Bucknell Volleyball Faces Colgate at Home, California Teams on Road

Oct. 8, 2008

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell volleyball team, fresh off a 3-0 victory over Holy Cross on Saturday, will take on the Raiders of Colgate at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 10. Both teams put their .500 league marks on the line as Bucknell (7-11) and Colgate (6-10) each has a 2-2 Patriot League record. The contest will be the volleyball season's first Bison Vision broadcast, which is available through BucknellBison.com. Live stats will also be available on the web site.

After a brief stay at home, the team heads to California for a pair of matches on the West Coast. Bucknell is scheduled for a 7 p.m. contest against Cal State Fullerton on Sunday, Oct. 12 in Fullerton, Calif., followed by a matchup with Cal State Bakersfield at 10 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 13 in Bakersfield, Calif. Live audio of the contest with Cal State Fullerton can be heard on the Titans' web site, while streaming video and live stats will be available for the match with CSU Bakersfield on GoRunners.com.

BISON VOLLEYBALL NOTEBOOK

About the Opponents

Bucknell starts the weekend with Colgate, which leads the all-time series 23-20. The Raiders' league schedule has mirrored Bucknell's, both in timing and results. In its first weekend of Patriot League action, Colgate split a pair of decisions by falling to American and earning the win over Navy. They returned the next weekend with a 3-0 victory at Holy Cross and a 3-1 loss at Army.

The 2007 Patriot League Runner-up, Colgate is led by senior Katrina Zawojski with 231 kills (3.79/set), 30 blocks (0.49/set) and 18 service aces (0.30/set). Other key offensive players for the Raiders include sophomore Casey Ritt with 119 kills (2.02/set), junior Kelsea Loveless with 118 kills (2.15/set) and junior Meghan Fanta with 507 assists (8.89/set). Ritt also has a team-best 32 blocks (0.54/set). Colgate is strong at libero with senior Jackie Adlam, a two-time Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year. With 244 digs in 2008, Adlam is averaging 4 per set.

The Bison dropped both matches to Colgate in 2007 by scores of 3-1. In their first meeting, Colgate's Zawojski had 20 kills on .447 hitting. Four Bucknell players recorded double-digit kills, including Heidi Kamp who registered a career-high 15. Shannon Pitsch also had one of her finer outings, totaling 48 assists in the match. In the teams' second meeting, Pitsch contributed 43 more assists, which was bested only by Colgate's Fanta who had 53. The Bucknell setter also added 15 digs to Sheena Czipri's 13. The Raiders' Zawojski repeated her powerful net play with 19 kills and five blocks.

The Orange and Blue revisit a matchup that has not been played in five years when it takes on Cal State Fullerton on Sunday. The Titans, which lead the all-time series with Bucknell 2-0, are 8-10 going into the weekend. Most recently, they earned a five-set victory over UC Riverside before defeating UC Irvine 3-1 last weekend.

Senior Brittany Moore and sophomore Erin Sadler are among CSU Fullerton's statistical leaders in 2008. Moore has tallied a team-best 207 kills (3.29/set) and 30 blocks (0.48/set), while Sadler has 184 kills (2.92/set) and 31 blocks (0.49/set). A 6-5 junior, Alex Wolnisty, leads the Titans with 54 blocks (0.86/set). Much of the attackers' success at the net can be credited to sophomore Genie Francisco, who has 488 assists (9.57/set).

CSU Fullerton swept the Bison in their last meeting in 2003. The Titans overtook Bucknell on the front line, winning the kills battle 50 to 38 and outhitting the Bison .228 to .090. Bucknell's Breean Trapasso led the team in assists (26) and digs (16).

The bout in Bakersfield is the first meeting between Cal State Bakersfield and Bucknell. CSU Bakersfield is 10-9 this season, including a recent 3-1 win over Utah Valley University and a 3-2 loss to the same opponent.

The Roadrunners maintain a strong presence at net with senior attackers Sarah Norman (228 kills, 3.12/set) and Rosemary Stribling (223 kills, 3.14/set). The two have also combined for 71 blocks in 2008. CSU Bakersfield also has benefited from an impressive 769 assists (10.90/set) from junior setter Barbie Thistle. Senior Mystie McNaughton, the team's defensive specialist and libero, has registered 405 digs (5.55/set) for the Roadrunners.

Last Time Out

The Bison led off the second week of Patriot League action with a 3-0 loss to Army. Kamp had one of the Bison's strongest efforts of the night and had her aggressiveness rewarded with seven kills. Freshman Emily Sawanobori tried to make a dent in the Black Knights' offense by registering a team-high 11 digs.

Bucknell made some adjustments for the weekend's second match and came out on top, 3-0, at Holy Cross. The team spread out the success as four Bison totaled six or more kills, and four more totaled six or more digs. Sophomore Kaitlin Segal (14 kills), Kamp (8), freshman Kyleigh McAhren (7) and senior Liz Hazuka (6) led the offense, while Sawanobori (8 digs), Pitsch (7), Segal (7) and sophomore Rachel Rodriguez (6) led defensively.

Segal led the team in kills during both of last weekend's matches. In addition to the 14 at Holy Cross, the outside hitter contributed 10 on Friday at Army. Her 24 kills on the weekend bring her to 210 for the season, 77 ahead of second-place Kamp.

The Bison are among the NCAA service ace leaders. As of Monday, Bucknell was ranked 30th as a team with 1.69 aces/set, while Segal was 50th individually with 0.45 aces/set.

Bucknell is putting Pitsch back on the record watch. With 126 service aces, the senior is two away from breaking into the top five for career aces by a Bison. Pitsch became the top setter for Bucknell when she broke the school's career assists record against La Salle on Sept. 20. As of Oct. 9, she has 3,225 assists as a Bison.

Looking Ahead

Following the California road trip, Bucknell will return home to Davis Gym for a meeting against two Patriot League foes. The Bison will face American at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 17 in a match that will be broadcast live on Bison Vision. They will then take on Navy at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18. Live stats on GameTracker will be available for both contests.

Bucknell University Athletics

Bucknell Volleyball Faces Colgate at Home, California Teams on Road

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