Oct. 1, 2007

Colgate's Katrina Zawojski was named the Patriot League/Baden Player of the Week for the first time this season and the second time in her career. Lafayette's Katrina Racibarskas earned her third Patriot League/Baden Rookie of the Week honor this season.

Patriot League Volleyball Release - 10.1.07
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Baden Player of the Week
Katrina Zawojski, Colgate Jr., OH, Palo Alto, Calif.
Zawojski registered a match-high 20 kills in a 3-1 win over Bucknell to improve Colgate's Patriot League record to 3-0. The junior outside hitter also recorded a match-high .447 hitting percentage and assisted on four blocks. This is Zawojski's second-career Patriot League Player of the Week award. She ranks fifth in the Patriot League in kills (3.71) and seventh in hitting percentage (.279).

Baden Rookie of the Week
Katrina Racibarskas, Lafayette Fr., OH, Chatham, N.J.
For the third time this season, Racibarskas was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week after averaging 5.12 kills per game and hitting .383. In a 2-0 week for the Leopards, the freshman outside hitter posted double-digit kills in each match and totaled two aces and three blocks. Versus Delaware State, she posted a match-high 17 kills and tied the match high against Lehigh with 14 kills.

Honorable Mention

Jessie Sims, Navy
Jr., OH, Etowah, N.C.
Sims posted a double-double with 24 kills and 13 digs versus American...Sims added two aces and two blocks.

Patriot League Notebook

Two On Top
Through three Patriot League games, American and Colgate remain unbeaten. The Eagles have been in this position each year since joining the Patriot League in 2001, but it is the first time since 1996 Colgate has started off Patriot League competition 3-0. The Raiders won one of their four Patriot League Championships in 1996.

The Week Ahead
After each team played just one Patriot League contest last week, the Patriot League will return to its normal schedule. All four teams will play a League match on Friday and another on Saturday.

One of the Patriot League's unbeatens will fall this week when Colgate plays at American on Friday.

Climbing The Ladder
With 23 digs at Bucknell in the Raiders' only action of the week, Colgate junior Jackie Adlam moved up to fifth on the Patriot League career digs list. Adlam now has 1,360 career digs and needs just 229 more to break the all-time record.

ECAC Honor
After winning Patriot League Player of the Week honors last Monday, American's Rubena Sukaj was tabbed the ECAC Player of the Week on Sept. 26. Sukaj is the second Patriot League student-athlete to be named ECAC Player of the Week. Bucknell's Jenna Henderson earned that distinction on Sept. 13.

NCAA Leader Board
American's Rubena Sukaj is the highest-ranking Patriot League individual in the NCAA's latest rankings at third in kills per game.

As a team, both Navy and Army were in the top-10 in aces per game at second and fourth, respectively. American came in 27th in the same category.

Quotable
"We want to make progress in every match. Going to five games against American is another sign of that progress. We are disappointed in the loss, but we can take many good things from tonight. Most importantly that we need to bring the passion, intensity and drive we showed tonight through the remainder of our league matches. Tonight showed that good things come when you work hard, but we have to continue working hard to reach the success we want to have. We do not want to take a step back next week." - Navy Head Coach Mike Schwob after a 3-2 loss to American

2007 Patriot League Tournament
The 2007 Patriot League Tournament will take place Friday and Saturday, Nov. 16 and 17 at the site of the highest seed. The top-four teams as determined by the regular-season standings will participate in the Patriot League tourney.

Team Notebooks

American American outlasted Navy to earn a 3-2 victory over the Mids on Friday. The Eagles improved to 3-0 in Patriot League play and have won 24-straight Patriot League regular-season contests. Junior Rubena Sukaj recorded her sixth double-double of the season with a match-high 26 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore Ivana Cebakova tallied 23 digs in the win. Junior Christina Nash and senior Tara Stradling split time as setter and each recorded over 20 assists.

Army Army defeated Holy Cross, 3-0, in Patriot League action in the Black Knights' sole match last week. Head Coach Alma Kovaci inserted a season-high 14 players into the rotation against the Crusaders. Army registered a season-high 11 total blocks at Holy Cross with junior Jamie Clark and senior Lauren Teal leading the way with five each. Junior Briana Stremick hit over .400 for the fourth time this season with a .467 percentage versus Holy Cross.

Bucknell Bucknell closed out a seven-game homestand with a 3-1 Patriot League loss to Colgate on Friday. Senior Jenna Henderson led the Bison with 16 kills, while freshman Heidi Kamp (15), junior Emilie Hardinge (10) and freshman Kaitlin Segal (10) all reached double-digit kills as well. Henderson is five kills away from moving into second all-time at Bucknell. Junior Shannon Pitsch posted a double-double with 48 assists and 12 digs.

Colgate Colgate improved to 3-0 in Patriot League play with a 3-1 victory at Bucknell. Colgate is 3-0 in the Patriot League for the first time since the 1996 season. The Raiders' 3-1 victory over Bucknell on Friday was the first for the Raiders since 2003 and the first on Bucknell's home floor since 1999. Junior Katrina Zawojski registered a match-high 20 kills and .447 hitting percentage. Zawojski moved up to sixth on the Colgate career kills list (1,038 kills).

Holy Cross Senior Christine Strawson recorded her sixth double-double of the season (10 kills, 14 digs) in a 3-0 loss to Army on Saturday. Freshman Chelsey O'Donnell had 30 assists, while sophomores Samantha Surface and Liz Auger posted nine and eight kills, respectively. The Crusaders will begin a seven-game road trip on Friday when they face Lehigh. Holy Cross will then play at Lafayette on Saturday.

Lafayette Lafayette won back-to-back 3-0 matches last week, defeating Delaware State and Patriot League rival Lehigh. Last week marked the first time this season the Leopards have recorded back-to-back 3-0 wins. Senior Michaela Donohue averaged 4.17 kills and 2.33 digs per game with a .438 hitting percentage. Donohue posted a double-double versus the Mountain Hawks with 14 kills and 10 digs. Freshman Katrina Racibarskas reached double-digit kills in both matches, averaging 5.12 per game.

Lehigh Freshman Dannielle Pimental recorded a match-high 13 digs in a 3-0 loss at archrival Lafayette in Patriot League competition on Friday. Shannon Spafford led the Mountain Hawks with eight kills. Lehigh returns to action on Wednesday, when its travels to Fairleigh Dickinson for a non-conference match-up. The Brown and White will host Holy Cross and Army this weekend.

Navy Navy took American to five games before eventually falling 3-2 to the six-time defending Patriot League champion. Junior Jessie Sims tallied her seventh double-double of the year with a season-high 24 kills and 13 digs. Sims needs two digs for 1,000 for her career. She will become the third player in Navy Division I history to record 1,000 digs and the first to accomplish it as a junior. Versus the Eagles, junior Marissa Watson grabbed a career-high 18 digs, while senior Rachel Dougherty's 23 kills in the match were also a career high.