Michigan Tech's Skoog and Northwood's Barac Chosen As GLIAC Volleyball North and South Division "Players of the Week", Respectively

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Bay City, Mich. -- Michigan Technological University senior setter Kelsey Skoog (Long Lake, Minn./Orono) and Northwood University senior outside hitter Gordana Barac (Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina) have been chosen as the GLIAC North and South Division "Players of the Week", respectively it was announced by the league office.

North Division "Player of the Week":
Kelsey Skoog - Michigan Tech
(SR, S, Long Lake, Minn./Orono)

Michigan Tech senior setter Kelsey Skoog led the Huskies to a pair of home GLIAC wins over the weekend. The Long Lake, Minn., native tallied 41 assists and three kills in a 3-1 win over Grand Valley State. The following day she recorded 35 assists and five kills in a 3-0 win against Ferris State on Saturday. She also recorded her 1,000th assist of the season in the match. She finished the weekend averaging a .350 hitting percentage and 10.86 assists per set. Skoog is averaging 9.34 assists per set this season.

North Division Honor Roll: Andrea Rich- FS; Jamie Ashmore- GV; Mandie Meyer- NM; Sarah Redoute- SV

2008 North Division "Players of the Week": (9/3) Andrea Rich- FS; (9/8) Rebeccah Rapin- GV; (9/15) Jen Jung- MT; (9/22) Sarah Redoute- SV; (9/29) Danielle Alexander- GV; (10/7) Jen Jung- MT; (10/13) Caryn VanBeckum- NM; (10/20) Danielle Alexander- GV; (10/27) Katie Fitzgerald- SV; (11/3) Danielle Alexander- GV; (11/10) Kelsey Skoog- MT

South Division "Player of the Week":
Gordana Barac - Northwood
(SR, OH, Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina)

Senior outside hitter Gordana Barac led Northwood to a 3-0 record over the weekend and the GLIAC South Division title. She averaged 3.82 kills per game while hitting .300. Barac also led Northwood for the week with 3.55 digs per game. Barac led all players with 14 kills in the Timberwolves important 3-1 victory over Hillsdale, a win that gave Northwood sole possession of the South Division lead. She then had match-highs in both kills (17) and digs (17) in a 3-1 victory over Findlay to clinch the division crown. Barac then rounded out her week with 11 kills and seven digs in a 3-0 non-conference victory over Wheeling Jesuit (W.Va.).

South Division Honor Roll: Sydney Dow- HC; Candis Jenich- WS 

2008 South Division "Players of the Week": (9/3) Lauren Mallast- WS; (9/8) Brittany Teaford- TU; (9/15) Ashlee Crowder- HC; (9/22) Lauren Mallast- WS; (9/29) Amanda Stefanski- AU; (10/7) Sarha Gosselin- WS; (10/13) Jessica VonIns- UF; (10/20) Sarha Gosselin- WS; (10/27) Stephanie Booms- HC; (11/3) Sarha Gosselin- WS; (11/10) Gordana Barac- NU

-- GLIAC Volleyball Weekly Notes --

Ashland  - Ashland ended their season with a 3-0 victory over Tiffin last Tuesday (Nov. 4). The win improved the Eagles to 14-13 on the season and 6-10 in the GLIAC. With the victory, the Eagles finished over the .500 mark for the fifth consecutive season. Junior Marina Santos finished the year as the team leader in kills with 362. Freshman Arian Martin wrapped up the season as the team leader in digs with 388. Freshman Andrea Fritz just topped the 1,000 assist mark with 1,003 on the season. The Eagles graduate no seniors and look to improve next season.

Ferris State - Senior setter-outside hitter Andrea Rich (New Baltimore/Anchor Bay) became the ninth individual in Ferris State volleyball history to record 2,000 career assists as she dished out a team-high 13 helpers at Michigan Tech (11/8) in the regular-season finale and presently has totaled 2,000 in 82 career outings...Junior middle hitter Kristy Gilchrist(Macomb/Anchor Bay) moved into 19th place on FSU's all-time kills leaders list after compiling a team-high eight kills at Michigan Tech (11/8). Gilchrist has currently amassed 779 kills in 88 matches, which surpasses Kate Pickvet's (1999-00) 772 career kills in 95 contests...Ferris State will be making its 11th consecutive appearance in the GLIAC Tournament after receiving the tourney's wildcard two seed. The Bulldogs visit top-seed Grand Valley State this Wednesday (Nov. 12) in a quarterfinal-round contest. FSU sports a 10-9 record (.526) record in GLIAC Tourney matches, which includes a 1-2 mark versus Grand Valley State.

