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News Release

VOLLEYBALL NEWS AND NOTES:

11/8/2005

Senior Christine Skala needs 22 digs to tie the UMBC all-time mark of 1,475.

, Md. – The UMBC volleyball team will play two matches this weekend, hosting Senior Night on Friday at 7 p.m. in RAC Arena and traveling to Binghamton for Sunday’s season finale.  News and Notes this week updates the Retrievers’ record setting progress as Christine Skala needs 22 digs to reach the all-time mark, Ashley Hargrove moves into fourth on the single-season charts for assisted blocks while junior Jessie Folk joins that same chart for the third consecutive year. 

LOOKING AHEAD                                     

This Week:

11/11  Hartford at UMBC, 7:00 p.m.

11/13  UMBC at Binghamton, 1:00 p.m.

Retrievers Officially Eliminated From Conference Tournament

UMBC after falling 3-1 to Stony Brook last weekend and a 3-0 win by New Hampshire against Hartford was officially eliminated from the America East Conference Tournament.  UMBC, which jumped out to a 3-2 start in league play, has lost five consecutive conference matches and sits at 3-7 in league standings.  Stony Brook and New Hampshire each has four league wins and play each other on Friday night.  The winner of the that match will have five conference wins and hold tie breaker advantages over UMBC, if the Retrievers were to win both matches this weekend. 

Senior Night At the RAC

UMBC will hold Senior Night on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. in RAC Arena as the Retrievers take on Hartford.  Seniors Megan Gross and Christine Skala will be playing in their final home match that night as both leave behind some of the best marks in Retriever history.  Currently Gross ranks second in all-time assists while Skala is third on the Retrievers’ all-time digs chart.  A pre-match ceremony will take place, honoring both seniors for their career accomplishments as student-athletes. 

UMBC Ends Season At Binghamton

UMBC’s season will come to a close against Binghamton on Sunday as the Retrievers take on the Bearcats.  UMBC will look to play the spoiler on the Bearcats senior day and possibly drop the Bearcats to the No. 3 seed in the league tournament.  Binghamton earlier this year defeated UMBC, 3-0. 

WEEKLY WRAP

UMBC Drops Two As Skid Extends To Six

The Retrievers dropped two matches last week, falling to Maine, 3-1, and Stony Brook, 3-1, in league action last week. 

Maine 3, UMBC 1 (30-16, 25-30, 30-25, 30-19)

The UMBC women’s volleyball team dropped their fifth consecutive match on Thursday night  to the Maine Black Bears  at Memorial Gymnasium by a final count of 3-1 (30-16, 25-30, 30-25, 30-19).  Each team split the first two sets before the Black Bears emerged with sets three and four for the win.  Sarah Ball tallied a team-high 14 kills while Jessie Folk hit .417, tallying 11 kills and one error on 24 attacks.  Jennifer Wylie finished with 27 digs and Megan Gross handed out 30 assists.

Stony Brook 3, UMBC 1 (35-33, 30-21, 22-30, 30-16)

The Stony Brook volleyball team defeated UMBC 3-1 (35-33, 30-21, 22-30, 30-16) on Sunday afternoon in America East Conference action. With the win, the Seawolves improve to 10-16 and 4-6 in the America East and move a half-game up on New Hampshire for the final America East Tournament spot. The loss drops the Retrievers to 10-17 and 3-7 in conference play and a full game behind the Seawolves in the league standings.  Julia Hood led the way for UMBC recording a team-high 14 kills. Sarah Ball added 12 kills and 17 digs and Jessie Folk contributed 11 kills in the loss.  Megan Gross tallied 47 assists and 10 digs while Jennifer Wylie had a team-high 25 digs and Christine Skala tallied 18. 

DAWG BITES

Retriever Double-Doubles

 Sarah Ball tallied her team-high 11^th double-double on the year last week.  The following is a list of UMBC’s double-doubles this year.

