SVSU's Fitzgerald and Hillsdale's Booms Chosen as GLIAC Volleyball North and South Division "Players of the Week", respectively
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Bay City, Mich. -- Saginaw Valley State University freshmand middle hitter Katie Fitzgerald and Hillsdale College senior setter Stephanie Booms have been chosen as the GLIAC Volleyball North and South Division "Players of the Week", respectively it was announced by the league office.
North Division Player of the Week:
Katie Fitzgerald - Saginaw Valley State
(FR, MH, Whitby, Ont./Sinclair SS)
North Division Weekly Honor Roll: Candice Marut- FS; Jamie Ashmore- GV; Sara Hess- LS; Mandie Meyer- NM
South Division Player of the Week:
Stephanie Booms - Hillsdale
(SR, S, Marysville, Mich.)
South Division Honor Roll: Britney Jurchenko- AU; Courtney Niemeyer- UF; Sladjana Mitrovic- NU
-- GLIAC Volleyball Weekly Notes --
Ashland - Ashland split its two GLIAC contests this week. The Eagles lost in four to the Chargers of Hillsdale on Friday (Oct. 24), 3-1. On Saturday (Oct. 25), AU bounced back to pick up a 3-1 victory over the Findlay Oilers. Ashland now sits at 13-11 overall and 5-8 in the GLIAC. Against Hillsdale, junior Britney Jurchenko racked up 13 kills on just 26 attempts for a .385 hitting percentage. Freshman Arian Martin continued her stellar play in the back row with 16 digs. Against the Oilers, junior Marina Santos had 18 kills and 14 digs. Ashland travels next to Northwood on Friday (Oct. 31), and go to Wayne State on Saturday (Nov. 1).
Ferris State - Senior setter-outside hitter Candice Marut (Pinconning) became the eighth player in the program's history to register at least 2,000 career assists with a team-high 19 helpers against Grand Valley State last Friday (10/24). Marut has currently accumulated 2,010 assists in 103 matches and is now 124 helpers away from tying Tricia Metz's (1995-96) seventh-place 2,134 career total...Junior middle hitter Kristy Gilchrist (Macomb/Anchor Bay) is three kills shy of sharing 24th-place honors with Lauren Heine (2002-05) on FSU's career kills leaders list. Gilchrist has amassed 745 career kills in 84 matches while Heine garnered 748 kills in 107 outings. Gilchrist is also 27 kills away from moving up into 19th place among the school's all-time leaders and would tie Kate Pickvet (1999-01; 772 career kills) for that placing...Senior setter-outside hitter Andrea Rich's (New Baltimore/Anchor Bay) match-high 20 digs versus Grand Valley State last Friday (10/24) marked a season best, eclipsing her 17 digs set earlier in the season at Tampa (9/6) and at Ashland (10/10). Rich, who claimed a career match-high 23 digs against Hillsdale in the 2007 campaign (10/12), has currently registered 11 double-digits in digs 11 times this campaign.
Findlay - The University of Findlay went 1-2 on the road this past week; losing matches to a much improved Tiffin team and a strong Ashland squad, and gaining a win out of conference against Lake Erie College. Leading the Oilers this week was an outstanding performance from sophomore middle Courtney Niemeyer who hit .461 with 48 kills for the week. Freshman Jessica VonIns also had a strong week. In her match versus Lake Erie she became the 2nd player in DII (and 3rd in DI and DII) to earn a triple-double this year in only 3 sets. The Oilers go on the road for the last time to face Hillsdale this coming Friday then return home to host out the remainder of their matches.