Findlay - The University of Findlay went 0-3 in their last weekend of the season. The Oilers played several tough matches and took a few games past 25 points, but to no avail. The Oilers finish their season 2-14 in conference, and 12-22 overall. The Oilers are looking forward to a strong spring season and 2009 season as they return all but 1 player from this year's squad.

Grand Valley State - The Lakers had their 22-match winning streak snapped after dropping a 3-1 decision at Michigan Tech on Friday (Nov. 7). It was the first loss for GVSU since a five-set defeat to Augustana on Sept. 5. The 22 consecutive victories tied the school record set in 2001...Grand Valley State rallied to win a five-set marathon at Northern Michigan on Saturday (Nov. 8). The Lakers are now 5-1 in five-set matches and have won their last four such contests...GVSU will host an opening round match in the GLIAC Tournament on Wednesday night against West Michigan rival, Ferris State. The quarterfinal match will begin at 7:00 p.m. Grand Valley State has won both meetings with the Bulldogs this season, including a 3-0 win at home on Sept. 16. When the teams met at FSU on Oct. 24, the Lakers escaped with a five-set victory by winning the final two sets...if GVSU wins on Wednesday, the Lakers will host the GLIAC Final Four on Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 15-16)...senior setter Jamie Ashmore (LaPorte, Ind.) nearly recorded a rare triple-double in the five-set win against NMU. Ashmore tallied 56 assists, 12 digs, and nine kills, while hitting .615 for the match. The senior controlled the Laker offense that hit .371 for the match, including a .739 mark in the third set (17 kills, zero errors, 23 attempts)...seniors Danielle Alexander (Newport, Mich./Airport) and Lauren Reber (Flint, Mich./Carmen-Ainsworth) both recorded 19 kills in the win over the Wildcats. Alexander hit .417 for the match, while Reber connected at a .436 clip and tallied 12 digs...sophomore Rebeccah Rapin (Saginaw, Mich./Nouvel Catholic Central) totaled 23 kills and a .373 hitting percentage over the weekend, including six block solos. Rapin had four solo blocks against Michigan Tech...against Ferris State on Wednesday night, the Lakers look to extend their home winning streak, which currently sits at 30 straight matches. That ties the school record set in the 2000-01 seasons.

Hillsdale - For the first time in three years, the Hillsdale College volleyball team will play a first-round GLIAC tournament match on the road when it faces Wayne State at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12...The Chargers lost a pair of 3-1 decisions at home to Northwood and Wayne State over the weekend...Hillsdale has 19 wins for the fifth consecutive season...In 11 home matches this season, Hillsdale averaged 297 fans per match...Freshman Ashlee Crowder became the first Charger freshman to record 300 or more kills in a season since Taryn Rudland did it in 2003...Rudland was named the GLIAC Freshman of the Year that season, and went on to earn First-Team All-American honors in 2006...Senior setter Stephanie Booms needs 57 assists to record her third straight 1,000-assist season...She already holds the school record for career assist...Four different players have 20 or more service aces this season, and the team's co-leaders in that category, Crowder and Morgan Podkul, are freshmen...Before this season, the Chargers hadn't lost to either Northwood or Wayne State since the 2003 season...Hillsdale went 0-4 against those two teams this season.

Lake Superior State - Lake Superior State's season ended Friday with a 3-1 home loss to Saginaw Valley State...Redshirt junior outside hitter Ali Jones (Fruitport, Mich.) finished her three-year career with 616 kills and 492 digs, while senior outside hitter Brishia Stroven (St. Louis, Mich.) compiled 513 kills, 631 digs and 76 service aces through four seasons...Seniors Trisha Dutton (Mount Pleasant, Mich.) and Ashley Purvis also concluded their careers...Freshman libero Brittany Newberry led the Lakers in digs with 391, and her total ranks eighth on LSSU's single-season list. She is currently ranked first in the GLIAC in average digs per game at 4.77. Against GLIAC opponents only, she ranked second at 4.54 digs per game...Junior outside hitter Jessica Ewer (Amhurstberg, Ont.) moved up to sixth on LSSU's career digs list with 1,059.

Michigan Tech - Michigan Tech (19-9 overall and 12-4 in the GLIAC) won a pair of matches over the weekend (Nov. 7-8). Tech defeated No. 2 Grand Valley State 3-1 to snap the Lakers 22-match winning streak. Tech followed up with a 3-0 win over Ferris State on Senior Day. With the win over Ferris State, Tech will host Saginaw Valley State in the first round of the GLIAC Tournament on Wednesday, (Nov. 12) at 7:00 pm. The two teams split earlier this season with each team winning on its home court. The Cardinals have never defeated the Huskies in Houghton. The Huskies have posted a 9-1 record at home this season and have won their last seven at the SDC. Michigan Tech has won four of its last five matches this season. Tech currently leads the nation in blocks with 2.67 per set. Senior setter Kelsey Skoog recorded her 1,000 career assist over the weekend. Six players have recorded 100 or more points this season for the Huskies.

