Complete Game Notes as a PDF

THE WEEK AHEAD
The Southern Connecticut State University volleyball team (13-2, 2-2 NE-10) awaits three conference opponents in the following week. On Tuesday, Sept. 29, the Owls return to Pelz Gym to host AIC. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. The squad has a few days of rest before heading to Southern New Hampshire for Friday's contest at 7 p.m. Southern will then conclude the week with a 5 p.m. home contest on Saturday, Oct. 3 against Franklin Pierce.

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.

SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
AIC holds an overall mark of 8-5 and a 1-4 conference record. They are coming off a 3-0 win over Molloy but fell to Adelphi earlier in the day, 3-0. They are led by sophomore Ellisha Terry with 117 kills, averaging 2.85 per set. The Yellow Jackets have been successful at the net, ranking second in the conference with 2.05 per game.

SCOUTING THE PENMEN
Southern New Hampshire won their first seven matches of the season but fell short in the team's last contest to Merrimack, giving them an overall mark of 7-1 and a 1-1 NE-10 record. The Penmen rank second in hitting percentage right behind the Owls (.231) and first in opponent hitting percentage (.070) in the Northeast-10. The squad also ranks first in blocks, averaging 2.57 per set. They are led by junior Stephanie Dluginski and sophomore Danielle Coffey. Dluginksi ranks second in the NE-10 in points with 4.15 per game and sixth in kills with 3.11. Coffey leads the conference in both hitting percentage (.485) and blocks (1.22 avg./game).

SCOUTING THE RAVENS
Franklin Pierce has lost four straight and seven of their last eight contests. They are 3-11 overall and 0-2 in the NE-10. Seniors Katie Ristow and Caitlynn Parnell have both reached over 100 kills thus far, averaging 2.43 and 2.14 per set respectively. Setter, junior Pamela Walker, leads the offense as she dishes out an average of 6.88 assists per set.

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 6 for a 7 p.m. home contest against New Haven.