Volleyball Hits the Road
10/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
at St. John's
Friday, Oct. 25 | 6 p.m.
Queens N.Y. | Carnesecca Arena
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at Connecticut
Sunday, Oct. 27 | 12 p.m.
Storrs, Conn. | Gampel Pavilion
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CHICAGO The DePaul volleyball team hits the road for the final time this season, traveling to BIG EAST Conference foes No. 23 St. John’s and Connecticut this weekend. The Blue Demons tangle with the Red Storm on Friday at 6 p.m. and clash with the Huskies at noon on Sunday.
The Blue Demons (6-16, 1-7) enter the weekend after recording a much needed win against Chicago State on Tuesday at McGrath Arena. DePaul was led by freshman setter Christy Landschoot, who piloted the Blue Demons to a season-high .345 attack percentage against the Cougars. The freshman setter dished out 43 assists and found her favorite targets in freshmen Jacie Fielder and Charla Drabant.
Against Chicago State, Fiedler recorded a sizzling .688 hitting percentage on 12 kills and added a team-high four total blocks to the cause. Drabant followed with a .464 attack percentage and paced the floor with 14 kills. In BIG EAST play, the duo has combined for over six kills per game and each has registered a team-high five service aces.
Friday sees DePaul play its first ranked team of the season in Queens N.Y. The Blue Demons and Red Storm have squared off three previous times; but never twice at the same location until Friday. St. John’s won the last two meetings, one in Chicago and another in Queens 3-0. In 2004, the Red Storm narrowly escaped a 3-2 match on a neutral floor. The Red Storm (22-3, 7-1) are led by Hui Ping Hunag, who averages 4.52 kills per game and a sizzling .420 attack percentage.
On Sunday, the Blue Demons look for their first series win against Connecticut. The Huskies (13-9, 3-5) hold a 3-0 series advantage and are 4-6 in their last 10 matches this season. UConn is led by Sade Chambers, who averages 3.09 kills per game and a .244 attack percentage. Previous to the Blue Demons coming to town, Connecticut faces Notre Dame on Saturday.
DePaul closes out the regular season with four home matches at McGrath Arena. The Blue Demons welcome USF and Georgetown Nov. 3-4 and Louisville and Cincinnati the following weekend.
BIG EAST Win
The Blue Demons 3-0 sweep over Rutgers on Oct. 7, snapped a 24 conference match loosing streak. Previous to the win, DePaul had not won a BIG EAST game since the 2005 season, when the Blue Demons defeated USF, 3-2 on October 23. In DePaul's 3-0 sweep of Rutgers no starter recorded a hitting percentage below .285. Sophomore Sarah Cullen and Drabant both finished with double-doubles. Cullen tallied 10 kills and paced the floor with 22 digs, while Drabant added 12 digs to her 21 kills for her seventh double-double of the season.
Letcher in the Record Books
Letcher tallied a school record .833 attack percentage on Sept. 30 against Seton Hall. Letcher’s record breaking performance came on 10 kills on 12 swings with no attack errors to break Dana Kalvatis’ 22-year-old record. Kalvatis set the previous record of .818 against Cleveland State on November 9, 1985.
Fiedler Finishes with 30
Freshman middle blocker Jacie Fiedler became the first DePaul player in seven years to tally 30 kills. Fiedler’s 30 kills came in the Blue Demons 3-2 loss at West Virginia on Sept. 21. At the time, she became just the second BIG EAST player this season to reach the 30 kill mark. Fiedler’s remarkable numbers came on 54 swings for a sizzling .500 attack percentage. With 30 kills, two service aces, four block assists and one solo block Fiedler also set a new school record for points in a match with 35.0. The previous record was 31.0 points which was set by freshman outside hitter Charla Drabant on Sept. 5 at Northern Illinois.
Drabant Named Freshman BIG EAST Freshman of the Week
Freshman outside hitter Charla Drabant became the first DePaul player to earn the BIG EAST Conference’s Freshman of the Week honors on Sept. 10. Drabant started out the week by posting a DePaul record for points in a match; registering 31.0 points in DePaul’s 3-2 victory over Northern Illinois on Sept. 5. Drabant’s 31.0 points came on 28 kills, two service aces and a pair of block assists. She finished out the week strong, and earned All-Tournament status at the DePaul Invitational. For the tournament, the freshman averaged a team-high 3.82 kills and 3.73 digs per game.
Landschoot Dishes
Freshman setter Christy Landschoot dished out a season-high and BIG EAST single-match best 72 assists against Western Illinois on Sept. 18. The freshman ranks sixth in the BIG EAST averaging 11.65 assists per games.
Fiedler feeds at Falcon Invite
Freshman middle blocker Jacie Fiedler led the Blue Demons at the Falcon Best Western Invitational Sept. 14-15. The freshman tallied 30 of the team’s 106 kills and averaged 3.33 kills per game. Fiedler registered a .353 attack percentage in DePaul’s losses to Bowling Green, Valparaiso and Duquesne.
DePaul Invitational Champions
The Blue Demons took home the DePaul Invitational title with wins over Samford, Kennesaw State and South Alabama. Freshmen, Charla Drabant, Kate Letcher, Jacie Fiedler were named t the All-Tournament team, while freshman setter Christy Landschoot was named the Invitational’s Most Valuable Player.
Mile High Drabant
Freshman outside hitter Charla Drabant was named to the Denver Invitational All-Tournament team after leading the Blue Demons with 33 kills and 23 digs during the tournament. Drabant registered her second 14 kill performance of the season against Denver and also recorded a season-high 17 digs that match. Drabant rounded out her all-tournament performance with three assists, a service aces and three total blocks.
Fiedler a Classic at Chicagoland
The Blue Demons opened the season at the Chicagoland Classic and fell to Illinois-Chicago 3-1 and Loyola-Chicago 3-0. Freshmen middle blockers Jacie Fiedler and Kate Letcher led the Blue Demon offense with 23 and 25 kills, respectively. Freshman outside hitter Charla Drabant finished the weekend with 19 kills and two service aces to round out the extraordinary play of the young Blue Demon team. Fielder finished the weekend with a team-high .286 attack percentage with five total blocks and was named to the All-Tournament team.