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News Release

VOLLEYBALL NEWS AND NOTES:

10/31/2005

Christine Skala and the Retrievers begin the final two weeks of the regular season at Maine on Thursday.

Baltimore, Md. – The UMBC volleyball team has a time change in its schedule this week as the Retrievers will take on Maine at 5:30 p.m. on Friday in Orono, Maine.  The match was originally scheduled for 7 p.m.  This week news and notes takes a look at the final two weeks of the conference season, a look ahead to Senior Night on Nov. 11 and Retrievers chasing all-time records. 

LOOKING AHEAD                                     

This Week:

11/3  UMBC at Maine, 5:30 p.m.

11/6  UMBC at Stony Brook, 1:00 p.m.

Time Change For UMBC at Maine

The UMBC at Maine volleyball match on Thursday night has been moved to a 5:30 p.m. start from the original 7 p.m. time.  The Retrievers look to avenge their earlier season loss to the Black Bears and keep pace in the conference standings.  Currently Maine is 5-3 in league play, holding a two match advantage over UMBC.  A win by the Retrievers could tighten the league standings while a loss could almost secure Maine a definite spot in the league tournament.  UMBC has faced Maine six times over the last two season, holding a 2-4 record against the Black Bears.  Maine has won the last four meetings and swept UMBC in two matches last year.  The game marks the start of three out of the Retrievers’ final four regular season matches on the road.

UMBC Looks For Season Sweep Against Stony Brook

UMBC will look to complete the regular season sweep of Stony Brook on Sunday as the Retrievers take on the Seawolves in a 1 p.m. contest.  UMBC has just one season sweep since joining the conference with that one coming last year against Hartford.  UMBC won the first meeting this season against Stony Brook, 3-1, in UMBC RAC Arena.  UMBC has won the last two meetings against Stony Brook and is 2-3 against Stony Brook since the Retrievers inception into the conference.

Conference Standings Taking Shape With A Lot of Volleyball Left To Play

The America East Conference standings are starting to take shape with Albany and Binghamton at 8-1 league records already securing themselves in the AE Tournament.  Maine holds a two-match advantage for the third spot while UMBC, 3-5, Stony Brook, 3-5, and New Hampshire, 3-6, are all fighting for the fourth and final spot in the league tournament at the end of the regular season.  UMBC and Stony Brook, who will meet this Sunday, are have four matches left to play and a half-match ahead of UNH, who has three league matches left.  Maine has four matches as well, which includes both Albany and Binghamton along with UMBC, this Thursday, and Stony Brook to end the season. 

Senior Night Set For Nov. 11 At 7 p.m.

Mark your calendars and be sure to be at RAC Arena on Friday, November 11 at 7 p.m. as the UMBC women’s volleyball team will hold a short pre-game ceremony for senior’s Christine Skala and Megan Gross.  Skala and Gross have each entrenched themselves in the Retriever record books and been the face of the program the past four seasons.  UMBC that night will play its final home match of the season against Hartford.    

WEEKLY WRAP

UMBC Falls in Lone Match Last Week

The Retrievers dropped their lone match last week to Albany and are currently on a four-match skid. 

Albany 3, UMBC 0 (30-23, 30-19, 30-19)

The UMBC women’s volleyball team dropped three consecutive sets to Albany on Friday night at UMBC RAC Arena.  The Great Danes swept the Retrievers, 3-0, with consecutive set wins of 30-23, 30-19 and 30-19.  UMBC was unable to place any players in double-digits in the kills category as Sarah Ball’s streak of 20-consecutive matches with double-digit kills came to an end.  The freshman outside hitter, who entered the match with double-digit kills in every collegiate match played in, tallied her lowest output of the season with nine kills while recording a team-high 17 digs.