Northern Michigan - The Wildcats ended the regular season by splitting its final two matches...NM defeated Ferris State and lost to Grand Valley State...In both matches against Grand Valley this season the ‘Cats lost in five sets...The ‘Cats face Northwood in Midland, Mich. on Wednesday night in the GLIAC Volleyball Tournament Quarterfinals...In its lone meeting this season the ‘Cats defeated the Timberwolves in Marquette in three sets (25-21, 31-29, 25-17)...NM ended the 2008 campaign with an 8-2 record at home...Mandie Meyer had a career-high 23 kills in 56 total attempts for a .339 hitting percentage against Grand Valley...Meyer currently leads the team with 367 kills...Cassie Osiecki had 20 digs against the Lakers and 28 for the weekend...Osiecki leads the team with 438 digs...Caryn VanBeckum had five of the six block solos on the weekend and has a team-high 41 for the season and 86 total blocks which also leads the team...Emma Wolfe has a team-leading 58 block assists...Against Grand Valley the ‘Cats had 10 service aces as Meyer had four...Osiecki leads the team with 39 service aces.

Northwood - Northwood earned its first-ever GLIAC South Division title over the weekend by posting three victories ... the Timberwolves defeated Hillsdale Friday night 3-1 to take over sole possession of the Division lead ... NU then earned the division title with a 3-1 victory over Findlay on Saturday ... Northwood finished its week with a 3-0 win over Wheeling Jesuit in non-conference action ... the Timberwolves ran their winning streak to seven to stand at 16-12 overall, 10-6 in the GLIAC ... NU was led by senior outside hitter Gordana Barac (Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina), who averaged 3.82 kills per game while hitting .300 ... Barac also led Northwood for the week with 3.55 digs per game ... she led all players with 14 kills against Hillsdale ... Barac then had match-highs in both kills (17) and digs (17) against Findlay before adding 11 kills and seven digs versus Wheeling Jesuit ... sophomore outside hitter Sladjana Mitrovic (Lazarevac, Serbia) also had a strong week for the Timberwolves, averaging 3.09 kills and 2.82 digs per set while hitting .309 ... the Timberwolves out-hit their opponents .246-.115 for the week ... NU will now host Northern Michigan in the opening round of the GLIAC Tournament Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

Saginaw Valley State - Saginaw Valley State University won its only match this week on November 7 against Lake Superior State University, led by senior outside hitter Sarah Redoute's (Clinton Township, Mich.) double-double. Redoute posted her fourth double-double in the last five matches by contributing a match-high 17 kills on 17-of-34 (.324 percent) and a team-high 15 digs. Junior middle-hitter Jaclyn Carnago (St. Clair, Mich.) kicked in 13 kills and junior outside hitter Allison Schlinkert (Marysville, Mich.) contributed 11 kills. Defensive specialist Carmen Schacher (Flint, Mich.) added 14 digs. Junior setter Kait Harris (Essexville, Mich.) had 34 assists. The Cardinals will return to action as the No. 3 seed in the GLIAC North Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 7 pm when they face-off against Michigan Tech. in GLIAC Tournament Quarterfinal action in Houghton, Mich.

Tiffin - Brooke Bernabei had 2.50 kills per game and 0.88 blocks over the three matches...Katie Luker had 2 kills per game and 1.10 blocks for the week, while Brittany Teaford also led the team in blocking with 1.50 blocks per game.

Wayne State - Wayne State won twice on the road last weekend, ending the regular-season on a four-match winning streak and securing home court advantage for Wednesday's GLIAC Tournament quarterfinal ... the Warriors out-hit the Oilers, .287 to .089, in Friday's 3-0 victory at Findlay, WSU's third straight shutout ... Sarha Gosselin (Harrison Twp., Mich./Warren Lincoln) led Wayne State with 18 kills, and Candis Jenich (Warren, Mich./Cousino) posted her first double-double of the season (13 kills, 11 digs) Saturday at Hillsdale ... Gosselin remains the GLIAC kills leader with a 3.60 average ... Lauren Mallast (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay), the top blocker in Division II, added 13 to her total on the weekend ... she has 156 blocks this season, sixth-most in school history ... Katy Westenberg (Milford, Mich.) finished with 72 assists in the two matches and moved into sixth on WSU's all-time assists list (1,798) ... with 1,079 career digs, Mayssa Bazzi (Dearborn, Mich.) ranks seventh all-time ... Bazzi had 36 digs over the weekend ... Wayne State's nine conference victories are the most since the 1999 squad posted a 12-7 GLIAC record ... the Warriors will host the Chargers on Wednesday at the Matthaei.