GAME
NOTES
DURHAM, N.H. -- The University of New Hampshire
volleyball team returns to action this weekend in the America East
Championship held at top-seeded University at Albany's University
Gym. The second-seeded Wildcats will play No. 3 Binghamton
University on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. If the Wildcats win, they
would play for the America East Championship on Saturday at 1 p.m.
UNH is in search of its fourth America East Championship. The 'Cats
took home the title in 1998, 2002 and 2003.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: UNH rattled off four-straight
wins and five of its last six to finish tied for second place in
the America East standings. The Wildcats finished as the second
seed by virtue of a four-way tiebreaker.
UNH IN THE AE TOURNAMENT: UNH is 9-5 all
time in the America East tournament with wins three America East
Championships in 1998, 2002 and 2003. In addition, the Wildcats
have gone to the America East title match six times all during Head
Coach Jill Hirschinger’s tenure.
AGAINST TOURNAMENT FOES IN
AE TOURNAMENT: UNH is a combined 2-1 lifetime
against the current tournament field at the America East
Championship. They defeated Albany twice in the semifinals before a
semifinal loss to the Great Danes in 2007. The Wildcats have never
played Binghamton or UMBC in the America East tournament.
Albany:
2002
November 23
No. 1 New Hampshire def. No. 4 Albany (3-2)
(30-18, 24-30, 30-24, 25-30, 15-7) Semifinals
2003
November 21
No. 1 New Hampshire def. No. 4 Albany (3-1)
(30-22, 29-31, 30-12, 30-26) Semifinals
2007
November 17
No. 3 Albany def. No. 2 New Hampshire (3-1)
(20-30, 30-32, 30-22, 17-30)
Binghamton:
No meetings
UMBC:
No meetings
Pre-Season Coaches Poll Final
Standings
1. Binghamton (4) Albany
2. Albany (2) New Hampshire
3. New Hampshire Binghamton
4. UMBC UMBC
5. Stony Brook Stony Brook
6. Hartford Hartford
2009 America East Accolades
Sept. 28 Setter of the Week
Kate Uitti
Sept. 28 Player of the Week
Lindsay Fogarty
Nov. 16 Player of the Week
Lindsay Fogarty
Nov. 19 Def. Spec. of the Year
Sara Heldman
Nov. 19 AE All Conf. 1st Team
Lindsay Fogarty
Nov. 19 AE All Conf. 2nd Team
Kirsten Bates
Nov. 19 AE All Conf. 2nd Team
Sara Heldman
HELDMAN NAMED CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Sara
Heldman has been named America East Co-Defensive Specialist of the
Year. Heldman, who shares the league’s top defensive honor
with Albany’s Laurie Gonzalez, has a league-best 446 digs and
finished with a league-best 5.30 digs per set in America East play.
Heldman’s 4.80 dps overall is second to only Gonzalez. In the
final weekend of the regular season, Heldman recorded a
program-record 38 digs in a win over Stony Brook. Heldman becomes
the fourth Wildcat to earn the league’s top defensive honor
and the first since Alyse Lahti did so in 2007.
WILDCAT TRIO TABBED ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS: Sara
Heldman, Lindsay Fogarty and Kirsten Bates were all selected as
America East All-Conference honorees. Fogarty was a first team
selection, while Bates and Heldman were on the second team.
Fogarty, who was a 2008 America East All-Conference Second Team
member, paced a well-balanced offensive attack for the Wildcats and
was among the league leaders in several categories. Overall, she
ranked 10th in hitting percentage, fifth in points and fourth in
kills. However, in America East play Fogarty finished second in
kills (3.95 kps), eighth in aces (0.27 aps) and second in
points (4.42 pps). Fogarty was a two-time America East Player of
the Week (Sept. 28, Nov. 16). Bates, a three-time America East
All-Conference selection, ranks eighth in the America East in kills
(3.08 kps), eighth in digs (3.00 dps) and seventh in points (3.49
pps). Bates returned this season just months after knee
surgery and was a key part to UNH’s second-half run to the
postseason.
HELDMAN SETS SCHOOL RECORD WITH DIGS: Sara Heldman
had a program record 38 digs in a dramatic come-from-behind win
over Stony Brook on Nov. 14. Heldman’s 38 digs was also the
most by any player in America East this season.
BATES BECOMES 6TH TO RECORD 1,000 KILLS: On Nov.
14, Kirsten Bates became just the sixth player in program history
to register 1,000 kills. Bates now has 1,022 kills in her four-year
career.
UITTI SECOND IN PROGRAM HISTORY TO TALLY 3,000
ASSISTS: Senior Kate Uitti became just the second
player in program history to register 3,000 career assists. Uitti
has 3,477 assists all time behind only current Wildcat associate
head coach Stacy Barnett (3,977).
