Complete Game Notes as a PDF

THE WEEK AHEAD
The Southern Connecticut State University volleyball team (18-6, 6-5 NE-10) will head on the road for all three matches in the upcoming week. On Wednesday, Oct. 21 the squad travels to Assumption for a road conference match scheduled for 7 p.m. at Laska Gymnasium. The Owls then return to action on Saturday, Oct. 24 as they head to Bloomfield, N.J. for a double-header versus Philadelphia (2 p.m.) and Bloomfield (4 p.m.).

SEND IT BACK
Through 24 matches this season, senior Sarah Houseknecht ranks atop the Northeast-10 Conference in blocks with an average of 1.35 per set, .23 more than the next player. In her last five matches, she has averaged 6.4 total blocks per match and recorded a career-high 11 blocks (two solo, nine assists) against Merrimack.

SCOUTING ASSUMPTION
The Greyhounds are 1-15 overall and 0-9 in the NE-10. Their top offensive player is Aimee Drainville, she has tallied a team-high 117 kills and averaged 2.29 per set. Setter Kelly Blumenauer dishes out 5.65 assists per set and libero Steph Whooten leads the squad with an average of 3.33 digs per game. As a team, the Greyhounds have just a .009 attack percentage compared to their opponents .240.

SCOUTING PHILADELPHIA
The Rams hold an overall mark of 23-4 but have lost their last two matches to Georgian Court and Dowling by a combined, 6-0. Of the team's 23 wins, 17 were shutouts and just one was won in the fifth set. They have a .216 hitting percentage and are holding their opponents to just .059 percent. Nicole Berkstresser leads the team with 211 kills and Lauren Hoover has a team-high 469 assists. Molly Malone controls the net for the Rams as she averages 1.08 blocks per set.

SCOUTING BLOOMFIELD
The Deacons have lost seven of their last nine contests and are 5-15 overall. Ursula Pereira leads the team with 154 kills and 133 digs, averaging 3.02 and 2.61 per set respectively and Gabriella Betoni dishes out a team-high 6.9 assists per game.

ATTACK EFFICIENCY
As of Oct. 5, the Owls top three attackers; senior Jenna Tammel, sophomore Megan Lyons and senior Marcia Hollingsworth, each had a hitting percentage of .225 or higher. Hollingsworth's .351 hitting percentage ranked her fourth in the Northeast-10 Conference. As a team, only New Haven and Bentley ranked ahead of the Owls (.218) in that category.

13 STRAIGHT
Prior to the Owls loss against Adelphi on Wednesday, Sept. 23, Southern had won 13 straight matches to begin the season 13-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference. In that span, the team amassed 492 kills with a .251 hitting percentage and had outscored their opponents 1,012 to 748. Of those 13 matches, eight were won by virtue of a shutout.

HEAD OF THE PACK
As of Sept. 21, the Owls ranked within the top-5 in six of eight statistical categories in the Northest-10 Conference. They were tied for first with UMass Lowell with a 2-0 conference record, ranked second in hitting percentage (.251) and service aces (2.78 avg./game), third in opponent hitting percentage (.092) and kills (12.00 avg./game) and fourth in blocks (1.96 avg./game).

“SHOCK THE WORLD”
On Wednesday, Sept. 9 the Owls upset the preseason NE-10 favorite Bentley Falcons, 3-2. Despite losing the first set 25-22, Southern rebounded to take the next two and eventually pull away in game five as they won 15-12. Jenna Tammel and Broghan Miller had 14 and 11 kills respectively and Kimberly Lachowicz led the offensive attack with a season-high 38 assists.

BLOCK PARTY
During the week of 9/6, the Owls made it difficult for their opponents to score with their stellar performance at net from seniors Marcia Hollingsworth and Sarah Houseknecht and juinor Broghan Miller. Hollingsworth had a total of 13 blocks and averaged 1.18 per game, Houseknecht averaged a block a game with eight total and Miller blocked 10 and averaged 0.75 per game. As a team, the Owls totaled 36 blocks and averaged 2.4 per game as they went 4-0 during the week, outscoring their opponents, 12-3.

A TRIO OF DOUBLE-DOUBLES
During Southern's 3-1 win over C.W. Post on Saturday, Sept. 5, three Owls recorded double-doubles to lead the team to their sixth consecutive win. Jenna Tammel tallied a game-high 14 kills and notched 11 digs, Broghan Miller recorded 11 kills and a game-high 20 digs and Kimberly Lachowicz dished out a game-high 23 assists and added 12 digs for her first career double-double.

THREE IS KEY
For the third straight year, the Owls began the season 3-0. In the first week of '09, they shut out non-conference opponents NYIT, Concordia and Dominican, outscoring them 225 points to 137.

NORTHEAST-10 ACCOLADES
Kimberly Lachowicz was named the Northeast-10 Conference Freshman of the Week on 8/31. She dished out a game-high 23 assists in her first collegiate match and recorded a team-best 7.5 assists per game during the week. On Sept. 8, Jenna Tammel was named the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Week. She tallied double-digit kills in all three matches during the week and recorded back-to-back double-doubles against Molloy and C.W. Post.

A STRONG CORE RETURNS
The Owls have 11 veterans from last year's squad returning this season including senior Nekane Mendizabal who missed the entire 2008 season due to injury. Mendizabal led the team in kills during the 2007 campaign.

WELCOME ABOARD
The Owls welcome four newcomers to this year's squad including freshmen Kimberly Lachowicz, Vanessa Sullivan, Katherine Wilson and Syriah Celestine.

IN THE NORTHEAST-10 PRESEASON POLL
SCSU has been ranked 11th in this year's Northeast-10 Preseason Coaches Poll.

2008 WAS GREAT
The Owls improved on their overall win total for the fifth straight year under head coach Lisa Barbaro by virtue of a 24 win campaign in 2008, 13 more than the previous season. The Owls finished 7-7 in the Northeast-10, their best season since joining the conference in 2000 and the team's 24-15 record marked the programs best season in 25 years.

THE 300 CLUB
Jenna Tammel and Leah Filonuk both finished their first seasons as an Owl with at least 300 kills. Tammel led the team with a total of 394 and was fourth in the Northeast-10 Conference with 2.98 kills per game. Filonuk was second on the team with 307 kills and averaged 2.54 per game.

CAN'T TOUCH THIS
Jenna Tammel led the Northeast-10 Conference in service aces last season with 83. In one match, she scorched nine aces past Bloomfield in the season opener as the Owls won 3-0.

DISH OUT THE ASSISTS
Andrea Nolan was a more than reliable setter last season as a freshman. She dished out a total of 763 assists in 97 games, averaging 7.87 per game. Nolan had three matches in which she totaled at least 40 assists; 40 versus UMass Lowell (9/20), 43 versus Elizabeth City State (9/5) and 47 at Franklin Pierce (10/4).

ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS
Following the season, Jenna Tammel and Leah Filonuk were honored by the Northeast-10 Conference for their stellar performance throughout the 2008 campaign. Tammel earned a Third Team All-Conference selection and Filonuk was named to the All-Rookie Team. Together, the two Owls combined for a total of 701 kills.

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE
Junior Robin Priest enjoys double duty as a member of the softball team as well as the volleyball squad for her third straight season.

ON DECK
The Owls return to action on Oct. 27 for the team's final regular season home contest against Pace. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.