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Shannon Pitsch and the Bison will compete in the Patriot League Tournament this weekend.
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Bucknell Volleyball Heads to Patriot League Tournament Friday
Bison to Face Host, No. 1 Seed American
Nov. 19, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell volleyball team will try to claim its first Patriot League Tournament title since 2000 as they take on American at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 22. Bucknell (13-17, 8-6) enters the tournament seeded fourth, while American (22-8, 13-1) is seeded first. The team that comes away victorious will take on the winner of the Colgate-Army match at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23. All matches will be played at American’s Bender Arena in Washington, D.C.
Complete Release 
Bucknell Patriot League Tournament preview 11-20-08 
BISON VOLLEYBALL NOTEBOOK
About the Matches
- Bucknell will try to redeem itself when it faces the No. 1 seed, American University, on Friday. The Bison lost 3-0 in both regular-season matches, although the teams’ second meeting was more closely contested than the first.
- No. 3 seeded Colgate will face No. 2 Army in the second match on Friday. Army is 2-0 against Colgate in 2008. If Bucknell defeats American earlier in the evening, it will face the winner of this match in the Championship on Saturday. The winner of the Patriot League Tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in December.
- With a 13-1 Patriot League record and having lost just five sets all season, American earned the right to host the 2008 Patriot League Tournament at their home court, Bender Arena, in Washington, D.C.
About the Bison
- Senior Shannon Pitsch and sophomore Kaitlin Segal were each honored for their strong play in 2008. The pair was voted to the All-Patriot League Second Team by the league’s coaches earlier this week.
- Bucknell has earned the Patriot League Tournament title twice. The Bison brought home the trophy in 1998 and repeated in 2000, making them the last team other than American to win a championship.
- The Bison ended the regular-season on a high note, earning wins in each of their last two matches. Bucknell swept Lehigh on Friday before defeating Lafayette 3-1 on Saturday. Both victories came at Davis Gym.
- Sophomore Heidi Kamp had the match of the season against Lehigh. The middle blocker hit a career-high .722 (13-0-18), and tallied two service aces, two digs and three block assists. Freshman Kyleigh McAhren also set a new career-best hitting percentage with .636 (8-1-11).
- Two Bison completed double-digit kills against Lafayette. Segal registered 20, while senior Liz Hazuka added 11. Segal completed the double-double with 15 digs, leading the team in the defensive category. Pitsch rounded out the strong offensive contest with 49 assists. She also had five kills on five attempts and did not commit an attack error.
About the Eagles
- American enters the tournament with seven consecutive Patriot League Tournament Championships under their belts, starting in 2001. The defending champions had won 74 consecutive Patriot League contests, but that streak ended in their last regular-season match on Nov. 15 when they played Army in West Point, N.Y. In that match, the Eagles fell 3-1. American boasts an overall Patriot League record of 190-3 since joining the league in 2001 and has accumulated 12 consecutive 20-win seasons. The Eagles will be a difficult foe to face on their home court as they have won 35 straight matches in Bender Arena, dating back to September 2006.
- The two-time Patriot League Player of the Year, Rubena Sukaj, will likely be out in full force as she concludes her senior season. After being selected as the league’s Player of the Week four times in 2008, she was recently named to the All-Patriot League First Team. Sukaj has amassed 436 kills (4.23/set) this season, helping her to become the all-time kills leader in league history with 2,045.
- Joining Sukaj on the All-Patriot League First Team are teammates Christina Nash and Ivana Cebakova. With 1,076 assists (10.15/set) this year, Nash has moved into sixth place for career asssists (3,704) in the Patriot League. Cebakova is the defending Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year and has added 345 digs to her career total this season. Also a player to watch, Rebecca Heath has won six Patriot League Baden Rookie of the Week honors, with five of them coming consecutively in September and October. The freshman has registered 296 kills (2.87/set) this year.
About the Black Knights
- Army (26-3, 13-1), which is seeded second, has also had its share of winning Patriot League titles. The Black Knights earned the championship in 1991, 1992 and 1994.
- Among Army’s All-Patriot League selections were Maureen Bannon and Jamie Clark on the First Team, and Rachael Breinling, Elizabeth Lazzari and Briana Stremick on the Second Team. Bannon is a two-time league Player of the Week, and Lazarri and Stremick have each earned one Player of the Week accolade as well.
- The Black Knights achieved something no other Patriot League team had been able to do since 2001 when they defeated American 3-1 on Nov. 15. The three sets needed to upset the Eagles were the dropped by American to a league foe this season.
- Army has been strong at the net throughout the season and has four players with more than 200 kills - Stremick, Clark, Breinling and Lazzari. At right side, Stremick leads with 286 kills (3.04/set). Clark is a close second with 280 (3.01/set). Breinling and Lazzari have 257 and 246 kills, respectively. Helping the four attackers is Bannon. The setter has 935 assists (10.87/set) on the year, good enough for the best average in the Patriot League.
About the Raiders
- Colgate (14-13, 9-5), which is seeded third, has taken four Patriot League Tournament championships back to New York. The Raiders’ titles came in 1990, 1995, 1996 and 1999.
- The Raiders wrapped up their season by defeated Lafayette and Lehigh last weekend. Colgate swept its opponent in both contests.
- Colgate earned three All-Patriot League First Team selections in Casey Ritt, Katrina Zawojski and Jackie Adlam. Zawojski leads the team with 361 kills (3.76/set) this season adding to her all-time league total of 1,609, which ranks her third. Ritt is also among the Raiders’ kills leaders with 221 (2.35/set). Adlam, who is first on the Patriot League’s list for career digs with 1,950, has 368 (3.87/set) in 2008. Also contributing to the Raiders’ success are Meghan Fanta with 829 (9.21/set) assists and Kaylee Dougherty with 141 kills (1.99/set) this year. Fanta was named the Patriot League Player of the Week nearly two weeks ago, and Dougherty has two league Rookie of the Week selections on her resume.
In Their Previous Meetings...
- American twice swept the Bison. The Eagles took the first meeting, 25-21, 25-15 and 25-9. The second contested ended with a score of 32-30, 25-17 and 25-21. Bucknell’s Kaitlin Segal posted a combined 18 kills and 12 digs in the two matches, and Shannon Pitsch tallied 47 total assists. Rubena Sukaj led with 28 kills, and Rebecca Heath was close behind with 20. Christina Nash also had 61 assists over the course of the two matches.
- Army swept Bucknell on both occasions. The Black Knights closed out the first match easily with a score of 25-14, 25-17 and 25-16. Similar to the matchups with American, the second meeting with Army was more closely contested. Army still came out on top, however, 25-21, 25-20 and 25-20. Segal totaled 20 kills against the Black Knights this season, and Heidi Kamp combined for 16. Taylor Willis earned four blocks in the second contest. The Black Knights’ Briana Stremick connected for 20 kills and Elizabeth Lazzari and Jamie Clark each had a combined 18.
- Bucknell won the first meeting, 3-0, but lost the second 0-3. The score of the meeting in Lewisburg, where the Bison earned the victory, was 25-22, 25-23 and 25-17. When the Raiders took the second meeting, the score was 25-13, 25-15 and 25-23. Kamp totaled 23 kills, Segal had 18 and Kyleigh McAhren added 14 kills and five blocks over two contests. Pitsch also chipped in 60 assists. The Raiders’ Casey Ritt led with 19 total kills, followed closely by Katrina Zawojski with 17. Colgate’s setter, Meghan Fanta, contributed 57 total assists.
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