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News Release

VOLLEYBALL NEWS AND NOTES:

10/17/2005

News and Notes puts a watch on Christine Skala to break the all-time digs mark, needing 79 to reach first all-time

Megan Gross became the eighth member of the 1,000 digs club last week.

Ashley Hargrove joined the top-10 for single-season assisted blocks last week.

Baltimore, Md. – The UMBC volleyball team travels to American on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. for its final regular season non-conference match before starting the second half of league play with New Hampshire at home on Sunday at 1 p.m.  News and Notes this week puts a watch on Christine Skala as she sits four digs away from 1,400 for her career and 79 from tying the all-time mark.  In addition, Ashley Hargrove joins the single season top-10 for assisted blocks, Megan Gross becomes the eighth member of the 1,000 career dig club and a look what’s in store for the Retrievers in the second half of conference play. 

LOOKING AHEAD                                     

This Week:

10/18   UMBC at American, 7:00 p.m.

10/23   New Hampshire at UMBC, 1:00 p.m.

UMBC Concludes Non-Conference slate with American On Tuesday Night

UMBC will conclude its regular season non-conference schedule with a 7 p.m. match at American on Tuesday night.  American is in the midst of a 14-8 season with a 7-1 Patriot League record.  UMBC and American have not faced each other since 2002, when the Eagles earned a three-match sweep at UMBC RAC Arena.  UMBC has lost the last six matches to American, with the Retrievers last win coming during the 1996 season. 

UMBC Begins Second Half of Conference Season

The Retrievers, who get the final bye of the first half of conference play with the other six teams in action on Friday night, start their second half of conference action with New Hampshire at home on Sunday at 1 p.m.  UMBC this past weekend defeated the Wildcats in five sets, coming from a set down on two occasions and winning the final set by scoring five unanswered points to win set five, 16-14.  Last season the two teams split the season series. 

Second Half Of Conference Play Will Sort Out Teams For America East Tournament

While the rest of the conference will play their sixth and final match of the first half of conference play on Friday night, UMBC has already finished its portion and sits at 3-3, fourth in the league standings.  There potentially can be three teams tied with a 3-3 record after Friday night with Maine at three wins playing against Albany and Stony Brook with two wins playing New Hampshire.  UMBC in the second half welcomes two opponents to the RAC who they have already won against this season as New Hampshire and Hartford travel to UMBC.  The Retrievers will also host Albany and play at Binghamton, Maine and Stony Brook.  In the past UMBC has faltered down the stretch, losing its final seven conference games in 2003 and five of six last year.  The Retrievers, however, are a much more competitive squad, having played just five three-set matches out of 22 on the year and look poised for a run at their first conference tournament. 

WEEKLY WRAP

UMBC Goes 2-1 Last Week

The Retrievers won their first two matches of the week to stretch their win streak to four straight before running into Albany on Saturday night.  UMBC defeated Loyola (Md.) for the second time this season and New Hampshire last week.      

UMBC 3, Loyola (Md.) 0 (30-27, 30-21, 30-14)

The UMBC women’s volleyball team won its third straight match with a three-game sweep over Loyola College in a non-conference match at Reitz Arena on Tuesday evening.  The Retrievers, who swept the season series from their local rival, took the match with scores of 30-27, 30-21 and 30-14. UMBC defeated Loyola in four games on Sept. 2 at the George Mason University Patriot Invitational.

Freshman outside hitter Sarah Ball registered a match-high 13 kills along with five digs and three block assists.  Angela Anderson added 12 kills in the victory for the Retrievers, while Megan Gross recorded a double-double with 30 assists and 10 digs. UMBC also recorded 10 total blocks in the win.  Ashley Hargrove tallied five block assists while Amanda Willey tallied one solo and four assisted blocks.  Jessie Folk,  Ball and Gross each recorded three assisted blocks. 

UMBC 3, New Hampshire 2 (25-30, 30-17, 28-30, 30-22, 16-14)

The University of New Hampshire volleyball team held a 14-11 lead in the fifth game, but could not close out the match as the UMBC Retrievers scored five unanswered points to defeat the Wildcats in five games, 25-30, 30-17, 28-30, 30-22, 16-14, Friday evening at Lundholm Gymnasium. 

UMBC trailing 14-11 earned the serve back on an attack error by UNH’s Amy Dai to close the gap, 14-12.  With setter Megan Gross serving the Wildcats looked poised to finish the match off on a side out, but Jennifer Wylie dug the ball, allowing Gross to assist Sarah Ball for the kill to close the advantage to 14-13. UMBC tied the match at 14-14 after an attack error by Dai.  On the next point Jessie Folk and Amanda Willey rejected an attack by the Wildcats for one of UMBC’s 10 blocks of the match, giving UMBC at 15-14 lead.  On match point Ball and Folk looked to end the match on attacks but were stopped by two digs by Emmy Blouin.  After Blouin’s second dig Caitlin Dowd tried to tie the match for the Wildcats but missed on an attack error as the Retrievers earned the five-set win.

