Complete Game Notes as a PDF
THE ROAD AHEAD
The Southern Connecticut State University volleyball team extended its win streak to three straight matches without dropping a set last week. The Owls won a road match against Assumption, 3-0, on Tuesday and came back the next day to sweep Post, 3-0, at home. On the schedule this week, the Owls spend some time on the road for three conference matches. The first match is against Adelphi on Tuesday at 7 p.m. On Friday, SCSU will take on Southern New Hampshire at 7 p.m. and then travels to Stonehill the following day at 1 p.m.
THE STREAK CONTINUES
With two victories last week, the Owls are now on a three match win streak dating back to Oct. 12. During the streak, Southern has dropped just a single set along the way.
CAREER BEST FOR CARLBERT
Defensive specialist
Natasha Carlbert got the nod at home against Post on Oct. 16 and notched a career best performance with 14 digs. She also managed three kills, two service aces and two block assists.
BLACK OUT
During the Owls' current win streak,
Jade Black has played at a level unmatched by the competition. She has posted three straight double-doubles that brought her season total to seven and averaged 4.4 digs per set and 3.5 kills per set with a 0.355-hitting percentage.
HONORED WEEKLY
Lauren McVey and
Jade Black claimed another selection to the weekly honor roll from the Northeast-10 Conference last week.
SHARE THE OFFENSE
The Owls have three players with at least 143 kills through the first 20 matches:
Lauren McVey (188),
Jade Black (160) and
Sarah Beres (143).
CURRENT RECORD
The Owls are now 13-6 overall and 3-3 in conference play.
DYNAMIC DUO
Senior captains,
Jade Black and
Lauren McVey, each had a double-double in a 3-1 victory over Le Moyne on Oct. 12. Black had 14 kills with 16 digs with a 0.538-hitting percentage, while McVey had 14 kills and 12 digs with three service aces and two blocks.
HITTING PAST TRIPLE 7's
Olivia Lathrop continues to strike the ball with efficiency as she went 7-for-9 with seven kills two blocks and a 0.778-hitting percentage in the win against Le Moyne on Oct. 12.
SHOW OFF THE GUN-NESON
Sophomore
Kelly Gunneson had five block assists in the 3-1 victory over Le Moyne on Oct. 12. She was one away from tying her career best of six block assists that she achieved on Sept. 14 against Dominican.
25+ FOR HAUSER
Freshman
Nicole Hauser registered the second match of her short Owls career with 25 or more assists on Oct. 12 against Le Moyne. Her career best came earlier in the season against Nyack on Sept. 7 when she notched 29 assists.
DIG PINK
For the month of October, members of the Owls' celebrated Breast Cancer Awareness month by wearing pink during scheduled home matches. The Owls' "Dig Pink" match was held on Oct. 8 at home against Saint Rose.
BERES PART OF WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
Sarah Beres was recently selected to her first Weekly Honor Roll selection of the season by the Northeast-10 Conference. Beres averaged 2.13 kills per set and 1.0 blocks during week 4 of the season.
EFFICIENCY IS KEY
During the match on Oct. 1 against Pace, the Owls managed a 0.343-hitting percentage as a team with three members of the team at 0.455-percentage and above:
Nicole Hauser (0.571),
Sarah Beres (0.571) and
Olivia Lathrop (0.455).
BERES SURPASSES 1,000 CAREER KILLS
With nine kills in a 3-1 victory over Queens on Sept. 28,
Sarah Beres reached the century mark in kills. Entering the week, she has 1,055 in her career and counting.
FIRST AND SECOND...
Morgan Carman received her first Northeast-10 Molten Libero of the Week honor of the season for her 6.35 digs per set performance during the third week of the season. Joining her fellow teammate with honors,
Lauren McVey nabbed her second straight Weekly Honor Roll selection.
SEASON BEST FOR LATHROP
Olivia Lathrop tallied 11 kills in a 3-1 victory over Queens on Sept. 28 to record a season-best in kills including a 0.474-hitting percentage.
BEST STILL TO COME
Morgan Carman has surpassed her career best in digs for a third time this season with 33 digs in a five set victory over East Stroudsburg on Sept. 22.
BERES BLOCKS THE WAY HOME
Sarah Beres continues to amass blocks this season. Through 20 matches this season, she has 66 blocks including an eight block performance, two six block matches and multiple matches with at least four blocks.
OVERTIME
After an undefeated 2012 campaign in five set matches, 6-0, the Owls are 1-1 in matches that require a deciding set.
HONORED WEEKLY
Lauren McVey and
Jade Black shared a selection to the weekly honor by the Northeast-10 Conference for their stellar performance during week two of the season.
STAT TRACK
The Owls have four players with one double-double on the season:
Lauren McVey (8),
Jade Black (7),
Nicole Hauser (3), and
Sarah Beres (1).
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
Southern Connecticut is currently 5-3 on its home court this season.