Grand Valley State - The Lakers extended their 20-match winning streak with a five-set victory at Ferris State on Friday night. GVSU trailed 2-1 before winning the final two sets, including a 15-3 win to close out the match. Grand Valley State is 4-1 in five-set matches, including winners of its last three five-setters...the 20-match win streak is two wins shy of the program record, set in the 2001 season...GVSU hosts a pair of home matches this weekend against Saginaw Valley State and Lake Superior State. The Lakers own a 28-match home winning streak, which is also two wins shy of the all-time school record. Grand Valley State has not lost at home since Oct. 7, 2006 in a 3-0 loss to Hillsdale...in the fourth set of the match against Ferris State, the score was tied 16 different times, including every point from 19-24...senior Danielle Alexander (Newport, Mich./Airport) led the Lakers with 21 kills and a .280 hitting percentage for the week. She added 11 digs and five blocks...sophomore Rebeccah Rapin (Saginaw, Mich./Nouvel Catholic Central) added 16 kills, a team-best six blocks, and five digs...senior setter Jamie Ashmore (LaPorte, Ind.) controlled the offense on Friday night at Ferris State with a near triple-double of 34 assists, 13 digs, and seven kills...the Lakers have totaled 20 wins for the 11th straight season and head coach Deanne Scanlon has a 377-100 career record at GVSU for a .790 winning percentage.
Hillsdale - First place in the GLIAC South Division now belongs to the Hillsdale College Chargers, after a 2-0 weekend that saw them reclaim the top spot in the division...The Chargers completed regular season sweeps of both Ashland and Tiffin with wins of 3-1 and 3-0, respectively...Hillsdale has won five straight vs. Ashland overall, including four regular-season matches in the past two years and a win in the semifinals of the 2007 GLIAC Tournament...Junior Emily Bennett had a career-high 17 kills in Friday's win at Ashland...Freshman Apryl Schmucker had a career-high 10 digs in that same match...Freshman Ashlee Crowder's 17 kills Saturday at Tiffin matched her career-high...She's had 10 or more kills in 24 of the team's 26 matches this season...Crowder ranks in the top 10 in the GLIAC in kills per set and points per set...Freshman Clara Leutheuser is second in the GLIAC in hitting percentage and third in total blocks...She had seven solo blocks in the Chargers' two matches this weekend...Senior Stephanie Booms had 85 assists in the two wins...Her four service aces against Tiffin moved her into second place on Hillsdale's all-time aces list for a career...Two more wins will give the Chargers their first-ever three year streak of 20 or more wins...Hillsdale plays just one match this weekend, hosting the orange-and-black clad University of Findlay on Halloween Night.
Lake Superior State - LSSU lost four-set matches to Upper Peninsula rivals Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech on Oct. 24 and 25, respectively...The Lakers travel to Ferris State on Oct. 31 and Grand Valley State on Nov. 1...Junior middle hitter Sara Hess (Owosso, Mich.) reached double figures in kills in both matches last week. She totaled 22 kills and five blocks, and had a .200 attack percentage...Senior Brishia Stroven (St. Louis, Mich.) came off the bench and totaled a team-high 14 kills against Michigan Tech...Freshman libero Brittany Newberry (Iron Mountain, Mich.) averaged 4.75 digs per game last week. She is ranked first in the GLIAC in average digs per game at 4.66.
Michigan Tech - Michigan Tech (16-8 overall and 10-3 in the GLIAC) split a pair of GLIAC matches over the weekend ... Tech lost to Saginaw Valley State 3-2 Friday (Oct. 24) before defeating Lake Superior State 3-1 on Saturday ... Tech will play a pivotal GLIAC North Division match at Northern Michigan Friday (Oct. 31) before hosting Urbana Sunday (Nov. 2) in nonconference action ... The Huskies have recorded 50 or more kills in each of their last four matches ... Tech has tallied 10 or more blocks in 15 of its 24 matches this season ... The Huskies entered last week ranked No. 1 in the nation in blocks with 2.80 per set ... Senior Jen Jung ranks second in the nation in blocks per set with 1.44 ... She also ranks third in the GLIAC in hitting percentage (.345) ... Tech will close out the regular season next weekendat home hosting Grand Valley State Friday (Nov. 7) and Ferris State Saturday (Nov. 8).
