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News Release

UMBC Volleyball Freshmen Duo Take Two Of Three Weekly Conference Honors

9/18/2006

Kira Giles recorded 50-plus assists twice last week, en route to earning conference Setter of the Week.

Baltimore, Md. - UMBC volleyball freshmen Ashley Oscars (Bakersfield, Calif./Liberty) and Kira Giles (Winnipeg, Canada/Glenlawn) garnered two of the three weekly awards handed out by the America East Conference.  Oscars was named America East Rookie of the Week for the second consecutive week while Giles was named America East Setter of the Week, her second overall weekly honor after being tabbed the top rookie in week one of the season.

Oscars earns the award for the conference's top rookie for the second-straight week as she garnered a spot on the Villanova Classic All-Tournament team last weekend after leading UMBC with 4.00 kills per game and 4.61 points per game. Oscars, who has double figure kills in her last seven matches, recorded 13 kills against Sacred Heart, 14 against Holy Cross and 13 against Villanova. Oscars had three service aces and two assisted blocks for 17.0 points in the UMBC win over Sacred Heart. Against Villanova, Oscars hit .281 with four errors on 32 attacks.

Oscars opened the week by recording her first career double-double, tallying 16 kills and 11 digs against Loyola (Md.). Oscars added a solo block and assisted block in the match for 17.5 points. She hit .325 with three errors on 40 total attacks. For the season Oscars leads the team with 3.86 kpg and 4.34 ppg.

Giles continued to run the UMBC offense effectively last week as UMBC went 3-1 on the week, en route to winning her first-ever Setter of the Week award. Giles averaged 11.86 assists per game with 166 total assists on the week. Giles recorded 53 assists for her first 50-plus assist performance in UMBC’s 3-1 win over Loyola (Md.). Giles placed three Retrievers in double-figure kills in the match and recorded four kills on her own, with no errors on nine attacks (.444 hitting percentage).

Giles in the Retrievers’ three-set win over Sacred Heart handed out 32 assists to go with nine digs before setting a new career high against Holy Cross, handing out 54 assists to top her 53 mark earlier in the week. With 13 digs to go with her 54 assists, Giles tallied her seventh double-double of the year. Giles finished the week with 27 assists and eight digs against Villanova. For the season, Giles is averaging 10.91 apg, a pace that will place her third on UMBC’s single-season assists per game chart. She is adding 3.05 digs per game as well.

Giles and Oscars have combined to capture all three of the conferences rookie of the week awards to date this season with Giles winning week one and Oscars winning the last two weeks.  Albany’s Ashley DeNeal was named America East Player of the Week.