Complete Game Notes as a PDF

AND SO IT BEGINS...
The Southern Connecticut State University volleyball team will open the 2013 campaign by participating in the Dowling Tournament in Oakdale, N.Y. this weekend. The Owls will start the tournament with a match against Molloy on Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. followed by a doubleheader on Sept. 7 against the host team Dowling at 11 a.m. and Nyack with a 1 p.m. start time.

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 FIVE NEWCOMERS
The Owls are looking to welcome five freshman to the team this year: Brigitte Boursiquot, 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 are back in action on Sept. 10 for their home opener against Caldwell at Pelz Gym.