Northern Michigan - Last week the Wildcats went 1-1 as they won in four sets over Lake Superior State and lost in four to Saginaw Valley...This week the ‘Cats host Michigan Tech on Friday and Urbana University on Saturday...Mandie Meyer had 31 kills in the two matches over the weekend, she registered 13 against the Lakers and 18 against the Cardinals...Currently for the season she leads the team with 308 kills...Madeline Ogden jad 40 or more assists in both matches, she had an even 40 at Lake State and 42 at Saginaw Valley...Ogden currently leads the team with 821 assists...Meyer was active on the defensive end over the weekend as she had a team-high 40 digs...Cassie Osiecki leads the ‘Cats with 389 digs...Against Lake State the ‘Cats had two block solos one each from Caryn VanBeckum and Ogden...Ogden had four of the 10 block assists against the Lakers...VanBeckum leads the team in block solos (31) and total blocks (75)...Emma Wolfe has a team-leading 56 block assists...Ogden had three of the eight service aces at Lake State...Osiecki leads the team with 31 service aces.
Northwood - On Friday (10/24), Northwood volleyball defeated Wayne State, 3-0...Sladjana Mitrovic (Lazarevac, Serbia) finished with a match-high 12 kills and added eight digs while hitting .320...Ashley Carr (Marysville, Mich.) added 11 kills and a match-high 11 digs...The Timberwolves host Ashland Friday (10/31) at 7 pm and Tiffin Saturday (11/1) at 4 pm.
Saginaw Valley State - Saginaw Valley State University won both of its matches over the weekend with strong performances from senior outside hitter Sarah Redoute (Clinton Township, Mich./L'Anse HS) and senior defensive specialist Carmen Schacher (Flint, Mich./Kearsley), who had 39 digs on the weekend. In the opening match against Michigan Tech on Friday (Oct. 24), the Cardinals won in five sets, 25-21, 18-25, 25-18, 18-25 and 16-14, and were led by Redoute, senior defensive specialist Kelsey Rabish (Walled Lake, Mich.) and middle-hitter Jaclyn Carnago (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair HS) who all had 12 kills. Schacher contributed with 21 digs on defense. On Saturday (Oct. 25), after knocking out Northern Michigan in four sets, 25-23, 18-25, 25-16 and 25-22, Redoute contributed 15 kills and 25 digs, while freshman middle-hitter Katie Fitzgerald (Whitby, Ont./Sinclair SS) had 11 digs. Schacher and junior setter Kait Harris (Essexville, Mich./Garber HS) each contributed 18 digs on defense. Harris, for the weekend, contributed 87 assists. The Cardinals look to take the weekend's momentum into their matches against rival Grand Valley State and foe Ferris State in GLIAC showdowns on the road.
Tiffin - Beth Willenbrink led the team in hitting, registering 25 kills for a 2.5 per game average. She also had a 0.90 blocking average for the week...Katie Luker continued her recent strong play, posting a 2.10 kills per game average and leading the team in blocking with a 1.00 average...Brooke Bernabei and Brittany Teaford also averaged over 2 kills per game, with Bernabei posting a 2.10 mark and Teaford a 2.12 average...Bernabei also had 5 aces for the week...Brittany Teaford averaged 0.88 blocks per game...Lindsey Heller led defensively with 5.43 digs per game.
Wayne State - In a match between two teams tied for first in the GLIAC South Division, Wayne State was swept, 3-0, at Northwood on Friday evening ... the Warriors were led at the net by Lauren Mallast (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay), who finished with nine kills and five blocks ... Mallast has a 1.45 blocks/set average this season and entered the weekend as the top blocker in the country ... Sarha Gosselin (Harrison Twp., Mich./Warren Lincoln), who contributed eight kills Friday, is second in the conference in kills (3.50 K/S) ... the Warriors are in third place in the South with four matches remaining ... they will close out their regular season home schedule against Tiffin on Halloween and Ashland on Saturday afternoon.
