Thursday, November 4, 2010

MORAVIAN WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL SQUAD TO TRAVEL TO JUNIATA COLLEGE FOR LANDMARK CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

BETHLEHEM, PA --- The Moravian College women’s volleyball team is seeded fourth in the 2010 Landmark Conference Championship Tournament and will travel to top-seed and fourth-ranked Juniata College Gophers for a semifinal match on Saturday, November 6th at 11:00 a.m.

The Greyhounds, who are 21-10 overall, the program’s first 20-win season since 2005, and posted a 3-3 mark in Landmark Conference regular season action, are making their 14th postseason appearance in the last 15 seasons.  The Eagles are 28-5 overall and posted a 6-0 Landmark Conference record as Juniata has won over 300 straight conference contests.  The Eagles defeated Moravian 3-0 on October 16th at The United States Merchant Marine Academy.

In the quarterfinals of the tournament on Wednesday, Moravian defeated fifth seeded Goucher College, 3-1, while third seed The Catholic University of America earned a 3-1 win over sixth seed The University of Scranton.  Catholic will take on second seed Susquehanna University at 1:30 p.m. in the second semifinal.  The Championship match is slated for 7:00 p.m. Saturday night with the winner earning an automatic berth to the 2010 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament.

Moravian head coach Shelley Bauder has the Greyhounds in the postseason for the 14th time in her 18 seasons at the helm of the program.   Bauder surpassed the 300-win plateau three years ago and enters the Landmark Conference Championships with an overall record of 366-218.  The Greyhounds were the fourth seed in the first two Landmark Conference Tournaments before dropping to the fifth seed last year.

Sophomore right side hitter Samantha Savite (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central HS) leads Moravian this fall with 261 kills and a .235 hitting percentage to go with 46 blocks, 40 digs, four assists and three service aces.  Senior middle hitter Christine Reeser (Telford, PA/Christopher Dock HS) has team highs 69 blocks and 43 service aces to go along with 261 kills, 41 digs and six assists while freshman outside hitter/setter Kelly Brown (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS), who has missed six matches with an injury, has 199 kills, 308 digs, 83 assists, 27 service aces and 12 blocks.

Senior setter Christine Poole (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central HS) leads the Greyhounds with 987 assists to go with 194 digs, 42 service aces, 26 blocks and 45 kills while junior outside hitter Katie Moquete (Midland Park, NJ/Midland Park HS) has contributed 244 kills, 53 digs, 27 blocks and six service aces.  Sophomore libero Jesse Krasley (Allentown, PA/Parkland HS) has a team high and single season school record 607 digs to go with 68 assists and 25 service aces while junior defensive specialist Ashley Schmidt (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) has contributed 318 digs, 42 service aces and ten assists.

Sophomore outside hitter JeanAnne Carey (Bucks County, PA/Pennsbury HS) has 199 kills, 132 digs, 20 blocks, nine assists and 18 service aces for Moravian this fall while senior defensive specialist Katie Kercher (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall HS) has 223 digs, eight assists and 15 service aces.  Freshman right side hitter Brittany O'Hara (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge HS) has 82 kills, 43 blocks and eight digs in her debut season while freshman outside hitter Maura McCormick (Kingston, PA/Holy Redeemer HS) has added 33 kills, 25 digs and 12 service aces. 

The Eagles are coached by Larry Bock, who is in his 34th season, and he has led Juniata to a pair of NCAA Division III National Championships.  Bock is the all-time winningest coach in collegiate women’s volleyball with a 1,246-191 record heading into the Landmark Conference Semifinals.  Juniata has won 308 straight conference matches dating back to 1981 and won 28 straight conference championships.