NMUs Meyer and AU's Stefanski Chosen As GLIAC Volleyball North and South Division "Players of the Week", Respectively

Click here for printer-friendly (PDF) version of release

BAY CITY, Mich. - Northern Michigan University senior outside hitter Mandie Meyer (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central) and Ashland University senior middle hitter Amanda Stefanski (Independence, Ohio) have been chosen as the GLIAC Volleyball North and South Division "Players of the Week", respectively it was announced by the league office.

GLIAC North Division Player of the Week:
Mandie Meyer -  Northern Michigan
Senior/OH
Crystal Lake,Ill./Central

Mandie Meyer led the Northern Michigan University volleyball team to five-set wins over Saginaw Valley State and Lake Superior State over the weekend. Against the Lakers she had a match-high 20 kills in 53 total attempts for a hitting percentage of .226. She also recorded 31 digs, two service aces and two block assists over the weekend. Meyer tallied 29 kills for the two matches (2.9 k/s). Currently for the season she leads the Wildcats with 313 kills (3.29 k/s).

North Division Weekly Honor Roll: Krysta Kornack - GV; Dana Ruttle - FS; Jaclyn Carnago - SV; Abby Shereda -LS

2009 North Division "Players of the Week": (8/31) Mandie Meyer- NM; (9/07) Kristy Gilchrist - FS; (9/14) Kristy Gilchrist; (09/21) Annie Buxton - SV; (9/28) Whitney Tremain - GV; (10/05) Allison Schlinkert - SV; (10/12) Arielle Goodson - FS; (10/19) Kait Harris - SV; (10/26) Mandie Meyer - NM

GLIAC South Division Player of the Week:
Amanda Stefanski - Ashland
Senior/ MH
Independence, Ohio

Senior Amanda Stefanski propelled the Eagles to a 3-1 win over Hillsdale. Stefanski got it done on both offense and defense. She finished with 12 kills on an outstanding .556 hitting percentage. She added eight digs, one block solo and three block assisted to go with her kills. She averaged 3.00 kills per set this week which nearly doubled her season total (1.51).

South Division Weekly Honor Roll: Jenny Slone - UF; Sladjana Mitrovic - NU; Lauren Mallast - WS; Clara Leutheuser - HC

2009 South Division "Players of the Week": (8/31) Ashlee Crowder - HC; (9/07) Lauren Mallast - WS; (9/14) Clara Leutheuser - HC; (9/21) Ashlee Crowder - HC; (9/28) Sladjana Mitrovic - NU; (10/05) Jessica VonIns - UF; (10/12) Ashlee Crowder - HC; (10/19) Sarha Gosselin - WS; (10/26) Amanda Stefanski - AU

-----GLIAC Volleyball Weekly Notes-----

Ashland Eagles (12-12, 6-7 GLIAC)

The Eagles played only one match this past week defeating Hillsdale on Saturday (Oct. 24), 3-1. Ashland is now 12-12 on the season and 6-7 in conference play. AU has won three of its past four games. Senior Amanda Stefanski helped lead the Eagles to victory tallying 12 kills in the match. She had a .556 hitting percentage, eight digs and had four total blocks. Freshman Brittany Snider had 20 kills in the match, which puts her at 11 consecutive matches with 10+ kills. Ashland hosts Wayne State on Friday (Oct. 30) and Northwood on Saturday (Oct. 31).

Ferris State Bulldogs (17-8, 8-4 GLIAC)

Sophomore outside hitter Ashley Huntey’s (Stanwood/Morley-Stanwood) 19 digs at Grand Valley State last Friday (10/23) marked her second-best total this season in 25 matches. Huntey has accumulated 16 double-figure dig contests this campaign, which includes a career match-best 23 digs against Grand Valley State earlier this season (9/15). FSU’s top two digs leaders this season, sophomore libero Lisa Tobiczyk (Marysville) and sophomore outside hitter Ashley Huntey have accounted for 48.1% of the squad’s digs production (635-1,321) this season. Tobiczyk has chalked up a team-high 338 digs (3.48 average) in 25 contests this season while Huntey has compiled a career season-best 297 digs (3.13 average) in 25 outings. Tobiczyk is 36 digs away from matching her career season-high 374 digs established in 29 2008 season encounters.rankings.

