Friday, November 13, 2009

MACON, Ga. – The Atlantic Sun Conference Volleyball Match of the Week features Jacksonville and Kennesaw State, both facing its own final tests in preparation for next week’s Atlantic Sun Volleyball Championship. The two squads meet at 7:00 p.m. on Friday evening at Swisher Gymnasium. The match will be broadcast live on A-Sun.TV.

The Dolphins (17-8, 13-5 A-Sun) enter the final week of regular-season play tied in the loss column with FGCU in a battle for the No. 2 seed and a bye into the semifinals. Jacksonville must recover from dropping three of its last four following a 13-match winning streak. With wins against the Owls and the Bears on the weekend, the Dolphins would secure the number two seed. For Kennesaw State (16-10, 10-8 A-Sun), a weekend split against FGCU and Stetson pushed them to the brink of securing a berth in the A-Sun Championship and completing a season-long turnaround. They enter the week sharing the fifth spot with Campbell, one game ahead of ETSU. With the win against the Hatters on Saturday, the Owls increased their win total to16, a regular-season record for Kennesaw State.

The last time Kennesaw State and Jacksonville met, the Dolphins defeated the Owls, 3-1, in Kennesaw, Ga. For Jacksonville, junior outside hitter Aidan Yeager tallied 16 kills and hit a career-best .406 while senior libero Shelley Walroth notched a match-high 22 digs. Senior Asjia Stokes led the Owls with 15 kills, while Chelsey Denesha added 16 digs and nine kills. The Dolphins own a 4-0 series advantage with the Owls since 2007.

In Jacksonville’s last action on the court, the Dolphins fell to ETSU, 3-2, on Saturday afternoon at Brooks Gym. Senior libero Shelley Walroth finished with a match-high 28 digs, moving into ninth place on the all-time NCAA digs list with 2,378. The Cincinnati native now sits just 77 shy of moving into the top five. Also against the Bucs, junior setter Hannah Munneke moved into fifth place on the Dolphins’ all time assists list with 44 in the match (2,795), to surpass Erin Donivan (2,793, 2002-05). Sophomore outside hitter Kathryn Kane notched her fifth double-double of the year with 13 kills and 13 digs while junior outside hitter Aidan Yeager finished with 12 kills, five blocks and four digs. Senior outside hitter Brooke Singleton tallied 11 kills and eight digs and freshman middle blocker Alison Loeppky notched 10 kills, a team-high .261 (10-4-23) hitting percentage and four blocks. Senior middle blocker Nicki Kent also added a team-high six blocks while sophomore defensive specialist Ashley August chipped in with 12 digs.

Kennesaw State enters the weekend locked in a tie for fifth in the A-Sun, still looking to clinch a spot in the A-Sun Championships. Sophomore middle hitter Callie Churchwell posted one of her best weeks as an Owl, tallying seven total blocks in Friday’s, 3-2, loss to the Eagles, and notching six blocks on Saturday against the Hatters, giving her an even 100 on the season. The Vero Beach, Fla. native became the first KSU volleyball player to earn 100 blocks in a season. Asjia Stokes, the Owls’ Top Performer of the Week, led the Owls in kills in both matches over the weekend. In Kennesaw State's 3-2 loss to FGCU, Stokes made a team-high 16 kills to go along with two total blocks, and in the Owls' 3-0 sweep of the Hatters, the outside hitter finished with 12 kills, six digs, and a KSU record-tying five aces. For the week, Stokes averaged 3.50 kills per set.

Players to Watch
* Callie Churchwell, Kennesaw State – Denesha racked up her fourth straight double-double with a match high 11 kills and a team-high 10 digs, leading Kennesaw State to a 3-0 victory against Stetson at the KSU Convocation Center.

* Sabrita Gulley, Kennesaw State – The junior added 11 kills against the Spartans and added five digs and two blocks in the 3-0 victory against the Hatters on Saturday.

* Asjia Stokes, Kennesaw State –Stokes returned to the lineup and led the Owls with 16 kills in Friday’s match against FGCU, followed up by 12 kills in a 3-0 sweep of Stetson. The North Chicago, Ill. native has 333 kills and 21 aces and ranks fifth in the A-Sun with 3.87 points per set.

* Hannah Munneke, Jacksonville – Munneke tallied 88 assists in the weekend matches versus ETSU and Campbell. Since taking over the lead setter spot, the junior averages 11.26 assists per set and the Dolphins have an 11-3 mark.

* Brooke Singleton, Jacksonville – Singleton leads the Dolphins with 275 kills and 3.06 kills per set and ranks second with 262 digs and 2.91 digs per set. The Roseville, Ill. native also leads the squad with 10 double-doubles and ranks ninth in the conference in kills per set.

* Shelley Walroth, Jacksonville –Walroth finished with a match-high 28 digs in the contest against ETSU, moved into ninth place all-time NCAA digs list with 2,378, and sits just 77 shy of moving into the top five.