DePaul University Athletics
Volleyball Closes Out Regular Season
11/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Weekly Notes
CHICAGO- The DePaul volleyball team will close out the regular season on the road this week, traveling to Conference USA opponents East Carolina and Charlotte for a pair of weekend matches. The Blue Demons will face the Pirates on Friday and the 49ers on Saturday; both matches are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. (CST).
This weekend’s matches will have a huge impact on the league’s final standings and seeds for the conference tournament, in Louisville November 19-22. Currently, one match separates the fifth through the 11th place teams. The Blue Demons (12-16, 5-6 C-USA) are currently in seventh spot behind Saint Louis and are in front of USF and Houston, each team has five league wins and six loses. Tulane, Charlotte and East Carolina hold the final three spots, each with four conference wins and seven losses.
DePaul could finish as high as sixth in the conference but they will have to get past East Carolina and Charlotte first. They will also need Saint Louis and USF to split with their weekend opponents. Saint Louis plays its final matches at home against Houston and TCU, while USF is on the road at Tulane and Southern Miss.
The Blue Demons enter the weekend after posting wins over Southern Miss and Tulane last week. Senior middle blocker, Janet Goreham led the Blue Demons attack against Southern Miss, recording 22 kills for a .429 hitting percentage. On Saturday, the Blue Demons downed Tulane, 3-2 behind the defensive play of sophomore libero Ellen Hayes. Hayes tallied a career high 34 digs on the way to setting a new DePaul Athletic Center for digs in a match.
East Carolina (10-16, 4-7 C-USA)
Friday, November 12, 2004
Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum - Greenville, North Carolina
Last week, the Pirates were defeated by Louisville and Cincinnati. Junior libero Johanna Bertini finished the match against the Cards with 14 digs and became only the sixth Pirate in school history to record 1,000 digs in a career. Junior middle blocker Paige Howell hit .500 with only two errors on 12 attempts against the Bearcats.
Charlotte (18-12, 4-7 C-USA)
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Halton Arena- Charlotte, North Carolina
The 49ers dropped a pair of conference matches last weekend to C-USA’s second-ranked Cincinnati on Friday and conference leader Louisville on Saturday. Junior Abbey Szlanfucht, who went over 1,000 kills in her career against the Cardinals, led Charlotte with 12 of the team’s 30 kills. Libero Holly Kreyling led all 49ers with 15 digs on the night.
Conference USA Tournament
The 2004 ChevronTexaco Conference USA Volleyball Tournament will take place Nov. 19-22 in Louisville. The University of Louisville will serve as the host school for the four-day event, with all matches being held at Cardinal Arena on the U of L campus. The championship match on Monday, Nov. 22 will be televised by CSTV and affiliates of the Conference USA Television Network. The Blue Demons won the tournament in 2001 and Louisville is the defending champions.
Broken Records
Ellen Hayes broke the DePaul Athletic Center record for digs in a match on Saturday, November 6th when the Blue Demons hosted Tulane. The sophomore libero finished with a career high 34 digs. She has broken the 30+ dig barrier three times this season recording 30-digs against Valparaiso and 33-digs against TCU.
Triple-Double
Janet Gorham recorded her first triple-double against Tulane, Saturday, November 6th. The senior finished the match with 17 kills, 13 digs and 10 block assists.
Career Records Fall
Against Tulane six Blue Demons recorded career highs, Janet Goreham recorded her first career triple-double (17 kills, 13 digs, 10 Block Assists), Ellen Hayes set a new DePaul Athletic Center record, registering 34 digs, Amy Holmes had a career high 64 assists, Morgan Ingersoll had a career high 23 kills for a .300 attack percentage, Jamie Klosterman notched a career high 10 digs and Aly Zavitz registered a career high 7 block assists.
Top of the Conference
Janet Goreham and Ellen Hayes sit atop the C-USA standings, averaging a league best in blocks and digs in C-USA play. Goreham averages 1.83 blocks per game and has tallied the most block solos (21) and block assists (54). Hayes switched positions mid-way through the season and averages a conference best 5.83 digs per game.