Findlay Oilers (11-17, 3-10 GLIAC)

The Oilers look to finish October strong on the heels of a very successful week where Findlay went 3-1. Junior Megan Florence only needs one more ace to move up to a tie for 8th on Findlay’s single season aces list (68). Findlay looks to avenge an early-season 3-0 loss to Hillsdale when the Chargers visit on Friday. The Oilers wrap up the week with a tri-match against Lake Erie and Glenville State in Painesville, Ohio on Saturday.

Grand Valley State Lakers (14-9, 9-3 GLIAC)

Grand Valley State won its only match of the week, defeating West Michigan rival Ferris State, 3-1, on Friday night in Allendale. The win clinched the season sweep of the Bulldogs, as GVSU won 3-2 in Big Rapids on Sept. 15. Junior Krysta Kornack (Warren, Mich./Cousino) put together a strong all-around match, as she notched 12 kills, nine digs, three blocks (one solo), and a pair of service aces in the win. Kornack is now third on the Lakers in kills (124), blocks (63), and service aces (15) this season. Senior Whitney Tremain (Kentwood, Mich./East Kentwood) led all players with 13 kills, while adding seven digs and four block assists. Tremain has 498 kills in her two years with the Lakers. GVSU improved to 6-1 at home in 2009 and owns a 37–1 record in the past three seasons at Fieldhouse Arena.

Hillsdale Chargers (18-6, 10-3 GLIAC)

The Hillsdale College volleyball team split its home matches over the weekend, defeating Tiffin Friday and Ashland Saturday. Four of the Chargers’ six losses this season have come on Saturdays, and two of those at home. Ashland beat Hillsdale for the first time since the 2006 postseason, and the Chargers had a seven-match regular season winning streak vs. the Eagles snapped on Saturday. Hillsdale has clinched a tie for the GLIAC South Division title and needs one win in its last three matches to win the title outright. The team’s win Friday clinched a home match in the first round of the GLIAC Tournament, scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 11. Sophomore Clara Leutheuser had nine total blocks against Tiffin, the second-most she’s had in a match this season. The Chargers play just one match this weekend, Friday night at Findlay.

Lake Superior State Lakers (3-21, 2-11 GLIAC)

Sophomore outside hitter Abby Shereda (Freesoil, Mich.) was the leader for a Lake Superior State attack that had one of its better weekends of the season. She was one of two players to reach double figures in kills in a four-set loss to Michigan Tech and one of three to total 10 kills in a five-set loss at Northern Michigan. She had 20 kills and a .172 attack percentage for the weekend. Senior middle hitter Sara Hess (Owosso, Mich.) also totaled 20 kills and had a .183 attack percentage. Sophomore libero Brittany Newberry (Iron Mountain, Mich.) tied a season high with 36 digs against NMU. She is averaging a league-leading 5.65 digs per game. Hess is ranked 10th in the GLIAC in average blocks per game (0.84), while sophomore setter Janelle Balkwill (Woodslee, Ont.) is ninth in average assists per game (7.41).

Michigan Tech. Huskies (12-12, 8-5 GLIAC)

Michigan Tech will play a single match this week when it hosts Northern Michigan on Halloween. The four seniors on the team will be honored during the match. The Wildcats claimed a 3-1 win over the Huskies when the two teams met earlier in the year. Tech has a winning record in three-set (4-3) and five-set matches (5-3) this season. Tech took over the league lead in digs with 15.14 digs per set. Freshman Madeline Haben currently ranks third in the GLIAC in assists with 9.89 assists per set this season. Senior Kaari Nevanen is eight kills shy of 150 for the season. The team’s 67 assists against Lake Superior were the second most this season and its 61 assists were tied for the second most.

