Volleyball Closes the Season with Three Home Matches
11/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
CHICAGO The DePaul volleyball team hosts a nonconference match with Bradley on Tuesday, before closing out the 2008 season with BIG EAST Conference matches with Connecticut and St. John’s this weekend at McGrath Arena. The Blue Demons and Braves tangle at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, while the Huskies visit Lincoln Park on Friday at 7 p.m. DePaul closes out its season by celebrating senior day on Sunday before a 2 p.m. match with St. John’s.
The Blue Demons have won two of their last four matches and stand at 5-21 and 3-9 in league play. DePaul has its work cut out this week as the squad is a combined 6-22 against Bradley, Connecticut and St. John’s.
The Blue Demons and Braves last met in 2005, with Bradley pulling off a 3-2 victory. The Braves (5-22) have won 14 of the 20 all-time series meetings with DePaul. The Blue Demons have yet to pick up a series win against Connecticut (19-7, 8-3 BIG EAST) or St. John’s (20-7, 11-1 BIG EAST), while both squads are 4-0 against DePaul.
Before the first serve is in the air on Sunday, the Blue Demons will pause and recognize the accomplishment of senior Caitlin Callaghan. The program’s lone senior enters this week with 415 kills and 826 career digs. Callaghan has played in over 100 matches and 367 sets.
Blue Demon Hits
Sarah Cullen has finished the last 11 matches with double-digit kill totals while she has recorded double-digit kills in all but two matches this season ... Cullen has 18 double-doubles (kills-digs) this season and 26 in her career...Cullen averages 3.73 kills per set which is the second best average in the league... her 377 kills ties for the second most in the conference... Kate Letcher leads the Blue Demons and ranks fourth in the league with 0.41 aces per set... Jacie Fiedler has registered double-digit kill totals in 18 of the Blue Demons’ 26 matches; while she has finished 33 career matches in double-digit kill totals... Fiedler ranks fourth in the league with a season .337 (295-75-652) attack percentage.... Christy Landschoot ranks fifth in the league averaging 10.07 assists per set.
P-Town Braves
Bradley (5-22) has not picked up a win in the month of November... the Braves last win came on Oct. 25 versus Indiana State... Amy Reichel leads the team with 261 kills and 20 service aces... Rachelle Dejean paces the defense with 349 digs... Bradley leads the overall series with DePaul 14-6.
Leashing the Huskies
Connecticut (20-7, 9-3 BIG EAST) has won its last six matches and clinched a spot in the BIG EAST Championship with wins over Georgetown and USF last week... reigning BIG EAST Rookie of the Week Annie Luhrsen ranks seventh in the country with 0.59 aces per set... Luhrsen averages 10.23 assists per set... squad leads the league by holding opponents to a .160 clip... Lauren Lamberti and Megan Frey lead the Huskies with attack percentages over .300 ...leads the overall series with DePaul 4-0.
First Place Red Storm
St. John’s (20-7, 11-1 BIG EAST) heads into the final weekend of the conference play in first place and clinched a spot in the BIG EAST Championship... team leads the league in kills (14.37) and assists (13.57) per set... Wioleta Leszczynska, the reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week, leads the conference and ranks sixth in the country with 11.68 assists per game... Lena Yee is second in the league with 4.18 digs per set... Valeria Kovleva has collected a team-high 316 kills... St. John’s leads the all-time series 4-0.
Last Week
The Blue Demons went 1-1 last week, and picked up their third BIG EAST Conference victory of the season at Rutgers (3-0) on Friday. DePaul dropped a nonconference match to Valparaiso (3-1) earlier in the week. For the week, the Blue Demons were lead by junior outside hitter Sarah Cullen. The junior collected a pair of double-doubles (kills-digs) to run her season total to 18. Cullen hit an outstanding .319 clip (30-8-69), while tallying a career-high .393 clip at Rutgers. For the week, Cullen averaged 4.29 kps and 3.43 dps.
Fiedler in the Record Books
If the season were to end today, sophomore Jacie Fiedler would own DePaul’s record for single-season attack percentage. The sophomore middle blocker enters the week with a .337 (295-75-652) season attack percentage which is .013 higher than Lara Marks’ (2000-03) school record .324 hitting percentage she set in 2002. As a freshman, Fiedler tied Marks’ .307 attack percentage for the third best single-season hitting percentage in school history.
BIG EAST Honor Roll
Sarah Cullen was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after leading the Blue Demons to a 1-1 record the weekend of Oct. 11-12. The Blue Demons dropped a tough 3-2 match to Pittsburgh, but bounced back and swept West Virginia the following day. Cullen paced the Blue Demon offense with 33 kills, while she chipped in 21 digs and four service aces. Cullen joins Fiedler as the only other DePaul player to earn the conference honor this season.
Sensational Sarah x2
Junior outside hitter Sarah Cullen was named to the DePaul Invitational All-Tournament team after leading the Blue Demons with 54 kills and a pair of double-doubles. Against Ball State, Cullen tallied a career-high 21 kills. For an encore, the junior was named to the Hawkeye/Holiday Inn Challenge All-Tournament team. During the challenge, Cullen average 4.55 kills per set and registered double-doubles against Portland and Tulsa.
All-Tournament Twice
Jacie Fielder was named to the all-tournament at the Chicagoland Classic and the Golden Bear Invitational. At the Chicagoland, Fiedler tallied 24 kills and team-best .310 attack percentage. Fiedler outdid her opening weekend performance at the Golden Bear Invitational the following weekend. She again led DePaul with a .415 attack percentage and 42 kills. Against No. 5 Cal, Fielder registered a season-high .667 (14-0-21).
BIG EAST Fiedler
Jacie Fiedler was named to the BIG EAST weekly honor roll after being named to the Golden Bear Invitational all-tournament team. Fiedler led the Blue Demons with a .415 attack percentage and 42 kills (3.50 kps) in three matches at Cal. Fiedler also led DePaul with five total blocks on the week.
Hawkeye/Holiday Inn Challenge
DePaul struggled at the Iowa tournament, dropping matches to Tulsa, Iowa and Portland State. The Blue Demons pushed Tulsa and Portland State to four sets, but were unable to take home a “W” from the tournament. Sarah Cullen was named to her second all-tournament team of the season by averaging 4.55 kills per set.
DePaul Invitational Review
The Blue Demons stumbled last weekend at the DePaul Invitational, dropping matches to tournament champion UTSA, Ball State and Denver. Junior outside hitter Sarah Cullen was named to the all-tournament team after tallying 54 kills and a pair of double-doubles (kills-digs).
Golden Bear Recap
The Blue Demons grabbed their first win of the season with a 3-2 come from behind victory over James Madison at the Golden Bear Invitational. Jacie Fiedler was named to the all-tournament team after leading the Blue Demons with a .415 attack percentage and 42 kills (3.50 kps) in three matches. Fiedler also led DePaul with five total blocks. DePaul started out the tournament by dropping matches to No. 5 Cal and UC Riverside.