Women's Volleyball Weekly Release #7

Oct. 2, 2006

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Offensive Player of the Week

Katarina Nedeljkovic

UIC

Jr., Outside Hitter, Kragujevac, Serbia

Nedeljkovic notched a team-high 33 kills and seven service aces in two League matches last week. The junior owned a .247 attack percentage, totaled 26 digs and three blocks for the Flames in two conference victories.

In a four-game thriller over Youngstown State, Nedeljkovic led the team with 17 kills and 14 digs. The junior also notched four service aces and posted a .293 attack percentage in the win over the Penguins.

She then posted her 11th double-double on the season with 16 kills and 12 digs in a four-game win over Cleveland State. Nedeljkovic owned a team-high three service aces and added two blocks against the Vikings.

In UIC's perfect 4-0 league record, Nedeljkovic has totaled 52 kills, 51 digs, eight service aces and five blocks.

Defensive Player of the Week

Jordan Bateman

Cleveland State

So., Libero, Nelsonville, Ohio

Bateman was solid defensively for the Vikings last week, averaging 6.29 digs in two matches. In Friday's sweep of Loyola, she tallied a match-high 20 digs. The next day against UIC, she recorded 24 digs to once again lead all players. For the weekend, she was aced just three times in 48 pass attempts.

Other Top Performances for the Week

Ambria Springer

UIC

Sr., Middle Blocker, Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Springer dominated at the net in UIC's perfect 2-0 week. In two League matches, Springer totaled 32 kills, two service aces, 11 blocks and a .353 attack percentage.

Springer led the Flames in a five-game thriller over Youngstown State on Sept. 29 with five blocks, while also notching 16 kills and posting a .244 attack percentage. 

In a four-game victory over Cleveland State, Springer owned a team-high six blocks and recorded two solo blocks. The senior added 16 kills, two service aces and a .263 attack percentage.

In four League matches this season, Springer has recorded 57 kills, three service aces, 15 digs, 18 blocks and a .234 attack percentage.

Beth Greulich

Cleveland State

Fr., Opposite, Troy, Ohio

Greulich hit nearly .500 last week as the Vikings split a pair of Horizon League matches. In Friday's sweep of Loyola, she ripped a career-high 12 kills while hitting .647 (12-1-17), adding three blocks in the win. The next day against UIC, she set another career-best with 12 kills, hitting .370 (14-4-27) to go along with four blocks. For the week, she hit .477 with 3.71 kills and 1.00 blocks.

Melissa David

UW-Milwaukee

Sr., Outside Hitter, Savoy, Ill.

David added to her resume of strong senior-year performances with her third-straight double-figure kill effort in a win over UW-Green Bay. She had 13 kills against the Phoenix as the Panthers claimed a three-game win. David hit .308 in the match while adding three blocks. She leads the team at 3.17 kills per game and has upped that average to 4.50 kills per game in League play.

Ann Deelo

Loyola

Sr., Libero, St. Louis, Mo.

Deelo put together another terrific week, averaging a sterling 6.7 digs per game in Loyola's two League matches. Deelo had 15 digs against Cleveland State before recording 25 digs, as the Ramblers held Youngstown State to a .071 hitting percentage in a three-game sweep over the Penguins. For the season, Deelo is averaging a team-best 5.03 digs per game (337 in 67 games).

Sarah Poling

Wright State

Sr., Libero, St. Henry, Ohio

Poling recorded 18 digs in a League match against Butler. She followed that performance with a career-high of 32 digs at Dayton, which ties the overall League-high for this season.

Nina Inic

Butler

So., Libero, Belgrade, Serbia

Inic paced the Bulldogs defensively last week, recording a team-best 27 digs in two matches. She notched 10 digs against Ball State before tallying 17 against Wright State on. Inic committed only four errors in 43 attempts for a .907 reception percentage.

Ruth Boscaljon

Youngstown State

Fr., Middle Hitter, Elgin, Ill.

Boscaljon led the Penguins with 3.62 kills per game and 1.62 blocks per game in the Penguin's two losses last week. For the fourth time this season, Boscaljon posted at least 20 kills in a match with 20 against UIC. She also just missed a double-double with nine blocks, including five solo blocks.

News From Around the League

UIC (10-10, 4-0 HL)

The Flames extended their Horizon League winning streak to four matches last week after topping Youngstown State in a five-game thriller on Sept. 29, followed by a 3-1 victory at Cleveland State on Sept. 30.

Pacing the Flames on both sides of the net, junior Katarina Nedeljkovic notched 33 kills, seven service aces and 26 digs, while posting a .247 attack percentage in two matches. Senior Ambria Springer also dominated at the net with nine blocks, including two solo blocks, along with 32 kills. Senior Katie Kozak led UIC with a .375 attack percentage, while also totaling 11 kills and 26 digs.

The Flames return home this week and look to continue their winning streak when UIC tangles with UW-Green Bay on Friday, and faces UW-Milwaukee on Saturday.