UMBC was led by Ball, who earned 17 kills in a match-high 67 attempts, plus contributed 14 defensive digs for her ninth double-double of the year.  Angela Anderson added 12 kills, while Ashley Hargrove notched seven kills and four blocks.  Gross ran a solid offense, earning 45 assists to go along with 21 digs and three service aces as she tallied her fourth consecutive double-double. Libero Christine Skala led her team with 22 defensive digs as she reached 20-plus digs for the 11^th time this season, while Folk earned five block assists.

Albany 3, UMBC 1 (30-22, 30-22, 22-30, 30-25)

The UMBC women’s volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (30-22, 30-22, 22-30, 30-25) decision to Albany in America East women’s volleyball action on Saturday night.  UMBC challenged the Great Danes winning set three and holding a 25-22 lead in set four before eight unanswered points allowed Albany to take the deciding game.

Sarah Ball extended her streak of double-digit kills to all 18 matches this season with 11 kills in the match.  Ball added 15 digs for her 10^th double-double of the season.  Megan Gross, who entered the match with four consecutive double-doubles, dished with 35 assists and eight digs while Ashley Hargrove scored nine kills.  Christine Skala tallied 18 digs and has 380 digs on the year.  With seven matches left in the season Skala is three digs off her single season career high of 383 digs set last year and has 1,396 for her career, needing less than 100 digs to reach the all-time mark of 1,475. 

DAWG BITES

Retriever Double-Doubles

Megan Gross and Sarah Ball each tallied two double-doubles last week.  Ball leads UMBC with 10 on the year.  The following is a list of UMBC’s double-doubles this year.

2005 Double-Doubles

Name                                           Total 1         Total 2                                       Opponent

Sarah Ball                                   11 Kills        15 Digs                                      vs. Albany (10-15-05)

Sarah Ball                                   17 Kills        14 Digs                                      vs. New Hampshire (10-14-05)

Megan Gross                              45 Assists  21 Digs                                      vs. New Hampshire (10-14-05)

Megan Gross                              30 Assists  10 Digs                                      vs. Loyola (Md.) (10-11-05)

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 Sixth Rookie of the Week Accolade

UMBC freshman Sarah Ball (Winnipeg, Canada/Sisler) was named America East Conference Women’s Volleyball Rookie of the Week for a record sixth time this season.  Ball breaks 2004 five-time honoree Kira Bautra of Northeastern with the most rookie of the week honors in a single season according to conference records.  Ball tallied 3.42 kills per game (kpg) and 4.08 points per game (ppg) in three matches last week, leading UMBC to a 2-1 record in three road contests.  Ball tallied two double-doubles for 10 on the year and has yet to play a collegiate match with out registering double-figures in kills, a span of 18 straight matches. Ball on the season is hitting .200 and ranks third in the conference charts with 3.96 kpg and second with 4.59 ppg. In conference play she is averaging 3.91 kpg, 4.39 ppg and 2.43 dpg. 

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

Oct. 10-16                                             Sarah Ball

Christine Skala Having Record Setting Season In Digs

UMBC senior Christine Skala has 380 digs this year and with seven matches left in the season needs three digs to tie her single-season career high of 383 digs.  Skala has 1,396 for her career, needing less than 100 digs to reach the all-time mark of 1,475.  Her 1,396 career digs is sixth all-time has she is closing in on fifth held by Jen Jewell with 1,422 digs.  Skala this year has 11 matches with 20-plus digs and reached her high of 26 digs in a game on two occasions.  Skala needs 34 digs to break into the single-season top-10 for single-season digs, which would make her the first Retriever to since 1997 to reach the top-10 and break the 400 single-season digs mark.   

Megan Gross Becomes Eighth Member of 1,000 Digs Club

UMBC senior Megan Gross tallied 21 digs against New Hampshire for her fourth double-double in a row and recorded eight digs against Albany as the Retriever setter surpassed 1,000 career digs, becoming the eighth Retriever all-time to accomplish that mark and the second in two years, joining current teammate and fellow senior Christine Skala.  Gross joins former Retriever Lanae Baker with at least 3,000 assists and 1,000 career digs in Retriever history. 

Hargrove Joins Top-10 Single Season Assisted Blocks Chart

Freshman middle blocker Ashley Hargrove tallied 11 assisted blocks last week and jumped from outside the single-season top-10 to sixth all-time on UMBC’s single-season assisted blocks chart with 66 assisted blocks this year.  Hargrove has 74 total blocks with eight solo and ranks third in the conference standings with 0.96 bpg. 