HITTING THE MARK
The Owls are being efficient with their energy on the court by out hitting their opponents 0.183 to 0.126 this season.
HOT HANDS
The Owls had three players hit 0.400 or over with a combined 33 kills in the sweep of Caldwell on Sept. 10.
Lauren McVey (0.469-percent and 16 kills),
Nicole Hauser (0.429-percent and seven kills) and
Jade Black (0.400-percent and 10 kills.)
2013 NORTHEAST-10 PRESEASON POLL
The Owls were ranked sixth in the Northeast-10 Conference Coaches' Preseason Poll receiving 127 votes.
O'CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN
Sarah Beres,
Jade Black and
Lauren McVey were selected as the 2013 volleyball captains.
DEFENSIVE STOPS
Sarah Beres matched a career high with eight blocks against Molloy on Sept. 6.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Nicole Hauser recorded the first double-double of the season for the Owls with a 16 assist and 12 dig performance against Dowling on Sept. 7.
DUELING SETTERS
Taylor Carlson and freshman
Nicole Hauser shared setter responsibilities throughout the first three matches with both faring well. Hauser recorded 57 assists while Carlson tallied 50 assists.
DIG DUG
Sophomore
Morgan Carman has successfully taken over the libero role this year. She trounced her previous season best of 19 digs against Georgian Court back on Sept. 9 with 28 digs gainst Molloy followed by a 29 dig performance against Nyack on Sept. 7.
LOOKING BACK AT LAST YEAR
The Owls are coming off a 2012 campaign filled with a trip to the Northeast-10 Championship semifinals and a 24-11 overall record. That figure marked their second best total win season since winning 26 in 2009. SCSU also finished 10-5 in Northeast-10 Conference play to secure the fourth seed and notch the program's highest seeding since entering the league. Southern Connecticut's win in the Northeast-10 Championship Quarterfinals over Saint Rose marked their first-ever home Northeast-10 Championship win in the program's history.
RETURNING STARTERS
Southern Connecticut will return four starters from a year ago:
Jade Black,
Olivia Lathrop,
Lauren McVey and
Sarah Beres. Each returning starter ranked first in at least one major offensive and/or defensive statistical category including attacks, kills, blocks, digs, hitting percentage and aces. Beres ranked first in kills with 392, second in kills per set with 3.06, and third in total blocks with 86. McVey was first in kills per set with 3.20, first in service aces with 31 and second in digs with 321. Lathrop was first in blocks with 89 as a starting freshman, while Black was first in digs with 416 and second in kills with 292.
OWLS WELCOME FOUR NEWCOMERS
The Owls are looking to welcome four freshmen to the team this year:
Nicole Hauser,
Nicole Schoolcraft,
Taylor Flowers and
Faith Ford.
SUCCESS OFF THE COURT
Academically, the members of the 2012 volleyball team were recognized for numerous awards. The Owls were selected as recipients of the 2012-13 American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for maintaining a minimum GPA of 3.30 during the full academic year. Kimberly Lachowicz was also selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District and a Northeast-10 All-Academic Teams.
THREE EARNED ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
Three Owls - senior Kimberly Lachowicz and juniors
Sarah Beres and
Lauren McVey – received year-end honors from the Northeast-10 Conference, as voted on by the league's coaches. Beres was named Second-Team All-Conference, while Lachowicz and McVey were named to the Third-Team.
• Beres collected All-Conference honors for the second straight year after ranking second in the league in kills (384) and 13th in blocks (83) during the regular season. She also posted four double-doubles and led the Owls in kills while ranking third in blocks and hitting percentage in the regular season.
• Lachowicz earned All-Conference honors for the second time in her career after ranking second in the assists (1,205) and fourth in assists/game (10.04) in the regular season. She also led the team in service aces and ranked fourth in digs.
• McVey battled through a mid-season injury yet ranked sixth in the league in kills per set (3.16) and 13th in digs per set (3.53) in the regular season. McVey led the Owls with 13 double-doubles and was also second on the team in digs, second in service aces and third in kills.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Owls were ranked No. 29 in the nation in digs per set with 17.53 during the 2012 season.
PUTTING IN THE WORK
In 2012, Southern Connecticut was 13-4 in matches that went longer than three sets, including a perfect 6-0 in five set matches.
24 WINS ONCE AGAIN
Last season marked the third time in five years that the Owls won at least 24 matches in a season with their previous high water mark of 26-10 occurring in 2009.
ANOTHER WINNING SEASON SECURED
The Owls secured a fifth consecutive winning season in 2012.
THE TRADITION IS WINNING
In 2012, the Owls tied a program record with a 13-match win streak from Sept. 1-22. The streak included wins against Queens, Concordia, Georgian Court, Felician, Molloy, Philadelphia, Bentley, Concordia, AIC, Dominican, Bloomfield, Saint Rose and Caldwell. SCSU also won 13 in a row to start the 2009 season.
ON DECK
The Owls will travel to Mercy on Oct. 29 scheduled for a 7 p.m. start time.