Monday, November 1, 2010

MORAVIAN WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL SQUAD TO HOST GOUCHER COLLEGE IN LANDMARK CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS

BETHLEHEM, PA --- The Moravian College women’s volleyball team is seeded fourth in the 2010 Landmark Conference Championship Tournament and will host the fifth seeded Goucher College Gophers for a quarterfinal match on Wednesday, November 3rd at 7:00 p.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 Gophers enter the contest at 7-21 overall.  Goucher was 2-4 in Landmark Conference action during the regular season, and lost to Moravian 3-1 on October 16th.

Wednesday’s other quarterfinal match features third seeded Catholic University hosting sixth seed The University of Scranton for a 7:00 p.m. match.  The winners of the first round matches will advance to the semifinals on Saturday, November6 at top seeded Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. The winner of the Moravian vs. Goucher match will advance to play the host Eagles at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday in the first semifinal contest while the other first round winner 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.

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 365-218.  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 250 kills and a .230 hitting percentage to go with 45 blocks, 39 digs, four assists and three service aces.  Senior middle hitter Christine Reeser (Telford, PA/Christopher Dock HS) has team highs 65 blocks and 43 service aces to go along with 246 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 191 kills, 297 digs, 82 assists, 27 service aces and 11 blocks.

Senior setter Christine Poole (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central HS) leads the Greyhounds with 941 assists to go with 183 digs, 40 service aces, 25 blocks and 42 kills while junior outside hitter Katie Moquete (Midland Park, NJ/Midland Park HS) has contributed 237 kills, 50 digs, 27 blocks and six service aces.  Sophomore libero Jesse Krasley (Allentown, PA/Parkland HS) has a team high and single season school record 583 digs to go with 67 assists and 22 service aces while junior defensive specialist Ashley Schmidt (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) has contributed 299 digs, 40 service aces and ten assists.

Sophomore outside hitter JeanAnne Carey (Bucks County, PA/Pennsbury HS) has 191 kills, 129 digs, 19 blocks, nine assists and 17 service aces for Moravian this fall while senior defensive specialist Katie Kercher (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall HS) has 217 digs, eight assists and 15 service aces.  Freshman right side hitter Brittany O'Hara (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge HS) has 79 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 Gophers are coached by Michael Bossom, who is in his fifth season, and he has led Goucher to the Landmark Conference Tournament for the third straight season.

Leading Goucher is freshman hitter Megan Chalk with 246 kills to go with 293 digs, 39 blocks, 25 service aces and eight assists.  Senior opposite hitter Kasey Quinn has contributed 203 kills, a team high 360 digs, 35 service aces, eight blocks and 18 assists while senior setter Claire Sauvage-Mar has team highs of 663 assists and 37 service aces to go with 69 kills, 40 blocks and 293 digs.

Freshman middle hitter Addie Lanzarotta leads the Gophers with 68 blocks to go along with 121 kills, 48 digs and eight service aces while sophomore outside hitter Ashley Fan has 88 kills, 303 digs, 17 assists, 13 service aces and six blocks.  Sophomore middle hitter Sabrina Smajlovic has added 55 kills, 47 blocks and 26 digs while freshman outside hitter/defensive specialist Victoria Rain has 41 kills, 154 digs, 21 assists, 15 blocks and six service aces.

Senior libero/defensive specialist Rebecca Schaefer has 211 digs, 27 service aces, 23 assists and 13 kills on the season for Goucher while senior libero/defensive specialist Katharine Genton has added 121 digs, 11 service aces, eight assists and three kills.  Sophomore libero/defensive specialist Ashley Forbes has 42 digs and 17 service aces.