UMBC

Printer Friendly  Email This Page
News Release

VOLLEYBALL NEWS AND NOTES:

10/25/2005

Christine Skala is tied for fifth all-time on UMBC's career digs chart.

Baltimore, Md. – The UMBC volleyball team hosts Albany this week at 5 p.m. on Friday at RAC Arena.  Currently the Retrievers are tied for the fourth spot in the America East Conference Standings with the top four teams advancing to the league tournament at the end of the regular season.  News and Notes this week looks at Christine Skala’s chase of the all-time career digs mark and UMBC’s freshman continuing to make news, with Sarah Ball earning her seventh rookie of the week accolade and Ashley Hargrove climbing the all-time single-season assisted blocks chart.   

LOOKING AHEAD                                     

This Week:

10/28  Albany at UMBC, 5:00 p.m.

UMBC Gets Second Chance Against Reigning Conference Champs, Albany

The Retrievers will get a second chance to knock-off the reigning conference champions when UMBC hosts Albany on Friday at 5 p.m. in RAC Arena.  In the first meeting, UMBC lost to the Great Danes, 3-1, in Albany.  UMBC trailed by two sets to start a comeback, winning set three and taking a 25-22 lead in set four before eight unanswered points sealed the win for the Great Danes.  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. 

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

UMBC with its loss to New Hampshire sits in a tie for the fourth and final spot in the America East Tournament.   UMBC down the stretch will host Albany and Hartford while traveling to 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 six three-set matches out of 24 on the year and look poised for a run at their first conference tournament. 

WEEKLY WRAP

UMBC Goes 0-2 Last Week

The Retrievers dropped two matches last week, falling at American in non-conference action and dropping a critical home conference game to New Hampshire. 

American 3, UMBC 0 (30-22, 30-24, 30-24)

The UMBC women’s volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (30-22, 30-24, 30-24) decision to American University on Tuesday night in the Retrievers’ final regular season non-conference match of the year.  UMBC struggled on the offensive end, hitting .111 in the match with 34 kills and 22 errors on 108 total attacks.  Sarah Ball recorded a team-high 11 kills while fellow freshman Ashley Hargrove hit double-digit kills with 10 in the match, recording a .450 hitting percentage with one error on 20 attacks.  Megan Gross and Stacey Carroll split the setting with Gross finishing with 15 assists and Carroll with 11.  Jennifer Wylie recorded 10 digs. 

New Hampshire 3, UMBC 1 (25-30, 30-17, 28-30, 30-22, 16-14)

The UMBC women’s volleyball team won the first set only to see the New Hampshire Wildcats respond with wins in the next three sets to top the Retrievers, 3-1 (23-30, 30-18, 3-24, 31-29), in America East volleyball action on Sunday afternoon at UMBC RAC Arena.  With the win the Wildcats evened the season series at 1-1 after UMBC beat the Wildcats in five-sets two weeks ago. 

UMBC rallied in set four, trailing 23-15 at one point to tie the match at 28-28 on a service ace by Sarah Ball.  On the next point Angela Anderson gave the Retrievers the lead at 29-28 with a kill.  The Wildcats, however, stopped the match from going to five sets as Erin Walker scored one of her match-high 18 kills on the day to notch the match at 29-29.  A service ace by Karen Harrington forced match-point against the Retrievers as an attack error on Anderson sealed the 3-1 win by UNH with a set four 31-29 victory.

Ball with 13 kills was the only Retriever in double-digits.  Megan Gross dished out 33 assists with 12 digs while Hargrove tallied seven kills, four service aces and four assisted blocks.  Christine Skala recorded 21 digs, moving into a tie with Jen Jewell for fifth place all-time on UMBC’s career digs chart with 1,422 career digs.

DAWG BITES

Retriever Double-Doubles

Megan Gross tallied a double-double last week, her seventh of the season.  Sarah 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

Megan Gross                              33 Assists  12 Digs                                      vs. New Hampshire (10-23-05)

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 Seventh 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 seventh time this season.  Ball last week broke 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 recorded 3.43 kpg, 2.14 dpg and 4.43 ppg last week in two matches with the Retrievers. The rookie outside hitter extended her streak of double-digit kills to 20, with reaching the 10-plus mark in every collegiate match played in to date. Ball against American University tallied 11 kills with six digs, adding a service ace and two block assists for 13.0 points in the match. Against New Hampshire in conference play, Ball recorded 18.0 points, with 13 kills, four service aces and two block assists. Ball added nine digs, coming one dig away from recording her 11th double-double of the year. Ball’s four service aces match a single-game high for her as she recorded four in the season opener this year. Ball on the week recorded a .125 hitting percentage and finished with 31.0 total points.

