Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Volleyball Set for Weekend Home Matches Against Army and Holy Cross
10/19/2006 8:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 19, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell volleyball team will continue its eight-match homestand as the squad will take on Army this Friday, Oct. 20, and Holy Cross on Saturday, Oct. 21, on the court in Davis Gym with both contests slated for 7 p.m. starts. Friday's match against the Black Knights will feature "Rock the House", a promotion open to all sororities and fraternities on Bucknell's campus, which will have various groups vying to win a bus voucher from Susquehanna Trailways, good for free transportation to the winning organization's next formal.
The Bison currently sit at 13-10, 4-3 in the Patriot League after splitting their matches last weekend with a 3-0 win over Navy and a 3-0 setback to American. Army has a record of 16-5 overall, 6-1 league play and dropped its last match, 3-2, to Temple, after blanking Lehigh on Oct. 14, 3-0. Holy Cross, who will face Colgate on Friday evening in Hamilton, N.Y., enters the weekend at 3-15, 1-6 in the PL. The Crusaders went 1-1 against Lehigh and Lafayette in its last two league matches, defeating the Mountain Hawks, 3-1, while falling to the Leopards, 3-0.
With three double-doubles in her last four contests, junior Jenna Henderson (Elk Grove, Calif./Laguna Creek) heads up the Bison offense, averaging 3.72 kills per game while also contributing 2.55 digs per game. Against league opponents, she has registered 66 kills over five matches (4.40 per game). Senior Sarah Groman (Hollister, Calif./San Benito) has 164 kills on the year for an average of 2.56 per game and sophomore Emilie Hardinge (Darien, Conn./Darien) has contributed 183 kills thus far and is averaging 2.38 per game. In blocking, Groman's total of 49 (5-44), trails only senior Jennie Smith (Roanoke, Va./Patrick Henry) who has 66 blocks on the year (9-57) and currently ranks second in Bucknell history in career block assists with 248, fourth in total blocks with 289.
Sophomore setter Shannon Pitsch (Oak Brook, Ill./Fenwick) has aided the attack for the Orange and Blue with an average of 10.22 assists per game and is second on the squad in service aces with 20. Senior libero Kristen Sydlowski (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) has a squad-best 29 service aces on the season and is averaging 5.72 digs per game. With seven matches left on the regular season schedule, Sydlowski is just 99 digs shy of tying the Bison single-season record.
Army leads the all-time series with Bucknell, 16-11, since the teams first met in 1989. Elizabeth Lazzari has a team-best average of 3.89 kills per game through 21 matches, is second in digs per game with an average of 3.58 and is tied for second in total blocks with 44. Maureen Bannon has 758 assists on the year (10.99 per game) and Eileen Cassidy averages 4.07 digs per game, a squad-high.
Holy Cross, who trails the Bison 20-9 in the series that began in 1986, is led by Christine Strawson with her average of 4.40 kills per game. She also contributes 2.94 digs per game, trailing only Valerie Mora's average of 3.98. Chrissy Fanning has totaled 627 assists over 18 matches for an average of 9.95 per game.
Bucknell will continue league play next weekend, Oct. 27 and 28, with matches against Lafayette and Lehigh, both beginning at 7 p.m.
