University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware Volleyball Set to Host 35th Annual Delaware ASICS Invitational this Weekend
9/1/2011 4:19:00 PM | Volleyball
NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware volleyball team is in the midst of the toughest part of its 2011 schedule, but the Blue Hens will get the advantage of playing on their home court for the 35th Annual Delaware ASICS Invitational this weekend at Viera Court.
The Blue Hens welcome two American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaches' Poll Top 25 ranked teams as #14 Northern Iowa and #25 Florida State come to Newark for the first time and will meet in the first match of the tournament Friday at 4 p.m.. Delaware kick starts the tournament with a match against UC Irvine on Friday night at 7 p.m.
Scouting the University of Delaware Blue Hens (1-2):
The Blue Hens will play their fourth ranked opponent in a week when they cap the tournament against #14 Northern Iowa Saturday night.
The seven-day stretch began with #6 Stanford at the Rice Invitational in Houston last Saturday. Delaware then welcomed #16 Oregon onto Viera Court on Tuesday and will square off against FSU and UNI this Saturday.
Oregon, taking an East Coast swing while playing five matches from University Park, Pa. to Washington D.C., defeated the Blue Hens 3-0 on Tuesday night.
The Hens put up a fight and continued to grow stronger as the match wore on. Set scores for the match were 25-20, 25-16, and 25-22. Delaware led 21-20 in the third game, but couldn't close out the Ducks to force a fourth set.
Katie Hank and Alissa Alker led the Hens with eight kills apiece while setter Renee Tomko recorded the only double-double of the match with 22 assists and 11 digs. Cara Rosehill had a team high 12 digs for Delaware.
Hank has 33 kills on the season, averaging 3.00 a game. Alker follows closely with 30 kills on the year, while also averaging 2.73 digs per set. Alker is second on the team with eight total blocks.
Tomko is dishing out 9.36 assists per set this season, totaling 103 assists in 11 games. Rosehill leads the backline with 49 digs in the three matches, while Karina Evans has held the net with 14 total blocks (two solo, 12 assists).
This will be the first meeting against all three programs for the Blue Hens.
Scouting the UC Irvine Anteaters (2-1):
The Anteaters dropped the opening match of the 2011 campaign but bounced back with two victories at the Aztec Invitational at San Diego State.
UC Irvine fell to the host Aztecs, 3-1, but defeated Nevada and Portland to place second in the four-team tournament.
Aly Squires and Kristin Winkler were named to the Aztec Invitational All-Tournament team for their performance in Southern California.
Squires posted a career high 23 kills against San Diego State on the way to recording 60 (5.45 per set) kills over the three matches. She also set career highs in aces (4), digs (17), and blocks (5) against Nevada en route to a double-double (21 kills, 17 digs). In all, she tallied 33 digs, 11 blocks to earn her first All-Tournament team honor.
Winkler totaled 42 digs and three aces to be named as an All-Tournament team selection as well. Setter Mary Carls averaged 10.55 helpers in the three matches while tying a career-high with 42 assists against San Diego State.
Freshman Marisa Bubica made her collegiate debut at the Aztec Invitational and totaled 21 kills and 14 digs. She hit .375 against Nevada, putting away 11 kills on 24 attempts with just two errors. She is currently second on the team in kills.
Delaware: First meeting
UNI: Second Meeting (0-1) – UNI defeated UCI, 3-2, in 1990.
FSU: Third Meeting (2-0) – UCI defeated FSU, 3-2, in 1991 and 2003.
Scouting the Florida State University Seminoles (3-1):
Florida State is looking to get back to its winning ways after opening the season with three victories before dropping one to #9 Florida.
Although they fell to the Gators, they were in every set, scoring at least 21 points in all three games. Set scores for the match were 25-21, 25-22, 25-22.
After receiving votes in the AVCA Preseason Poll, the Seminoles jumped in at #25 following their Florida State Invitational championship. They defeated Kentucky and Albany and then topped #23 Tulsa to move into the polls.
Leading the Seminole attack are Visnja Djurdjevic and Jekaterina Stepanova with 36 kills each. They are also third and second, respectively, on the team in digs. Djurdjevic also leads the team with eight aces.
Duygu Duzceler and Sarah Wickstrom have shared the setter role, as they have each recorded over 50 assists. Duzceler has dished out 74 assists while Wickstrom has tallied 55 helpers.
Katie Mosher leads the squad defensively, coming up with 54 digs (4.15 per set) on the back line. Ashley Neff paces the team upfront with 23 total blocks. All 23 blocks have come by way of a block assist.
The Seminoles has five players from Florida, one from Georgia and one from California but then the roster is spread out all over the globe. Two members come from Turkey, two from Serbia, one from Latvia and one from New Zealand to cover the Eastern Hemisphere. They also have one member from Brazil to mark off South America.
UNI: Second Meeting (1-0) – FSU defeated UNI, 3-2, in 1998
UC Irvine: Third Meeting (0-2) – UCI defeated FSU, 3-2, in 1991 and 2003.
Delaware: First Meeting
Scouting the University of Northern Iowa Panthers (4-0):
The Panthers are coming off a sweep of the Northern Illinois Invitational, dropping only one set along the way. Most recently, they swept past Marquette on Monday night in UNI's home opener.
Junior Krista DeGeest was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week after leading the Panthers in the NIU Invite. DeGeest led UNI with 3.80 kills per set and a .469 attack percentage through the tournament. She also added 1.40 blocks per set.
For the season, DeGeest has tallied 46 kills in 13 sets to lead the Panthers. She is hitting at a .443 clip to start the season. She also leads the team with 19 total blocks.
Megan Lehman, Michelle Burow and Shelby Kintzel have also started off hot for the Panthers, as they stand behind DeGeest. Lehman's 35 kills is second, followed by Burow (34) and Kintzel (32). Bre Payton quarterbacks the offense, already tallying 150 assists while averaging 11.54 per set.
Candice Burke leads a group of defensive specialists for the Panthers as she has collected 46 digs in the four matches. Molly Turk (39), Amy Braun (38), and Payton (30) have also helped defensively. The team collects 15.77 digs per set.
FSU: Second Meeting (0-1) – FSU defeated UNI, 3-2, in 1998
Delaware: First Meeting
UC Irvine: UNI: Second Meeting (1-0) – UNI defeated UCI, 3-2, in 1990.
AGATE:
35th Annual Delaware ASICS Invitational
Friday, September 2:
#14 Northern Iowa vs. #25 Florida State – 4 p.m.
UC Irvine vs. Delaware – 7 p.m.
Saturday, September 3:
#14 Northern Iowa vs. UC Irvine – 10 a.m.
#25 Florida State vs. Delaware – 12:30 p.m.
#25 Florida State vs. UC Irvine – 5 p.m.
#14 Northern Iowa vs. Delaware – 7 p.m.
