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News Release

VOLLEYBALL NEWS AND NOTES:

10/10/2005

Ashley Hargrove served nine aces last week in action.

Christine Skala is closing in on fifth place on the all-time digs chart.

Freshman Sarah Ball is a five-time rookie of the week winner.

Jessie Folk jumped to seventh all-time in career total blocks with eight last week.

Baltimore, Md. – The UMBC volleyball team hits the road for three matches this week including two at conference foes New Hampshire and Albany.  With five conference weekends left UMBC sits at 2-2 in the conference standings and fourth overall as the top four teams make the conference tournament.  News and Notes this week looks at UMBC’s week ahead, freshman Ashley Hargrove acing the competition last week and Retrievers breaking and chasing all-time records. 

LOOKING AHEAD                                     

This Week:

10/11   UMBC at Loyola (Md.), 7:00 p.m.

10/14   UMBC at New Hampshire, 5:00 p.m.

10/15   UMBC at Albany, 7:00 p.m.

UMBC Visits Loyola (Md.) in Non-Conference Tilt

UMBC takes on Loyola (Md.) for the fourth time since the start of the 2004 season when the Retrievers travel to the Baltimore, Md., based school on Tuesday night.  UMBC has won all three meetings against the Greyhounds over the last two years.  Last season UMBC swept the Greyhounds in three sets at the William & Mary Invitational and won at home in four sets.  Jessie Folk tallied double-digit kills in both of those matches to lead UMBC.  Earlier this year UMBC cruised to a 3-1 (30-27, 30-23, 25-30, 30-16) win over Loyola (Md.) in the opening round of the George Mason Invitational.  Freshman Sarah Ball notched 19 kills and 17 digs for a double-double.

UMBC Hits The Road for Two Conference Matches

The Retrievers are on the road to play two conference away games this week, traveling to New Hampshire on Friday to play at 5 p.m. and competing against Albany at 7 p.m. on Saturday.  UMBC’s next four conference matches are against New Hampshire and Albany, playing both on the road this week and facing each one at home the following two weekends. 

UMBC last year split two matches with New Hampshire, defeating the Wildcats 3-2 at UNH before falling 3-1 at home later in the season.  UNH has won three-of-four matches against UMBC in the last two years but are 0-3 in conference play to date this season.

Albany won the America East Conference regular season and tournament last year and was predicted to win the league title again this year in the preseason conference poll.  UMBC was the first team to take a set away from Albany last year but fell in both matches, 3-1 and 3-0.  Albany is UMBC’s only opponent they have not defeated since entering the America East Conference. 

WEEKLY WRAP

UMBC Goes 2-0 Last Week

The Retrievers responded in conference play with two wins last week, sending the women’s volleyball team up to fourth in the conference standings heading into this week.  Only the top for teams make the conference tournament at the end of the season.    

UMBC 3, Hartford 1 (30-26, 25-30, 30-18, 30-24)

The UMBC women’s volleyball team recorded a 3-1 (30-26, 25-30, 30-18, 30-24) victory on Friday night over Hartford in America East Conference volleyball action.  The Retrievers were led by a double-double from Megan Gross and 17 kills from freshman Sarah Ball.  Jessie Folk tallied 11 kills and a .348 hitting percentage making three errors on 23 total attacks.  Gross notched the double-double with 47 assists and 14 digs while Christine Skala hit the 20-plus digs mark for the ninth time this season with 20 digs.  The Retrievers recorded 11 service aces, five by Ashley Hargrove, who also finished with seven kills, three digs and three blocks. 

UMBC 3, Stony Brook 1 (30-27, 30-28, 30-26)

The UMBC women’s volleyball team responded from an opening set loss to go on and win the next three sets and defeat Stony brook by a final score of 3-1 (22-30, 30-22, 30-25, 30-23) in America East volleyball action on Sunday afternoon at UMBC RAC Arena.  UMBC tallied 14 team blocks in the match, including eight assisted blocks from Amanda Willey and seven assisted by Jessie Folk.  Sarah Ball recorded a game-high 18 kills while Ashley Hargrove, Folk and Julia Hood all had nine kills.  Megan Gross tallied her second consecutive double-double with 42 assist and 10 digs.  Christine Skala tallied her 10^th 20-plus digs with 23 in the contest. 

DAWG BITES

Retriever Double-Doubles

Megan Gross last week had double-doubles in both matches while Sarah Ball leads the team with eight on the year.  The following is a list of UMBC’s double-doubles this year.