2005 Double-Doubles

Name                                           Total 1         Total 2                                       Opponent

Sarah Ball                                   12 Kills        17 Digs                                      vs. Stony Brook (11-6-05)

Megan Gross                              47 Assists  10 Digs                                      vs. Stony Brook (11-6-05)

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)

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)

Oct. 31-Nov. 6                                       Amy Lawson (Maine)

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

8.     Ashley Hargrove          .266

Kills (per game)

        Name                             Mark

3.     Sarah Ball                     3.82

Assists (per game)

        Name                             Mark

5.     Stacey Carroll               9.40

7.     Megan Gross               7.83

Service Aces (per game)

        Name                             Mark

5.     Ashley Hargrove          0.45

8.     Stacey Carroll               0.41

Blocks (per game)

        Name                             Mark

3.     Ashley Hargrove          0.94

5.     Katrina Carrick             0.88

Digs (per game)

Name                                     Mark

4.     Christine Skala            4.05

Points (per game)

Name                                     Mark

3.     Sarah Ball                     4.48

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 All-Time Mark

Christine Skala currently leads all active Retrievers in career digs and has the third best mark all-time.  The senior libero is now chasing the all-time mark held by Tracey Cullins with 1,475 digs.  Skala entering the week has 1,453 career digs and needs 22 to reach the all-time mark. 

UMBC Career Digs Chart

        Name                             Digs

1.     Tracey Cullins              1,475

2.     Lanae Baker                 1,460

3.     Christine Skala           1,453

4.     Kelly O’Brien                 1,444

5.     Megan McNamara       1,429

6.     Jen Jewell                     1,422

7.     Lisa Cline                     1,197

8.     Megan Gross               1,054

Skala Becomes First Player Since 1997 To Reach Single-Season Digs Top-10

UMBC senior Christine Skala is not just breaking career digs records but personal and single season ones as well.  The Retriever libero has 437 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.  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 (400 Digs Club)

        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.     Christine Skala           2005           437

7.     Lanae Baker                 1996           425

8.     Kelly O’Brien                 1993           424

9.     Megan McNamara       1996           418

10.  Megan McNamara       1997           416

11.  Jen Jewell                     1993           414

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 236 career total blocks, sixth all-time.

UMBC Career Total Blocks Chart

        Name                             Total Blocks

5.     Kelly O’Brien                 251

6.     Jessie Folk                   236

7.     Jocelyn Teoh                226

8.     Lisa Cline                     208

9.     Loreta Saurusaitis      205

10.  Anna Gibbs                   204

        Megan Gross               168

        -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                   214

4.     Dana Eberly                  191

5.     Jocelyn Teoh                180

6.     Megan Gross               140

    -bold denotes active player

Freshman Hargrove Moves To Fourth On Top-10 for Single-Season Assisted Blocks

UMBC freshman Ashley Hargrove is having one of Retrievers’ top seasons for assisted blocks, recording 79 on the year heading into the week.  Last week Hargrove assisted on five blocks and ranks fourth all-time.  Jessie Folk is one assisted block away from recording her third single-season ranking as many years.     

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.     Ashley Hargrove         2005       79

5.     Jessie Folk                   2003       75

6.     Jessie Folk                   2004       70

7.     Dana Eberly                  1994       69

8.     Megan Gross               2003       63

        Jocelyn Teoh                2003       63

        Kara Welniak                2000       63

        Jessie Folk                   2005       62

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 3,572 assists.

UMBC Career Assists Chart

    Name                                 Assists

1. Lanae Baker                    4,722

2. Megan Gross                   3,572

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 entered the matches played chart last week.    

UMBC Career Matches Played Chart

        Name                             Matches Played

4.     Lanae Baker                 122

5.     Sheri Data                     121

6.     Christine Skala           120

7.     Lisa Cline                     119

8.     Julia Waclawiak           114

        Jen Jewell                     114        

        Megan Gross               114

        -bold denotes active player

UMBC Career Games Played Chart

        Name                             Games Played

6.     Lanae Baker                 446

7.     Christine Skala           433

8.     Lisa Cline                     427

9.     Jen Jewell                     423

10.  Kara Welniak                411

        Megan Gross               390

        -bold denotes active player