Albany emerged in set one, which turned out to be the closest set featuring eight ties and five lead changes, behind Shelby Goldman’s five kills and 13 assists from Blair Buchanan.  Albany tallied 18 kills and a .222 hitting percentage in the first set. The Great Danes continued to cruise in sets two and three, hitting above .300 as a team in each set with 20 kills in set two and 18 in set three.  Goldman finished with 15 kills and a .355 hitting percentage.  Buchanan tallied 40 assists and Ashley DeNeal recorded 29 digs.

Megan Gross tallied a double-double for UMBC with 22 assists and 14 digs.  UMBC as a team hit .108 with 30 kills and 16 errors. 

DAWG BITES

Retriever Double-Doubles

Megan Gross tallied a double-double last week, her eighth 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                              22 Assists  14 Digs                                      vs. Albany (10-28-05)

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 Streaks Snapped Last Week

Two highly impressive streaks by Retriever freshman Sarah Ball came to an end last week as the rookie outside hitter finished one kill away from her 21^st match with double-digit kills and was beat out by Binghamton’s Brianna Strong for Rookie of the week, break five consecutive weeks with the honor.  Ball tallied nine kills and 17 digs against Albany in UMBC’s lone match last week.  Entering the match, Ball had recorded double-figure kills in all 20 collegiate matches played in.  Ball this year is a seven-time rookie of the week honoree by the conference, setting a mark for most honors by a volleyball freshman in a season in league history. 

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

Oct. 24-30                                             Brianna Strong (Binghamton)

Christine Skala Returns to Freshman Year Roll

UMBC senior Christine Skala moved into the roll of outside hitter against Albany last week, a position she played when she first arrived at UMBC as a freshman.  In her rookie year, Skala tallied 2.83 kpg for the Retrievers hitting from the outside.  This past week against Albany Skala tallied six kills and a .182 hitting percentage with two errors on 22 total attacks.  Skala added four digs and has 410 digs this year, increasing her single-season personal career high after surpassing her previous single-season career high of 383 digs set last year earlier this season.  Skala has 1,426 for her career, needing 49 digs to reach the all-time mark of 1,475.  Her 1,426 career digs is fifth all-time in UMBC history.  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 four 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.   

Retrievers In America East Charts

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

America East Charts (as of games thru 10-30-05)

Hitting Percentage

        Name                             Mark

7.     Ashley Hargrove          .282

Kills (per game)

        Name                             Mark

3.     Sarah Ball                     3.88

Assists (per game)

        Name                             Mark

5.     Stacey Carroll               9.62

7.     Megan Gross               7.42

Service Aces (per game)

        Name                             Mark

5.     Ashley Hargrove          0.47

9.     Stacey Carroll               0.41

Blocks (per game)

        Name                             Mark

2.     Ashley Hargrove          0.95

5.     Katrina Carrick             0.88

Digs (per game)

Name                                     Mark

4.     Christine Skala            4.10

Points (per game)

Name                                     Mark

2.     Sarah Ball                     4.55

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 Chasing Fourth All-Time

Christine Skala currently leads all active Retrievers in career digs and has 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 1,426 career digs. 

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           1,426

6.     Jen Jewell                     1,422

7.     Lisa Cline                     1,197

8.     Megan Gross               1,035

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 410 digs on the season, surpassing her single-season best set last year. Skala earlier this season 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 four 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           410

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. 

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 74 on the year heading into the week.  Last week Hargrove assisted on two blocks and 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       74

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 3,383 assists.

UMBC Career Assists Chart

    Name                                 Assists

1. Lanae Baker                    4,722

2. Megan Gross                   3,383

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           118

8.     Julia Waclawiak           114

        Jen Jewell                     114        

10.  Kelly O’Brien                 113

        Megan Gross               112

        -bold denotes active player

UMBC Career Games Played Chart

        Name                             Games Played

6.     Lanae Baker                 446

7.     Lisa Cline                     427

8.     Christine Skala           425

9.     Jen Jewell                     423

10.  Kara Welniak                411

        Megan Gross               383

        -bold denotes active player