2005 Double-Doubles

Name                                           Total 1         Total 2                                       Opponent

Megan Gross                              42 Assists  10 Digs                                      vs. Stony Brook (10-9-05)

Megan Gross                              47 Assists  14 Digs                                      vs. Hartford (10-7-05)

Sarah Ball                                   17 Kills        14 Digs                                      vs. Morgan State (9-23-05)

Megan Gross                              23 Assists  16 Digs                                      vs. Coppin State (9-20-05)

Stacey Carroll                             55 Assists  12 Digs                                      vs. Fairfield (9-16-05)

Sarah Ball                                   23 Kills        10 Digs                                      vs. La Salle (9-10-05)

Stacey Carroll                             39 Assists  18 Digs                                      vs. La Salle (9-10-05)

Sarah Ball                                   21 Kills        14 Digs                                      vs. Delaware (9-6-05)

Stacey Carroll                             50 Assists  12 Digs                                      vs. Delaware (9-6-05)

Stacey Carroll                             35 Assists  10 Digs                                      vs. TCU (9-3-05)

Sarah Ball                                   17 Kills        11 Digs                                      vs. TCU (9-3-05)

Stacey Carroll                             59 Assists  11 Digs                                      vs. Cal Poly (9-2-05)

Sarah Ball                                   24 Kills        14 Digs                                      vs. Cal Polyl (9-2-05)

Stacey Carroll                             55 Assists  10 Digs                                      vs. Loyola (Md.) (9-2-05)

Sarah Ball                                   19 Kills        17 Digs                                      vs. Loyola (Md.) (9-2-05)

Sarah Ball                                   14 Kills        11 Digs                                      vs. Villanova (8-27-05)

Megan Gross                              44 Assists  15 Digs                                      vs. Northeastern (8-27-05)

Jessie Folk                                 15 Kills        13 Digs                                      vs. Northeastern (8-27-05)

Sarah Ball                                   11 Kills        16 Digs                                      vs. Northeastern (8-27-05)

Sarah Ball Captures Fifth Rookie of the Week Accolade

Freshman Sarah Ball Ball is setting the table for a strong run at conference rookie of the year, winning her fifth conference rookie of the week award, the most by any rookie this season.  Ball last week led UMBC to back-to-back conference wins over Hartford, 3-1, and Stony Brook, 3-1 as the rookie outside hitter averaged 4.38 kills per game and 4.62 points per game. Ball recorded 17 kills and 18 points against Hartford last Friday night. In an encore performance two days later, she tallied 18 kills with two block assists and 19 points against Stony Brook, leading the Retrievers back from a first set loss for a 3-1 victory. Ball last week added 15 digs, nine against Stony Brook as she was a dig away from her ninth double-double of the year. She has double-figures in kills in all 15 matches played in and is averaging a team-best 4.07 kpg and 4.69 ppg on the season.

2005 America East  Rookie of the Week Honors

Week                                                     Athlete

Aug. 29-Sep. 5                                     Sarah Ball

Sep. 6-11                                              Sarah Ball

Sep. 12-18                                            Lindsay Allman (Maine)/Caitlin Dowd (New Hampshire)

Sep. 19-25                                            Sarah Ball/Brianna Strong (Binghamton)

Sept. 26-Oct. 2                                     Sarah Ball

Oct. 3-9                                                  Sarah Ball

Christine Skala Tallies Two 20-Plus Digs Matches Last Week

UMBC senior Christine Skala recorded 20 digs against Hartford and 23 against Stony Brook as she has 10 20-plus dig performances to date this season.  Skala last week averaged 5.35 dpg, improving her season mark to 4.27 per game.  Skala ranks third in the AE Conference standings and has 1,349 for her career.

Retrievers Open Block Party On Stony Brook 

UMBC, despite Stony Brook sending the top ranked kills per game and points per game hitter in the conference against the Retrievers, blocked 14 points against the Seawolves as Amanda Willey tallied eight assited blocks, Jessie Folk seven assisted blocks and four assisted and a solo block by Ashley Hargrove.  UMBC ranks second in the conference at 2.10 bpg. 

Hargrove Acing The Competition

Freshman Ashley Hargrove recorded nine service aces in two matches last week for the Retrievers.  Hargrove aced Hartford five times last week and aced Stony Brook four times.  ON the year she has 32 service aces, 0.49 per game.  UMBC as a team ranks third in the conference at 1.96 aces per game.   

Retrievers In America East Charts

A number of Retrievers rank among the America East Conference chart leaders.  The following is how the Retriever fair heading into the upcoming week. 

America East Charts (as of games thru 10-9-05)

Hitting Percentage

        Name                             Mark

5.     Ashley Hargrove          .297

Kills (per game)

        Name                             Mark

2.     Sarah Ball                     4.07

Assists (per game)

        Name                             Mark

5.     Stacey Carroll               9.84

Service Aces (per game)

        Name                             Mark

5.     Ashley Hargrove          0.49

9.     Stacey Carroll               0.43

Blocks (per game)

        Name                             Mark

3.     Ashley Hargrove          0.97

6.     Katrina Carrick             0.89

Digs (per game)

Name                                     Mark

3.     Christine Skala            4.27

Points (per game)

Name                                     Mark

2.     Sarah Ball                     4.69

Angela Anderson Named To Embassy Suites All-Tournament Team

Redshirt freshman Angela Anderson was named to the Rutgers’ Embassy Suites Classic All-Tournament team after posting 4.33 kpg and 4.71 ppg at the tournament.  Anderson had a career match with 28 kills against Fairfield, hitting .352 with four digs and a block assist.  Anderson on the week averaged 4.00 kpg with two service aces, four total blocks and 12 digs. 

