rodriguez collected a career-high 43 assists as Bucknell defeated Colgate 3-2 Friday night in a matchup where both teams were 3-1 in League play going in. It was also the second double-double of the season for Rodriguez as she collected 15 digs, a season high. She also enabled two attackers, Heidi Kamp and Katie Baumgarten, to achieve career-bests with 22 and 13 kills, respectively.
Rookie of the Week Margaux Jarka, Army Fr., RSH, Rolling Prairie, Ind.
Jarka averaged 3.80 kills per set during a 1-1 week for Army. Her best performance of the week came Saturday against Holy Cross, where she tallied 13 kills, three digs and hit .429 for the match. For the week she tallied 19 kills and only two errors on 48 attempts for a .354 hitting percentage. The Black Knights defeated Holy Cross 3-0 to move to 39-5 all-time versus the Crusaders.
Honorable Mentions Erin Fortner, Navy Fr., S/OH, Villa Hills, Ky.
Fortner recorded the fourth triple-double of her career with a 10-kill, 18-assist, 10 dig performance in a 3-1 win over North Carolina A&T, then came three digs shy of another triple-double in the 3-0 loss to American. She averaged 3.14 kills, 4.71 assists and 2.43 digs per set while hitting .283 for the week.
Courtney McCutchan, Lehigh Fr., OH, La Canada, Calif.
McCutchan continued her steady play for Lehigh with an 11-kill, 19-dig double-double performance in a 3-1 win over rival Lafayette.
Angelina Waterman, American Sr., OH, Queens, N.Y.
Waterman posted a double-double with 13 kills and 16 digs as the Eagles swept Navy 3-0 to move to 5-0 in League play.
Patriot League Notebook AMERICAN AIMS FOR 7-0
Everything seems to be going right for American. The Eagles have won 11 consecutive matches and ran their record at Bender Arena to 8-0 on the year after posting a 3-0 victory over Navy Thursday night in Washington, D.C. American has two matches this weekend in League play when it hosts Lafayette Friday night at 7 p.m. and Lehigh Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. Should the Eagles win both contests, they would run their League-leading record to 7-0 and complete a perfect first half of their League slate.
IT’S EARLY TO TALK CLINCHING, BUT...
It was noted last week that only two teams -- Bucknell in 2001 and Lehigh last season -- had ever qualified for the Patriot League Tournament with as many as seven losses since the double round-robin schedule for League play was adopted in 1999. That means it’s a good bet that a team which makes it to eight League wins have a very good chance of qualifying for the four-team League tournament. As noted above, American is the closest to that mark currently with a 5-0 record and could be 7-0 when the weekend is through. There is a chance either of Bucknell or Army could finish the weekend 6-1 in League play (the teams face each other Friday at West Point, so one of them will drop to at least two League losses this weekend). After that, the picture becomes a little bit more muddled with Colgate currently sitting at 3-2 and Lehigh and Holy Cross knotted at 2-3.
A TEST FOR THE CRUSADERS
This weekend will tell a lot about where exactly Holy Cross is in 2010. At 9-14 overall and 2-3 in the League, Marritt Cafarchia’s team is enjoying its best season in quite some time. With two League wins, the team is one shy of matching the three it achieved all of last season, and the squad’s nine wins are the most since 2001. Following Wednesday night’s non-League tilt with Quinnipiac, Holy Cross has two very difficult League matchups on the horizon, though both will be in Worcester. Friday night the Crusaders entertain 3-2 Colgate while Bucknell visits Worcester Saturday afternoon. The Raiders have a 10-match winning streak over Holy Cross dating back to 2005, while the Crusaders defeated the Bison 3-1 at home last season.
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 The Eagles are 17-2 on the year, which keeps them on pace with the 26-2 team from the 2001 season … American has won 11 consecutive matches and improved to 8-0 at Bender Arena with Thursday’s win over Navy. All eight wins came in straight sets … American has five players in the League’s top 10 in hitting percentage, with Magdalena Tekiel leading the way at .355. Katerina Cinkova, Angelina Waterman, Juliana Crum and Bianca Richardson also make the list … The Eagles put their 11-match winning streak on the line against Lafayette Friday and Lehigh Saturday at Bender.
ARMY The Black Knights were swept by Manhattan at West Point last week. It marked the first time Army had been blanked at home since losing 3-0 to Sacred Heart Aug. 29, 2009 … Army improved to 39-5 all-time against Holy Cross with its win Saturday … Army is second in the League with a .169 hitting percentage and is also second in holding opponents to a .157 success rate … Each of the team’s last five matches have gone only three sets. Army is 3-2 over that stretch … The Black Knights stay home for Bucknell Friday and Colgate Saturday.
BUCKNELL The Bison have won four straight matches, all in League play, to move into a second-place tie with Army. It’s the program’s longest winning streak since 2006 … Two of the four victories have come in five-setters, moving Bucknell’s record to 3-0 in matches that go the distance … Heidi Kamp has saved the best for the League schedule, where she’s posted a League-best .362 hitting percentage while sitting fifth with 3.25 kills per set … The Bison play at Army Friday night before traveling to Worcester to take on Holy Cross Saturday in two important League matches.
COLGATE The Raiders posted an 0-2 week, losing 3-1 at Albany Wednesday before dropping a tough five-set match at Bucknell Friday night. It was their second five-set loss in eight matches this season … Casey Ritt has posted a team-leading .339 hitting percentage through five League matches while tallying a team-best 28 blocks for a 1.33 blocks-per-set average … The Raiders, who are 3-2 in the League standings, visit Holy Cross Friday night and travel to West Point Saturday.
HOLY CROSS The Crusaders’ nine wins are the most in a season for the program since finishing 11-14 in 2001 … Senior Angela Chisholm is the fifth Crusader to record 1,000 digs. She sits at 1,013 … Sophomore Megan Lynch has 300 kills this season, already ninth all-time in a season at Holy Cross. She is third in League play with 3.75 and third in all contests with 3.57 kills per set … The Crusaders open another home stand in Worcester Wednesday night hosting a non-League tilt against Quinnipiac. League play resumes this weekend as Holy Cross hosts Colgate Friday and Bucknell Saturday.
LAFAYETTE Sophomore Kaitlynn Zoller posted the first double-double of her career last Tuesday against NJIT. She netted 10 kills and 12 digs … Senior Kayly Elmer surprassed the 1,100-kill plateau last week. She has 1,103 for her career, 66 away from second place all-time in Lafayette history … The Leopards are back on the road this weekend for League contests at American and Navy.
LEHIGH Taylor Poole posted a .294 hitting percentage in her squad’s 3-1 win over rival Lafayette. She also accounted for six service aces for a new career high … Jessica Kudirka is seventh in the League with 5.45 assists per set in League play. Freshman teammate Rachel Charles is third in digs per set and second in aces per set in competition against other League teams … The Mountain Hawks head south for the annual swing through Maryland and the nation’s capital. They visit Navy Friday night and American Saturday afternoon.
NAVY Freshman Erin Fortner has posted four of the 11 triple-doubles in Navy’s history during the rally scoring era, for which this is the 10th season. Fortner leads the team with 174 kills and is third hitting .230 … Young players are coming up big for Mike Schwob’s club. Freshman accounted for 53 of the team’s 93 kills last week … The Mids hope to bounce back off the loss to American when they host Lehigh Friday night in Annapolis and Lafayette Saturday afternoon.