Goreham Named C-USA Player of the Week
Senior, Janet Goreham was named C-USA Player of the Week for week of October 17-23. The senior led DePaul to its first sweep of weekend matches in C-USA play this season. She recorded a pair of double-doubles finishing the weekend with 30 kills, 25 digs and 19 total blocks (6 block solos and 13 block assists). Goreham was a block assist shy of a triple-double in the Houston match (16 kills, 11 digs, nine block assists).
Down on Ball
The Blue Demons are ranked third in C-USA in digs per game; averaging 17.05 digs per game. Tulane leads the league averaging 17.11 digs and Marquette follows averaging 17.10 digs per game. Ellen Hayes leads the Blue Demons averaging 4.45 digs per game and is ranked third in C-USA.
New Face in an Old Position
Senior Amy Holmes has shown her versatility this season, starting the season as one of the Blue Demons offensive threats on the outside and will end her senior season as the team’s setter. Holmes took over the starting setting position when Amie West and Mandi Caputo, (DePaul’s two setters) who are out for the season with injuries. In Holmes’ first appearance as setter, she set a new three-game high 43 assists. The senior recorded a career high 64 assists against Tulane.
Dig for Cure
The Blue Demons participated in Dig for Cure on October 23rd. DePaul partnered with all the other Conference USA Volleyball programs in an effort to raise $30,000 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The Blue Demons raised over $3,000 that was donated to the Chicago area Komen Foundation.
Zavitz Jumps In
Redshirt freshman Aly Zavitz entered the starting line-up at UAB (October 10) when the line-up was shuffled due to the injury of Amy West. As a starter, Zavitz has recorded 40 kills, 40 digs and 24 block assists.
Reaching 1,000
Senior Amy Holmes has hit 1,000 career digs. Prior to the 2004 season she had registered 697 digs and has added 326 this season. She recorded her 1,000th career dig at Memphis on October 30th.
Thirsty for 30
Sophomore libero Ellen Hayes has done what no other Blue Demon has done; record 30+ digs multiple times in a season. The sophomore recorded her first 30-dig performance on September 29, recording 30-digs at Valparaiso. As an encore, Hayes treated the home crowd to 32 digs against TCU on October 22nd and 34-digs against Tulane on November 6th. 34-digs in a match, is a new DePaul Athletic Center record and is the most by a DePaul player since the Blue Demons entered Conference USA in 1995.
Out for the Season
Amie West is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury, she was declared ineligible after the Marquette game. West finished her career at DePaul with 3,390 career assist and is in sole possession of the No. 3 for most career assists. Michelle Vonderheide (1989-1992) is second, she amassed 6,278 assist in her career.
Freshman setter, Mandi Caputo will sit out the rest of the season due to a broken finger. Caputo will use this season as her red-shirt season and will have four years of eligibility left.
Ace in the Hole
Junior Mandy Moorberg found the defensive holes in the Eastern Illinois defense, notching a season and career high seven service aces on Friday, September 17th. The team notched 11 total aces. Moorberg averages 0.45 service aces per game and is ranking her the sixth for post aces per game.
Road Block
Middle blocker Denae Gibson tallied six of the teams 10 solo blocks September 24, against Evansville. Individually, Gibson tallied seven of DePaul’s 16 total team blocks. Ellen Hayes, Morgan Ingersoll, Amy Holmes, Janet Goreham, and Mandy Moorberg also recorded at least one block assist during the match.
Goreham Gathers Honors
Senior Middle Blocker, Janet Goreham was named the MVP of the Mizuno Wildcat Classic in Davidson, N.C. The senior compiled a .425 hitting percentage and tallied 38 kills and digs, 16 total blocks and three service aces over during the tournament. At the Blue Demon Invitational September 17-18 Goreham was named to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 4.0 kills per game and notching 13 total blocks.
The Amie’s
Seniors Amy Holmes and Amie West were named to the Mizuno Wildcat Classic All-Tournament roster. Holmes finished the weekend with 37 kills, 48 digs and two blocks. West averaged 15 assists per game and tallied 135 assists over 10 games.
The Class of 2008
Redshirt freshman Aly Zavitz was joined by true freshmen Mandi Caputo, Stacy Pando and Maureen Zigulich this season. Zavitz and Pando are middle blockers, Caputo a setter and Zigulich becomes DePaul first true libero.
