Oct. 29, 2007

American swept the Patriot League volleyball weekly awards after a 2-0 week. Christina Nash was named Patriot League/Baden Player of the Week and Cassandra Ricketts took home Patriot League/Baden Rookie of the Week honors.

Patriot League Volleyball Release - 10.29.07
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Baden Player of the Week
Christina Nash, American Jr., S, Princeton, Fla.
Nash totaled 96 assists in a 2-0 week for American, including a career-high 64 assists versus Morgan State. Nash completed the double-double versus Morgan State with 11 digs. In the 3-0 win over Patriot League opponent Navy, she dished out 32 Eagle assists. The junior setter also had five blocks and two aces for the week. This is Nash's first career Patriot League Player of the Week award and marks the first to go to a setter during the 2007 campaign.

Baden Rookie of the Week
Cassandra Ricketts, American Fr., RSH, Sandy, Utah
Ricketts earned her second Patriot League Rookie of the Week award after the Eagles went 2-0. The rookie right-side hitter averaged 3.57 kills per game and a .367 attack percentage for the week. In the win over Morgan State, she registered a career-high 18 kills and five digs. The freshman from Sandy, Utah is first among Patriot League freshmen in hitting percentage (.310).

Honorable Mention

Jenna Henderson, Bucknell
Sr., OH, Elk Grove, Calif.
Recorded two double-doubles...Averaged 4.75 kpg and 3.62 dpg in 1-1 week.

Erin Kanetzke, Colgate
Sr., MB, Cincinnati, Ohio
Hit. 509 over two matches...Had 33 kills and nine blocks for the week.

Shannon Spafford, Lehigh
Sr., MB, Northvale, N.J.
Was one block off a triple-double in a win over rival Lafayette...Posted 22 kills, 12 digs and nine blocks.

Patriot League Notebook

American And Colgate Clinch
At 9-1 in Patriot League action, American and Colgate have both clinched spots in the 2007 Patriot League Volleyball Tournament. At the very least one of the two teams could end up 9-5 in the Patriot League and the four bottom teams in the standings already have more than five losses each.

American has appeared in the Patriot League Tournament in each year since it joined the League in 2001. The Eagles have played as the No. 1 in each of those seasons and crowned champion every year. This year marks the first time since 2000 that Colgate will play in the postseason tourney. The Raiders have won the second-most Patriot League Tournament tiles with four (1990, 1995, 1996, 1999). American is at the top of the list with six championship wins.

One-Match Week
This past weekend featured just four Patriot League matches, instead of the typical eight contests. American (9-1), Colgate (9-1) and Army (8-2) maintained their spots in the Patriot League standings with wins. Lehigh picked up its second Patriot League win of the season, defeating Lafayette, 3-2, to snap an overall six-match losing streak.

Home Court Advantage
Each of the teams that picked up a Patriot League win last week did so on their home court. American improved to 13-1 at home, while Colgate is now 11-2 at home and Army 9-1 at West Point. Lehigh evened out its home record this season at 3-3 with its victory.

First-Place Battle
Both American and Colgate are tied for first in the Patriot League standings at 9-1, but the Eagles hold the edge right now with their 3-0 (30-27, 30-27, 30-23) win over the Raiders on Oct. 5. On Saturday American will travel to Colgate for the second meeting between the two teams this season.

Sliding Into Second
Colgate junior Jackie Adlam took over second place on the Patriot League career digs list with a total of 42 digs in two matches last week. Adlam now has 1,500 career digs and is just 88 shy of tying the Patriot League all-time mark. She must average 22 digs per match in the next four to earn the record in the regular season.

Quotable
"I'm so proud of the way we played. We played with intensity, stayed disciplined and played Lehigh volleyball. To be able to put together a strong finish like that shows a lot about our mental toughness." - Lehigh Head Coach Jenny Maurer after a 3-2 defeat of archrival Lafayette

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 went 2-0 last week with a 3-1 win at Morgan State and a 3-0 victory over Patriot League foe Navy. Junior Christina Nash notched a double-double over Morgan State with a career-high 64 assists and 11 digs. Nash recorded 32 assists versus Navy for a weekly total of 96. Four Eagles were in double-digit kills in the Morgan State match. Freshman Cassandra Ricketts had a career-high 18 kills against the Bears.

Army Army posted a 3-0 victory over Holy Cross in its lone contest last week. Junior Briana Stremick led all players with 17 kills and posted a season-high .593 hitting percentage. The Black Knights hit a season-best .388 versus the Crusaders. Army's seven total errors, including a flawless first game, marked a season-low. For the first time this season, Head Coach Alma Kovaci utilized all three setters against Holy Cross (Maureen Bannon, Karyn Powell and Malissa Gallini). With a 20-4 record on the year, the Black Knights have posted 20-win seasons in each of the last three years. Army has never finished a season with as few as four losses since the program's inaugural year (1978).

Bucknell Bucknell split matches last week with a 3-1 win over St. Francis (Pa.) and a 3-1 loss to Colgate in Patriot League play. Senior Jenna Henderson posted two double-doubles, matching a career-high with 23 kills and 15 digs versus St. Francis (Pa.) and coming up with 15 kills and 14 digs against Colgate. Henderson is 19 kills away from Bucknell's career record and is 31 away from her 1,000th career dig.

Colgate Colgate defeated Bucknell, 3-1, to move to 9-1 in League play for the first time since the 1999 squad did so. The win also gave the Raiders their 14th of the season, matching last year's total with four regular season matches remaining. Earlier in the week the Raiders dropped a match at Syracuse. Senior Erin Kanetzke averaged a team-best .509 hitting percentage and posted 33 kills last week. Against Syracuse, Kanetzke registered a career-high 21 kills. Freshman Casey Ritt posted double-digit kills in both matches for a total of 23 on the week.

Holy Cross In a loss at Army, senior Christine Strawson and sophomore Liz Auger each recorded 11 kills. Senior libero Molly Anderson led the Crusader defense with 11 digs, while freshman setter Chelsey O'Donnell had 29 assists. Holy Cross will host two Patriot League matches this week, facing Lafayette on Friday and Lehigh on Saturday.

Lafayette Lafayette went 1-1 last week with an out-of-league win over Wagner and a 3-2 loss at Patriot League rival Lehigh. Junior Megan Carter posted a double-double versus the Mountain Hawks with a season-high 60 assists and 10 digs. Both senior Michaela Donohue (16 kills, 19 digs) and classmate Maura Kelly (11 kills, 10 digs) recorded double-doubles at Lehigh. Freshman Katrina Racibarskas totaled 20 kills last week. Racibarskas leads Lafayette with 288 kills on the season.

Lehigh With its 3-2 win over Lafayette on Friday night, Lehigh snapped an eight-match losing streak to its archrival. The victory was also the Mountain Hawks' first in seven matches. Senior Shannon Spafford recorded her fifth double-double of the year with a season-high 22 kills and 12 digs and registered a season-high nine blocks. Her ninth block of the contest was the match-winning point. Freshman Brittany Dickinson also notched a double-double with 29 assists and 15 digs.

Navy Navy defeated Coppin State last Tuesday, 3-0, and then fell to Patriot League opponent American, 3-0, on Friday. Versus Coppin State, junior Alexa Gibbs totaled 13 kills and a .522 hitting percentage. The Mids totaled 10 service aces in the match which helped the Navy defense hold Coppin State to a .070 hitting percentage on the night. Senior Rachel Dougherty is the featured player on the "Raves" personality profile page of the November issue of Volleyball Magazine.