UW-Milwaukee (9-4, 3-0 HL)

The Panthers have been steady on offense throughout the early season, with this past weekend the latest example of UWM's great offensive play. The Panthers hit .290 in the win over UW-Green Bay and are now hitting .302 in three Horizon League matches this season. UWM has hit better than .300 in four matches, including three at the Bama Bash and the match against Cleveland State. Overall, UWM has hit better than .290 in eight matches.

If recent history is any indication, plenty of winning lies ahead for the Panthers now that the month of October has arrived. UWM has gone 76-6 in the month over the past nine seasons and went a perfect 9-0 in October last year. The Panthers have won 29 of their last 30 matches in October.

UWM's return to the road should not be daunting for a Panther team that has had tremendous success of late outside of Milwaukee. In fact, UWM has won 25 of its last 28 and 35 of its last 41 League regular- season road contests.

Overall this season, UWM is 4-3 away from home and the Panthers are now 16-9 in their last 25 matches away from home.

Wright State (8-10, 2-1 HL)

After picking up their seventh win in nine matches Friday against Butler, the Raiders looked to pull the upset Saturday night on the road against Dayton, the top-ranked team in the Northeast Region according to www.richkern.com. Wright State was in great position to do so, rallying from a one-game deficit twice and led 7-5 in the fifth game, but could not hold on despite eight several ties down the stretch.

For the second straight week, Sarah Poling set a career-best in digs as she recorded 32 at Dayton on Saturday, bettering the 28 at Loyola on Sept. 22.  Poling is now just 13 digs away from passing Kara Benningfield for 10th place on the WSU all-time dig list. Fellow senior Jenny Schultz also set a career best in digs this week with 24 in the win over Butler.

Wright State was originally scheduled to have three matches this week, but Tuesday's contest at Xavier has been cancelled. The Raiders will host their Ohio rivals this week in Youngstown State on Friday and Cleveland State on Saturday.

Cleveland State (12-4, 2-2 HL)

Having played just three matches at home all season, the Vikings hit the road again this week for contests at Butler and Wright State.

Freshman Beth Greulich continues to rank among the nation's most efficient hitters. Heading into last week, she was 18th in the country with a .417 hitting percentage, before hitting .477 in two matches to raise her season mark to .427.

Last week, Mel Snyder became the fifth setter in school history to hand out 2,000 career assists. The junior currently ranks fourth with 2,052 helpers despite starting just the last year-and-a-half.

Loyola (8-10, 2-2 HL)

Fr. Dana VanDiggelen put together a solid match in a loss to Cleveland State, leading the Ramblers with 11 kills at a .348 clip (11-3-23). Sr. Sarah Elmer, Jr. Keily Zins and Jr. Melissa Craig each added eight kills apiece in support. Ann Deelo had 15 digs to lead the defensive effort.

Zins and Craig pounded out 11 kills apiece to lead Loyola to its first road win of the season, sweeping Youngstown State, salvaging a split for the weekend.

Deelo continues to lead the League in digs, totaling 337 on the season and averaging 5.03 per game.

Loyola returns to action on Tuesday night when it travels to Peoria to face Bradley in its final non-conference match of the year.

UW-Green Bay (6-8, 1-2 HL)

UW-Green Bay takes on Big East foe DePaul at the Phoenix Sports Center on Tuesday. The Phoenix has won its last two meetings with the Blue Demons and three of its last four.

Following that match, UW-Green Bay will return to League action Friday and Saturday when it travels to Chicago to take on UIC and Loyola, respectively.

Middle blocker Abby Bergsma is experiencing a breakthrough season in her sophomore campaign. She has notched 168 kills in 55 games this season, just four shy of the total that she posted in 105 games last year as a freshman.

Youngstown State (8-12, 0-4 HL)

With 33 digs last weekend, senior Cari Leslie moved into fifth place on the YSU all-time digs list with 1,170. Leslie averaged 4.12 digs per game last week. Junior Jessica Fraley collected her 500th career kill last week and now has 504 total. After posting 360 kills during her freshman season, Fraley has appeared in just 16 matches over the last two seasons because of injuries and has tallied 144 kills.

Butler (5-12, 0-3 HL)

Sophomore Nina Inic has been the Bulldog's strongest defensive player in the past five matches. After recording double-digit digs in two of the first 12 matches, Inic has posted 10 or more in each of the past five, including a career-high 22 against Loyola on Sept. 23.

Senior Krystal Hendrix leads the Bulldogs with 75 total blocks and, with 402 total blocks in her career, is just eight blocks away from passing Keely Norris (409) for sixth on the school's all-time list.

Freshman Porshia Allen leads the team with 3.02 kills per game and has tallied double-digit kills in 10 contests.

The Bulldogs' next win will be Sharon Clark's 100th as the head coach of the Bulldogs.

Valparaiso (11-6)

Valparaiso's 25-match home court winning streak was snapped Friday, as was their season-best six-match win streak with a Mid-Continent Conference loss to Oral Roberts.

Jessie Fox moved into fifth place on Valpo's career blocks chart Saturday and now sits with 371 blocks, 17 out of fourth. Angie Porché recorded her 200th kill of the season Saturday, and maintained her team lead with 202.

Carin Avery's 150th match as Valpo head coach was Friday; her career record is now 114-37 (.755).