Junior setter Jennifer Hansford |
The Niagara University volleyball team (1-6) looks to capture its first road win of the season this weekend when it travels to Lewisburg, Pa., to play in the Bucknell Tournament.
The Purple Eagles open the tournament Friday with a 6 p.m. match vs. host Bucknell (4-3). On Saturday, Niagara plays Duquesne (3-4) at 10 a.m. and Cornell (0-3) at 2 p.m.
SETTING THE SCENE
Niagara makes its third tournament appearance of the season this weekend. The Purple Eagles are 1-5 in tournaments, but won their last tournament match on Sept. 11.
A victory on the road will be at stake for Niagara in the opening match. The Purple Eagles last won a road contest on Nov. 2, 2003, when they beat Marist, 4-1, in Poughkeepsie.
Bucknell enters the tournament as the only team with a winning record. The Bison won three of their four matches at the Morgan State Tournament last weekend, including a 3-0 victory of host Morgan State in the final match of the weekend.
Duquesne will be looking to reach .500 with its first win in the tournament. The Dukes enter the tournament having won one of their last four matches.
Cornell will be looking for its first win of the season. The Big Red has only played three matches, opening the season on the West Coast at the Cal State Northridge Invitational.
A LOOK AT THE PURPLE EAGLES
Niagara is hitting .170 on the season and allowing opponents to hit. 231. Junior middle hitter Karen Simpson is having a break-out year and is leading the Purple Eagles with a .261 hitting percentage and 17 blocks. Classmate Michelle LeSouder is the only other player with a .200 hitting percentage-or-better (.231). She leads the squad in kills per game (4.78), is tied with Simpson in blocks and shares the top spot in aces with freshman Raelean Rush (6).
Junior Jennifer Hansford had been handling all the setting duties, averaging 8.70 assists per game. She is also one of four players digging two-or-more attacks a game.
Defensively, Niagara is digging a lot of balls. Junior libero Micole Daluisio tops the team with 4.52 a game, while junior outside attacker Erin Graham is second (2.71).
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Bucknell
Bucknell, picked to finish third in the Patriot League, has four starters returning and finished 16-13 overall and 11-3 in the conference play last season.
The Bison are hitting .224, while opponents are hitting .240. Senior outside attacker Jackie Leahy leads the team in kills per game (4.0) and is hitting .298. Bucknell has six players hitting .200-or-better. Middle hitters Courtney Clark and Amanda Grossman each average 1.5 kills a game.
Duquesne
Duquesne will be looking to get back into the win column after dropping a 3-0 match to Pittsburgh Wednesday.
The Dukes are hitting .163 and allowing opponents to hit .213 against them. Junior middle hitter Monica Tinsley tops the squad in hitting percentage (.208), while classmate Diana Wuebker is averaging a team-best 3.25 kills per game, has a squad-leading 16 aces and a team-leading 22 blocks.
Cornell
The Big Red might be 0-3 to start the season, but they played tough competition on the West Coast.
Cornell enters the tournament hitting .128 and their foes .235.
Junior middle Heather Young leads the team in hitting (.390), while sophomore outside attacker Elizabeth Bishop has a team-leading 4.50 kills per game and is second in digs per game (3.3).
The Big Red have three players averaging 3.0-or-more digs a match, including junior libero Kelly Kramer (5.7).
SERIES RECORDS
Niagara has one win against the three teams in the tournament. The Purple Eagles are 1-3 vs. Bucknell, winless against Cornell (0-7) and Duquesne (0-5).
The Purple Eagles and the Bison last meet in 1999. Niagara lost in three to the Big Red last year and last face the Dukes in 2002.
MILLENNIUM MARK
Michelle LeSouder is just the second Purple Eagle in the program’s 28-year history to record 1,000 career kills.
The outside hitter accomplished the feat on her first kill in the Youngstown State match on Sept. 10. She enters this weekend’s tournament with 1,058 kills, second only to Jessica Anderson’s (1992-95) 1,128 career kills.
CHART MOVERS
Juniors Jennifer Hansford and Micole Daluisio continue to climb the Niagara career records chart.
Hansford is currently third on the career assists chart with 1,934 assists. She passed Mindy Florczyk (1996-98) after collecting 96 assists at the Youngstown State Tournament. Hansford is just the third Purple Eagle to have 1,900-or-more career assists.
Daluisio is 14 digs shy of taking over sixth on the career digs list. The Lancaster, N.Y., native collected13 digs vs. Buffalo Wednesday and is averaging 4.52 digs a game.
MAAC STATISTICS
Niagara has four players ranked among the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference leaders as of Sept. 13.
Michelle LeSouder led the league in kills and is fifth in hitting percentage. Karen Simpson is sixth in hitting percentage. Jennifer Hansford was eighth in assists and Micole Daluisio fourth in digs.
The Purple Eagles lead the conference in hitting percentage (.174), are second in assists (12.75) and third in kills (14.35), blocks (1.77) and digs (17.10).