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

Oct. 17-23                                             Sarah Ball

Christine Skala Sets New Personal Best For a Season

UMBC senior Christine Skala has 406 digs this year, setting a new single-season personal career high after surpassing her previous single-season career high of 383 digs set last year.  Skala has 1,422 for her career, needing 53 digs to reach the all-time mark of 1,475.  Her 1,422 career digs is tied for fifth all-time with Jen Jewell.  Skala this year has 12 matches with 20-plus digs and reached her high of 26 digs in a game on two occasions.  Skala needs eight 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.   

Hargrove and Ball Acing The Competition

Freshman Sarah Ball joined classmate Ashley Hargrove last week at acing their opponents as the two combined for 10 of the Retrievers’ 17 service aces last week.  Hargrove tallied five aces and has 28 service aces in the last 12 matches, including five aces against Hartford and four versus Stony Brook and New Hampshire.  On the year she has 41 service aces, 0.49 per game, and ranks fourth in the league standings.  UMBC as a team ranks third in the league in service aces with 2.02 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 10-23-05)

Hitting Percentage

        Name                             Mark

8.     Ashley Hargrove          .283

Kills (per game)

        Name                             Mark

3.     Sarah Ball                     3.91

Assists (per game)

        Name                             Mark

5.     Stacey Carroll               9.70

7.     Megan Gross               7.42

Service Aces (per game)

        Name                             Mark

4.     Ashley Hargrove          0.49

9.     Stacey Carroll               0.42

Blocks (per game)

        Name                             Mark

3.     Ashley Hargrove          0.95

6.     Katrina Carrick             0.88

Digs (per game)

Name                                     Mark

4.     Christine Skala            4.19

Points (per game)

Name                                     Mark

2.     Sarah Ball                     4.57

Megan Gross Becomes Eighth Member of 1,000 Digs Club

UMBC senior Megan Gross tallied 21 digs at 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. 

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 Tied For Fifth All-Time

Christine Skala currently leads all active Retrievers in career digs and is tied with the fifth best mark all-time.  The senior libero is now chasing fourth place all-time held by Megan McNamara with 1,429 digs.  Skala entering the week has 1,422 career digs, tied with Jen Jewell. 

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.     Christine Skala           1,422

        Jen Jewell                     1,422

7.     Lisa Cline                     1,197

8.     Megan Gross               1,003

Skala Becomes 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 406 digs on the season, surpassing her single-season best set last year. Skala last became the first player since 1997 to reach 400 digs in a season.  To reach the 10^th spot all-time for a single season, which is held by Jen Jewell at 414, Skala needs eight 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           406

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 228 career total blocks, sixth all-time.

UMBC Career Total Blocks Chart

        Name                             Total Blocks

5.     Kelly O’Brien                 251

6.     Jessie Folk                   228

7.     Jocelyn Teoh                226

8.     Lisa Cline                     208

9.     Loreta Saurusaitis      205

10.  Anna Gibbs                   204

        Megan Gross               164

        -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 on UMBC’s all-time assisted blocks chart.  The junior middle blocker and opposite hitter recorded six assisted blocks last week. 

UMBC Career Assisted Blocks Chart

        Name                             Assisted Blocks

1.     Kara Welniak                299

2.     Jen Davis                      227

3.     Jessie Folk                   206

4.     Dana Eberly                  191

5.     Jocelyn Teoh                180

6.     Megan Gross               139

    -bold denotes active player

Freshman Hargrove Moving Up Top-10 for Single-Season Assisted Blocks

UMBC freshman Ashley Hargrove is having one of Retrievers’ top seasons for assisted blocks, recording 72 on the year heading into the week.  Last week Hargrove assisted on six blocks and now ranks fifth all-time. 

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.     Ashley Hargrove         2005       72

6.     Jessie Folk                   2004       70

7.     Dana Eberly                  1994       69

8.     Megan Gross               2003       63

        Jocelyn Teoh                2003       63

        Kara Welniak                2000       63

Megan Gross Ranks Second All-Time In Assists

UMBC senior Megan Gross ranks second all-time in career assists.  Gross last year became the third Retriever to ever reach 3,000 career assists.  Her current mark is 3,361 assists.

UMBC Career Assists Chart

    Name                                 Assists

1. Lanae Baker                    4,722

2. Megan Gross                   3,361

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 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           117

8.     Julia Waclawiak           114

        Jen Jewell                     114        

10.  Kelly O’Brien                 113

        Megan Gross               111

        -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           422

10.  Kara Welniak                411

        Megan Gross               380

        -bold denotes active player