UNH (13-14, 5-5 AE) completed an improbable run into the
America East Championship by winning its final four matches and
five of the last six, including a pair of a wins in the final
weekend of the regular season... The Wildcats, who entered the
weekend fifth in the conference standings, finished in a four-way
tie for second in the league and earned the second seed in the
conference championship by virtue of a tie-breaker
scenario... Overall, New Hampshire has won 12 of the last 14
sets and qualifies for the AE Championship after a one-year
hiatus... New Hampshire even had its back to the wall dropping the
first two sets to Stony Brook on Saturday before rallying for a 3-2
win... In the win over SBU, Sara Heldman (Greenwood, Ind./Center
Grove) recorded a program-record 38 digs, while Kirsten Bates
(Calgary, Alberta/Bishop Carroll) recorded a season-high 19 kills,
including the 1,000th of her career... Not to be outdone, Lindsay
Fogarty (Pleasonton, Calif./Amador Valley) tallied a career-high 26
kills in the winning effort, while Kate Uitti (Pinckney,
Mich./Pinckney) finished with a season-high 50 assists to
quarterback the attack.... Bates became the sixth UNH player to
attain the 1,000-kill milestone and the first since Emmy Blouin
(2007)... On Sunday, the Wildcats once again needed to win or be
left out of the playoffs and delivered with a straight-set win over
UMBC... Fogarty registered a team-best 10 kills and hit at a .391
clip... In addition to Fogarty, Bates tallied nine kills, six digs
and hit at a .368 clip... Uitti dished out a match-high 31 assists,
while Heldman added 11 defensive digs... Sunday’s match was
also “Senior Day” at UNH where the program honored the
accomplishments of its four-player senior class... UNH will play
third-seeded Binghamton on Friday at 3 p.m. at University Gym on
the campus of the University at Albany.
Albany (20-8 overall record, 10-0 America East record)
completed its second straight undefeated conference season with a
3-0 sweep of Hartford on Saturday evening... The Great Danes were
led by junior outside hitter Teresa Coppiellie (Canton,
Mich./Salem), who recorded 12 kills, seven digs and a .611 hitting
percentage... Junior setter Brooke Stanley (Hendersonville,
N.C./West Henderson) recorded 34 assists and was just short of a
double-double with nine digs... She added two kills and one service
ace in the match... Stanley quarterbacked the Great Danes to a .353
hitting percentage as a team, while UAlbany held Hartford to a .047
team hitting percentage... The Great Danes outblocked the Hawks,
7-1... Kalyn Mostert (Nepean, Ontario/Marivale) led the team at the
net with five total blocks, while Casey Wright (Ballston Spa,
N.Y./Ballston Spa) recorded four block assists... UAlbany honored
seniors Valerie Sourbeer (Valley Center, Calif./Valley Center),
Hillary White (Aberdeen, S.D./Aberdeen) and Laura Livergood
(Lantana, Fla./Lakewood Christian) prior to the match... UAlbany
earned hosting rights for the America East Conference Tournament
for the second straight season and third time in the past four
years.
Binghamton (13-15, 5-5 AE) split a pair of home matches
this past week, losing to Syracuse before sweeping Hartford ...
Binghamton finished in a four-way tie for second place in the
America East and will be seeded third due to tiebreakers for the
upcoming America East Conference tournament ... Binghamton has made
the postseason tournament in six-straight seasons ... The Bearcats
will take on second-seeded New Hampshire in a semifinal match on
Friday afternoon in Albany ... Junior hitter Michelle McDonough
(Orland Hills, Ill./Andrew) led Binghamton with a 4.17 kills per
set average in two matches this past weekend ... During last week,
McDonough moved past recent grad Jacki Kane into fourth place on
the all-time kills list at Binghamton ... McDonough now was 1,040
kills in only three seasons ... Junior setter Lindsey Mueller (West
Bend, Wisc./West Bend West) led Binghamton in assists (11.33 per
set) and also tallied 2.17 digs per set in two matches this past
weekend ... Senior libero Brianna Strong (Elkhart, Ind./Concord)
led the team with 4.83 digs per set and in the process moved into
second place for the single season digs record at Binghamton ...
Junior hitter Anna Lejina (Riga, Latvia/Riga Secondary/Univ. of
Latvia) aided the Binghamton offense with 3.83 kills per set on the
weekend ... Senior middle Dawn Lammert (Sussex, Wisc./Arrowhead)
led the Bearcats in blocking, posting a 1.33 blocks per set clip to
go along with 1.33 kills per set ... Lammert, Strong and fellow
senior Julia Vint (Endicott, N.Y./Union-Endicott) were honored in a
senior night ceremony prior to the Hartford match ... The Bearcats
made the conference tournament during every year of their careers,
and Strong was a member of the 2005 America East Championship
team.
UMBC (20-12, 5-7 America East) finished their winningest
season in n(13-9, 5-2 AE) played just one match this past week,
falling at New Hampshire, 3-0, on Sunday... Sophomore Alyssa Lang
(Richmond, Va./Deep Run) led the Retrievers, hitting .375 with 14
kills while adding 11 digs for her eighth double-double of the
season... Freshman Ali Loynachan (Whitby, Ontario, Canada/Sinclair)
was second on the team, hitting .333 with six kills on 12 swings...
Lang continues to lead the Retrievers with 3.14 kills per set (232)
and is second on the team in digs, averaging 2.51 per set (186)...
Freshman Naomi Bush (Fruitport, Mich./Fruitport) is second on the
team in kills with 2.48 per set, while hitting .233, which is third
on the team. The Retrievers return to action Friday when they face
No. 1 seed Albany in the America East semifinals.