Hargrove Acing The Competition

Freshman Ashley Hargrove has 23 service aces in the last 10 matches, including five aces against Hartford and four versus Stony Brook.  On the year she has 36 service aces, 0.47 per game.  UMBC as a team ranks among the conference leaders in service aces with 1.99 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 10-16-05)

Hitting Percentage

        Name                             Mark

8.     Ashley Hargrove          .280

Kills (per game)

        Name                             Mark

3.     Sarah Ball                     3.96

10.  Angela Anderson         2.93

Assists (per game)

        Name                             Mark

5.     Stacey Carroll               9.84

Service Aces (per game)

        Name                             Mark

6.     Ashley Hargrove          0.47

8.     Stacey Carroll               0.43

Blocks (per game)

        Name                             Mark

3.     Ashley Hargrove          0.96

6.     Katrina Carrick             0.89

Digs (per game)

Name                                     Mark

4.     Christine Skala            4.22

Points (per game)

Name                                     Mark

2.     Sarah Ball                     4.59

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 1,396 career digs.  Megan Gross last week became the eighth member of the 1,000 dig club. 

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           1,396

7.     Lisa Cline                     1,197

8.     Megan Gross               1,003

Skala To Become First Player Since 1997 To Earn 400 Digs In a Season

UMBC senior Christine Skala is not just breaking career digs records but personal and single season ones as well.  The Retriever libero has 380 digs on the season, three off her single-season best set last year. Skala is 20 digs from becoming the first Retriever since 1997 and the 11^th all-time to reach 400 digs in a season.  To reach the 10^th spot all-time, which is held by Jen Jewell at 414, Skala needs 34 digs.  The all-time record is 537 in a single year set by Tracey Collins in 1990.  Only two players have ever reached 500 in a season in UMBC history. 

UMBC Single Season Digs Chart

        Name                             Year           Digs

1.     Tracey Cullins              1990           537

2.     Joy Figueredo              1990           516

3.     Judy Jackson               1993           474

4.     Tracey Cullins              1989           441

5.     Kelly O’Brien                 1990           439

6.     Lanae Baker                 1996           425

7.     Kelly O’Brien                 1993           424

8.     Megan McNamara       1996           418

9.     Megan McNamara       1997           416

10.  Jen Jewell                     1993           414

        Christine Skala           2005           380

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                   219

8.     Lisa Cline                     208

9.     Loreta Saurusaitis      205

10.  Anna Gibbs                   204

        Megan Gross               161

        -bold denotes active player

Folk Third Player All-Time To Reach 200 Career Assisted Blocks

Jessie Folk became the third player all-time to reach 200 career assisted blocks and ranks third onUMBC’s all-time assisted blocks chart.  The junior middle blocker and opposite hitter recorded nine assisted blocks last week. 

UMBC Career Assisted Blocks Chart

        Name                             Assisted Blocks

1.     Kara Welniak                299

2.     Jen Davis                      227

3.     Jessie Folk                   200

4.     Dana Eberly                  191

5.     Jocelyn Teoh                180

6.     Megan Gross               139

    -bold denotes active player

Freshman Hargrove Joins top-10 for Single-Season Assisted Blocks

UMBC freshman Ashley Hargrove is having one of Retrievers’ top season for assisted blocks, recording 66 on the year heading into the week.  Last week Hargrove assisted on 11 blocks jumping from outside the top-10 to seventh all-time for a single season on UMBC’s assisted blocks chart. 

UMBC Single-Season Assisted Blocks Chart

        Name                                             Assisted Blocks

1.     Kara Welniak                1999       93

2.     Kara Welniak                1998       87

3.     Dana Eberly                  1995       82

4.     Jessie Folk                   2003       75

5.     Jessie Folk                   2004       70

6.     Dana Eberly                  1994       69

7.     Ashley Hargrove         2005       66

8.     Megan Gross               2003       63

        Jocelyn Teoh                2003       63

        Kara Welniak                2000       63

Seniors Among All-time Matches and Games Played Leaders

Christine Skala this season joined the top-10 for matches played and games played while Megan Gross is chasing a top-10 ranking in both categories.    

UMBC Career Matches Played Chart

        Name                             Matches Played

4.     Lanae Baker                 122

5.     Sheri Data                     121

6.     Lisa Cline                     119

7.     Christine Skala           115

8.     Julia Waclawiak           114

        Jen Jewell                     114        

10.  Kelly O’Brien                 113

        Megan Gross               109

        -bold denotes active player

UMBC Career Games Played Chart

        Name                             Games Played

6.     Lanae Baker                 446

7.     Lisa Cline                     427

8.     Jen Jewell                     423

9.     Christine Skala           415

10.  Kara Welniak                411

        Megan Gross               374

        -bold denotes active player