Northern Michigan Wildcats (16-8, 10-3 GLIAC)

Northern Michigan University ran its winning streak to four matches in a row and 10 of its past 11 with two five-set wins over the weekend against Saginaw Valley State and Lake Superior State. This week the Wildcats stay in the U.P. with a non-conference match Friday against Finlandia at home and a trek to Houghton to face the Michigan Tech Huskies Saturday. NMU is 3-2 this season in matches which have gone the distance. Mandie Meyer had 20 kills in the win over Lake Superior State and currently leads the team with 313 kills on the season, she now has 1,123 kills in her career which puts her in the top 10 in NMU history. Amy Andersen-Goldsworthy added to her team-leading blocks with five block assists against the Lakers, as she currently has 12 solo and 40 assisted blocks on the season. Cassie Osiecki continues to add to her career dig mark at NMU as she recorded 41 over the weekend, currently has 363 on the season and 1,744 in her career.

Northwood Timberwolves (7-16, 5-7 GLIAC)

The Northwood Volleyball team posted an important 3-1 victory over Wayne State in the Timberwolves’ only action of the week. Northwood is now 7-16 overall, 5-7 in the GLIAC. NU is now one loss behind Ashland in the GLIAC Standings for a spot in the GLIAC Tournament . The Timberwolves are also one game behind Wayne State for hosting a game in the opening round. Sladjana Mitrovic (Lazarevac, Serbia/Sport Academy DIF) led Northwood with 18 kills and 18.5 points against Wayne State. Ashley Carr (Marysville, Mich.) added 10 kills, while Jolyn Timms (Adrian, Mich.) had nine. Setter Lauren Chapman (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Loudon) has a strong week, finishing with 37 assists, four kills and seven digs. Northwood hits the road for matches at Tiffin Friday and Ashland Saturday.

Saginaw Valley State Cardinals (16-8, 9-4 GLIAC)

The Saginaw Valley State University volleyball team went 1-1 this past weekend on its annual trip to the Upper Peninsula, losing to Northern Michigan University (3-2) on Friday before defeating Michigan Tech (3-1) on Saturday. Against Northern, Kait Harris led offensively with 40 assists and added 11 digs for the Cardinals. Annie Buxton tallied 16 kills as well as 13 digs for SVSU. Jessica Treiber posted 11 kills while hitting for a .320 clip against the Wildcats. Laura Ward had 22 digs for Saginaw. In the Michigan Tech match, Jaclyn Carnago led the Cardinals with 16 kills while hitting .500 and Buxton had 14 kills and 11 digs. Allison Schlinkert and Katie Fitzgerald had 11 kills each, with Schlinkert adding 12 digs. Harris 53 assists and 11 digs in the four-set affair. Ward contributed 13 digs to the Cardinal effort. SVSU is now 16-8 on the season with a 9-4 record in the GLIAC. The Cardinals will host Ferris State (Oct. 30) and Grand Valley State (Oct. 31).

Tiffin Dragons (3-23, 0-13 GLIAC)

Tiffin University opened in strong fashion at Findlay, winning game one 25-21, but then fell apart over the next three games, falling 12-25, 15-25, 18-25. Brooke Bernabei had 17 kills with 3 blocks while Brittany Teaford also had 9 kills and a team-high 5 blocks. Giavana DiPietro tacked on 7 kills while Jess Adams had 34 assists. Tiffin University lost to Hillsdale 16-25, 18-25, 13-25, with Brittany Teaford posting 7 kills and 3 blocks. Brooke Bernabei had 5 kills while Jess Adams had 17 assists. Lindsay Heller led in digs with 11.

Wayne State Warriors (17-6, 6-6 GLIAC)

Wayne State lost its only match of the week, a 3-1 result against Northwood on Friday at the Matthaei. While the Warriors remain in second place in the South Division, the setback evened their conference record at 6-6. Sarha Gosselin (Harrison Twp., Mich./Warren Lincoln), who last week was named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division II National Player of the Week, posted her third straight 14-kill performance versus the Timberwolves. In her last five matches, Gosselin has 85 kills (4.05 per set) and a .327 hitting percentage. Lauren Mallast (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay) and Kate Sak (Warren, Mich./Cousino) were also among WSU’s top performers on Friday. Mallast compiled 13 kills and six blocks, while Sak totaled 10 kills, six blocks and five digs. Wayne State has four matches remaining in the regular season, beginning with its trip to Ohio this weekend to take on Ashland and Tiffin.