Thursday, November 6, 2003

MORAVIAN WOMEN’S VOLLEYABLL TEAM TRAVELS TO JUNIATA FOR COMMONWEALTH CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

BETHLEHEM, PA --- The Moravian College women’s volleyball team will travel to Juniata College for the eighth consecutive year for the 2003 Commonwealth Conference Championship match on Saturday, November 8th. The Greyhounds, the third seed, and the Eagles, the top seed, will square off at 7:00 p.m. with the winner earning the Commonwealth Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament.

Moravian earned a spot in the championship match with a 3-0 victory at second seeded Lebanon Valley College Wednesday evening while Juniata, the top ranked team in the nation by the American Volleyball Coaches Association and the winner of the last 24 conference championships, swept fourth seeded Susquehanna University, 3-0. The Eagles have won their last 263 conference contests and have been ranked as the number one team in the nation in all ten week’s of the AVCA poll.

Moravian, under the direction of 11th-year head coach Shelley Bauder, has a 26-8 record this season with a 4-3 slate in the Commonwealth Conference. The Greyhounds lost to Juniata, 3-0, in their regular season match-up. The NCAA ranked the Greyhounds seventh in the Mid-Atlantic Regional this week while the Eagles held down the top spot. The Greyhounds have also reached the NCAA Tournament three times and been the top seed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference South Championships the last two years.

Senior outside hitter Kim Zipf (Wyomissing, PA/Holy Name HS), who has been limited to action in the back row for nearly a month an injury, has 224 kills this season, and Zipf, who was named to the Commonwealth All-Conference Second Team has contributed 308 digs, 22 service aces, 17 blocks, 17 assists, and a .273 hitting percentage. Zipf broke Amy Sandt's career record for kills this season and now has 1,499 career kills. Zipf needs just 78 more digs to break Sandt's career mark of 1,634. Sophomore middle hitter Lindsay Siracusa (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury HS) leads the Greyhounds with 374 kills while leading the squad with 119 blocks. Siracusa, who is this week’s Commonwealth Conference Player of the Week, has a .276 hitting percentage to go along with 39 service aces and 121 digs.

Senior setter Amy Lawrence (Gettysburg, PA/Delone Catholic HS), who has missed the last six matches with an injury and will miss the remainder of the year, has a team high 1,010 assists, and she has added 334 digs. Lawrence, who earned a spot on the Commonwealth All-Conference First Team, has 78 kills, 47 service aces, 29 blocks and a .251 hitting percentage this fall. Lawrence has become the school record holder in career service aces with 221 and in assists with 4,682 assists, breaking Katie Kramer's mark. Senior libero Alissa Bucsi (Bethlehem, PA/ Bethlehem Catholic HS) is third on the squad this season with 303 digs.

Senior middle hitter Shannon McNeil (Reading, PA/Reading Central Catholic HS) has contributed 233 kills, 119 digs, 61 blocks, a .298 hitting percentage and 49 service aces while junior outside hitter Christina Wallace (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) has a team high 68 service aces to go along with 341 kills, 294 digs and 34 blocks. Senior right-side hitter Mary Kate Cordisco (Bethlehem, PA/Notre Dame HS) has 50 service aces this fall, and she has added 198 kills, 97 digs, 16 assists and 34 blocks. Cordisco had a school record 18 service aces in a 3-0 victory versus Washington (MD) College on August 29th, and she set an NCAA all-division record in the first game of that match, serving 25 consecutive points, 15 of them were service aces.

Senior right-side hitter Sara Hollenbacher (Reading, PA/Reading Central Catholic HS) has contributed 150 kills, 110 digs, 18 service aces and 38 blocks this season while senior defensive specialist Andrea Frankenfield (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus HS) has added 211 digs and 37 service aces. Freshman setter Valerie Korsak (Coplay, PA/Whitehall HS) has 80 digs, 285 assists, 34 kills and ten service aces in replacement of Lawrence while freshman defensive specialist Ashley Hugo (Bath, PA/Northampton HS) has added 22 digs and eight service aces.

Juniata enters the match with a 35-0 record this season. In fact, the Eagles have won 104 of 113 games they have played this season.

Sophomore middle hitter Katie Laucks leads Juniata with 382 kills, 47 service aces and 66 blocks this season, and she has added 85 digs. Senior opposite hitter Danielle Hart has contributed 352 kills, 31 service aces, 204 digs and 24 blocks while junior middle hitter Katie Charles has 349 kills, 43 service aces, 278 digs and 43 blocks.

Junior setter Carli Dale controls the Eagle offense on the court with 1,313 assists. Dale has added 103 kills, 42 service aces and 350 digs. Senior outside hitter Johanna Holtan leads Juniata with 586 digs, and she has added 71 assists while freshman middle hitter Stephanie Kines has contributed 234 kills, 56 blocks, 34 digs and ten service aces.

Sophomore outside hitter Lindsey Habel has 197 kills, 261 digs, 27 blocks and 30 service aces this fall while senior middle hitter Jenn Habel has 135 kills, 27 blocks, 15 digs and 14 service aces. Senior defensive specialist Lauren Beasley has contributed 109 digs and 19 service aces while freshman outside hitter Rachel Schatz has 68 kills, 16 blocks and 19 digs.