Bucknell Volleyball Travels to Army, Holy Cross in Weekend Action

Bison Seek to Carry Momentum into Week Two

 
The Bucknell volleyball team goes on the road to face Patriot League foes Army and Holy Cross this weekend.
The Bucknell volleyball team goes on the road to face Patriot League foes Army and Holy Cross this weekend.
 

Oct. 2, 2008

LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell volleyball team will try to carry its momentum from a 3-0 victory over St. Francis (N.Y.) on Tuesday into a bout with Army in its second weekend of Patriot League. The match, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3, will be played in Gillis Field House in West Point, N.Y. The Bison (6-10, 1-1) follow their contest with the Black Knights with a matchup with Holy Cross at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4 in Worcester, Mass.

Live stats for the Bucknell-Army match

BISON VOLLEYBALL NOTEBOOK

About the Opponent

  • The senior-laden Army team enters the second weekend of Patriot League play with a 13-2 overall record and 2-0 in the league. The Black Knights' only losses came to Bowling Green at the Temple Tournament in early September and No. 5 Southern California at the West Point Challenge two weeks ago. Last weekend, Army, which was picked second in the Patriot League preseason poll, earned its two league wins by going 3-0 over Lafayette and 3-1 against Lehigh.

    • In the 2008 campaign, Army has four seniors with more than 100 kills. Briana Stremick has the team high with 155 (3.1/set), but Jamie Clark (142 kills, 2.9/set), Rachael Breinling (140 kills, 2.8/set) and Elizabeth Lazzari (132 kills, 2.54/set) are close behind. A majority of those kills were assisted by junior Maureen Bannon who has tallied 479 assists (10.41/set) on the year. Bannon is the two-time defending Patriot League Setter of the Year.

    Bucknell struggled against Army in 2007, dropping both matches to the Black Knights. In their first meeting, the Bison fell by a score of 3-1 after taking the first set. Heidi Kamp totaled 11 kills and five blocks and, with 39 assists and 13 digs, Shannon Pitsch became one of three Bison to record a double-double in the match. In their final meeting of the year, Army swept the Orange and Blue despite 14 digs from then-senior Jenna Henderson. With that total, Henderson became the second player in school history to record more than 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career.


     

     

  • Holy Cross begins its second week of Patriot League action with an overall record of 1-13 and 0-2 in the Patriot League. The Crusaders' lone win came by a score of 3-2 over Wagner in mid-September. Most recently, the squad dropped 3-1 decisions to Lehigh and Lafayette.

    • Holy Cross is led offensively by a pair of junior attackers, Samantha Surface and Liz Auger. Surface has totaled 142 kills (2.84/set) in 2008, while Auger has added 120 (2.73/set). The Crusaders' assists leader is sophomore Chesley O'Donnell with 331 (7.2/set), while the team's defense is strengthened by 165 digs (3.3/set) from sophomore Angela Chisholm.

    The Bison swept Holy Cross in each of their 2007 meetings. Kamp and Kaitlin Segal combined for 11 kills, and Pitsch served for a career-high six aces when the two first played at Bucknell. The Orange and Blue won easily in the teams' second meeting, as Bucknell attackers hit .323 and committed a mere three errors during the match.

    Last Time Out

  • The Bison swept St. Francis (N.Y.) on Tuesday night at Davis Gym. Freshman Kyleigh McAhren had one of the best matches of her young career at Bucknell, totaling 12 kills, four aces and three digs. The dozen kills tied a career-best and the four aces set a new high for the Californian. Segal contributed seven kills, and senior Liz Hazuka added six more.

  • Earlier in the week, the Orange and Blue opened its Patriot League schedule with a 3-0 win over Navy. Segal led the attack with 16 kills, and Pitsch chipped in with 33 assists to push her over the 300 mark for 2008. Bucknell then took on American, falling 3-0. Senior Sheena Czipri tallied a team-high seven digs in the match, bringing her to 16 for the weekend.

  • Kamp continued her consistent play throughout the weekend. After finishing second on the team with nine kills at Navy, she repeated with nine more at American a day later. Her weekend average of .433 was highest on the team. The Oregon native added eight more kills and five blocks when her team met with St. Francis (N.Y.).

  • Bucknell is putting Pitsch back on record watch. With 125 service aces, the senior is three away from breaking into the top five for career aces by a Bison. Pitsch became the top setter for Bucknell when she broke the school's career assists record against La Salle on Sept. 20.

    • Looking Ahead

  • Bucknell plays Colgate next at 6 p.m. on Oct. 10 at home. In addition to joining the Bison in Davis Gym, fans can watch the game live on Bison Vision or follow the match with live stats on Gametracker. The Orange and Blue head west later in the weekend to take on Cal State Fullerton at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12 in Fullerton, Calif., and Cal State Bakersfield at 10 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 13 in Bakersfield, Calif.

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