Ball Named to George Mason All-Tournament Team (9-4-05)

UMBC freshman Sarah Ball earned America East Rookie of the Week honors and was named to the George Mason Invitational All-Tournament team on Sept. 3.  Ball recorded 4.62 kpg and 3.23 digs per game (dpg) in the three matches at the invitational.  Ball recorded three double-doubles in the tournament to increase her streak to five matches with a double-double.

Carroll Emerges With Big Weekend At George Mason Invitational

Retriever sophomore Stacey Carroll has recorded a stellar weekend at the George Mason Invitational, recording 11.46 assists per game and 149 total assists in three matches.  Carroll recorded 59 assists Cal Poly to set the tournament mark for most assists in a single match.  Carroll also tied the mark for most service aces with five against Loyola (Md.). 

13 Home Matches Highlight 2005 Schedule

UMBC hosts 13 home matches in 2005 including two tri-matches.  The Retrievers opened the season with a tri-match against Northeastern and Villanova.  After going on the road for four matches UMBC will return home to face St. Peter’s and LaSalle in another tri-match on Sept. 10.  Other highlighted dates included local rival Towson, where current head coach Ian Blanchard served as an assistant coach last year, on Sept. 13, Binghamton as the conference opener on Sept. 30, last year’s conference champion Albany on Oct. 28 and the home finale against Hartford which will include senior night ceremonies on Nov. 11.

RETRIEVER RECORD CHASING

Christine Skala Closes In On Fifth All-Time

Christine Skala currently leads all active Retrievers in career digs with the sixth best mark all-time.  The senior libero is now chasing fifth place all-time held by Jen Jewell with 1,422 digs.  Skala entering the week has 1,349 career digs.  Megan Gross is closing in on 1,000 for her career. 

UMBC Career Digs Chart

        Name                             Digs

1.     Tracey Cullins              1,475

2.     Lanae Baker                 1,460

3.     Kelly O’Brien                 1,444

4.     Megan McNamara       1,429

5.     Jen Jewell                     1,422

6.     Christine Skala           1,349

7.     Lisa Cline                     1,197

8.     Megan Gross               964

Folk Among The Top-10 For Total Blocks All-Time

Jessie Folk entered the top-10 for total blocks all-time earlier this year, surpassing Dawn Garnes and Pam Lottes, who held the 10^th mark all-time with 182 total blocks.  Folk now has 209 career total blocks, seventh all-time.

UMBC Career Total Blocks Chart

        Name                             Total Blocks

5.     Kelly O’Brien                 251

6.     Jocelyn Teoh                226

7.     Jessie Folk                   210

8.     Lisa Cline                     208

9.     Loreta Saurusaitis      205

10.  Anna Gibbs                   204

        Megan Gross               156

        -bold denotes active player

Folk Tied For Third All-Time on Assisted Blocks Chart

Jessie Folk ranks tied for third on UMBC’s all-time assisted blocks chart.  The junior middle blocker and opposite hitter recorded eight assisted blocks last week. 

UMBC Career Assisted Blocks Chart

        Name                             Assisted Blocks

1.     Kara Welniak                299

2.     Jen Davis                      227

3.     Jessie Folk                   191

        Dana Eberly                  191

5.     Jocelyn Teoh                180

6.     Megan Gross               134

    -bold denotes active player

Megan Gross Ranks Second All-Time In Assists

UMBC senior Megan Gross ranks second all-time in career assists.  Gross last year become the third Retriever to ever reach 3,000 career assists.  Her current mark is 3,313 assists.

UMBC Career Assists Chart

    Name                                 Assists

1. Lanae Baker                    4,722

2. Megan Gross                   3,313

3. Heather Hollidge             3,034

    -bold denotes active player

Seniors Among All-time Matches and Games Played Leaders

Christine Skala this season joined the top-10 for matches played while Megan Gross is chasing a top-10 ranking.  Both are closing in on the games played list as well. 

UMBC Career Matches Played Chart

        Name                             Matches Played

9.     Kelly O’Brien                 113

10.  Christine Skala           112

        Megan Gross               106

        -bold denotes active player

UMBC Career Games Played Chart

        Name                             Games Played

9.     Kara Welniak                411

10.  Jennifer Davis              406

        Christine Skala           403

        Megan Gross               362

        -bold denotes active player