Complete Game Notes as a PDF

THE WEEK AHEAD
The Southern Connecticut State University volleyball team begins the 2009 season undefeated, boasting a 6-0 overall mark and 1-0 Northeast-10 Conference record. The Owls return to NE-10 action this week as they host Bentley at Pelz Gym on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. The team gets a day of rest before heading to New York to face Nyack. Friday's match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Southern returns home on Saturday to host a tri-match against Queens (1 p.m.) and the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (5 p.m.).

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.

CONFERENCE PLAY BEGINS
On Wednesday, September 2 the Owls traveled to Saint Michael's for their first Northeast-10 match of the season. Southern won 3-0 by the scores of 25-21, 25-20 and 25-16. Marcia Hollingsworth and Jenna Tammel led the team with 10 kills each and Kimberly Lachowicz and Manjit Chase dished out 13 and 10 assists respectively.

3 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
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 to 137.

FRESHMAN PRODUCTION
In her first collegiate match as an Owl, Kimberly Lachowicz dished out a game-high 23 assists as Southern claimed its first win of the season, sweeping NYIT 3-0. She averaged a team-best 7.5 assists per game in four sets during the week. In the second match of the team's doubleheader against Concordia, Katherine Wilson tallied a game-high 12 kills. Wilson is averaging a team-best 3.2 kills per game and Vanessa Sullivan is leading the team in service aces with seven.

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.

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.

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.

EIGHT STRAIGHT
From Sept. 9-22, the Owls won eight straight games en route to a 15-3 record. In that span, they outscored their opponents 24-6 and defeated three conference opponents; Assumption, Saint Anselm and UMass Lowell.

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.

BLOCK PARTY
In her first season with the Owls, Sarah Houseknecht proved to be a force at net, averaging 1.23 blocks per game. Despite playing in just 13 matches due to injury, Houseknecht still ranked third on the team in total blocks with 48. Leading the team in that category was Marcia Hollingsworth with 84. She averaged .71 blocks per game.

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 Pelz Gym on Thursday, September 17 for a 7 p.m. contest against Post.