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Volleyball Gears Up For Another Strong Season
The Stevens Institute of Technology volleyball team begins its 2011 season on September 1st when it travels to Hunter College in New York City after one of the best seasons in school history in 2010, which included a 34-6 record and ninth place finish in the NCAA Division III Championships.
The Ducks start their season by traveling to a tri-match against Hunter College and Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham hosted by Hunter in New York City. Last season, Stevens defeated each team, dropping FDU-Florham, 3-1, and Hunter, 3-0, in Madison, N.J.
Stevens also has some tough tournaments and non-conference matches scheduled for this season. The opening weekend of the season, the Ducks will travel to Haverford College and play against perennial powerhouses Christopher Newport University, California Lutheran University and Frostburg State University. The Ducks will also hold a challenging tournament at Castle Point on September 30-October 1, as they play host SUNY Cortland, University of Massachusetts-Boston and Richard Stockton College, all of which were in the NCAA tournament last year.
On October 7th, Stevens will hold another tri-match against Vassar College and New York University. Vassar always is a tough match-up, and NYU was the No. 1 seed in the New York Region last year and eventual Regional Champion.
Also slated on the 2011 schedule for the Ducks is SUNY New Paltz, which has been a mainstay in the New York Regional Rankings for several years now. Stevens will play them twice this season.
Head Coach J.J. O’Connell looks to build off last year’s squad that tied the second-most wins in school history with 34 victories but lost some key pieces to the 2010 team. O’Connell would like to see this year’s Ducks play confident volleyball throughout the year, as he has scheduled yet another tough season for this group. He would also like to see the 2011 Ducks hit with a higher percentage than last year (.213), make the serving game tougher on opponents and play strong team defense.
In order to repeat, or better last year’s finish, the Ducks will have to replace the leadership and defense of four key contributors from 2010. Stevens lost Julia Reilly, Brittany Conroy, Maggie Majcher and Sara Budar all to graduation.
These four combined for nearly 1,500 digs last season, with Reilly leading the way with 504. Majcher finished second on the team with 344 kills, while Budar was the team’s top setter with 1,052 assists. Reilly and Majcher were both All-Empire 8 selections in 2010, while Budar was an Honorable-Mention in 2009. Reilly was also named the conference’s top defensive specialist last season.
The Ducks will have a solid group returning, as two-time All-American and AVCA All-Region, and 2009 Empire 8 Rookie of the Year, junior outside hitter Maggie Kowalska (Edison, N.J.) returns. Also returning off an injury for her senior season will be captain and outside hitter Sarah Byrne (Manlius, N.Y.). Byrne is also a two-time All-American and was the Player of the Year in the Empire 8 in 2009, as well as a First-Team selection in 2008.
Kowalska led the Ducks with 395 kills in 40 matches last year and was second on the team with 131 total blocks. Kowalska’s unique slide approach from the right side will force opponents to account for her on every play.
In 2009, Byrne accumulated a team-high and school-record 472 kills and was second on the team with 377 digs.
Senior captain Kate Janes (Warwick, N.Y.) will look to be a key on-court leader out of the middle and help defend the net. Janes recorded 60 kills and 54 blocks last year.
Also coming back to the Ducks will be sophomore middle blocker Chrissy Dickinson (Issaquah, Wash.). Last season, Dickinson set the school-record for blocks in a season with 134 as a freshman and also recorded 283 kills. Dickinson was an Honor-Mention selection in the Empire 8 last year.
Two-time Empire 8 Sportswoman of the Year, outside hitter Amethyst Holder (Parsippany, N.J.) will be back for her senior campaign. Last season, Holder was third on the team with 308 kills and will be the top returning defender with 273 digs. In the NCAA New York Regional last year, Holder was named to the All-Tournament team.
At the setter position, O’Connell will have a number of options with returners and newcomers. Sophomores Samantha Gates (Wilmington, N.C.) and Ashley Castillo (Cresskill, N.Y.) will compete for the spot. Also options as the key communicator on the floor will be sophomore utility player Mikayla Floyd (Chester, N.H.) and senior Andrea Bucko (Union, N.J.), who took a year off.
Last year, Gates handed out 291 assists in limited playing time and established herself in the spring. Castillo (73 assists) will give O’Connell a bigger front line option, as she stands 5 feet, 10 inches. Floyd spent last season as an outside hitter with 43 kills but could step in as setter. In 2008, Bucko registered 22 assists in eight matches.
Sophomore libero Hannah Gasper (Bourne, Mass.) and sophomore outside hitter Mary Caulson (West Islip, N.Y.) will also be back for the 2011 season. Gasper had a strong spring season and will be looked upon as a top communicator on the court. Caulson will add depth to the front line and stepped up last season when two outside hitters went down with injuries. She had 51 kills and 88 digs last year.
O’Connell will be bringing four new faces to the campus, all of which will be looked upon to contribute immediately. Katie Hall and Reanin Glah, both stand 6 feet tall and can play anywhere on the floor. Also adding depth to the back line will be setters/defensive specialists Kirsten Salmins and Michelle Cloutier.
In order for the Ducks to reach their goal of winning the New York Region and landing a spot in the Elite 8 of the NCAA Championships, they will have to go through nine schools on their schedule that were selected to the tournament last season.
Those teams include: Hunter, No. 12 NYU, No. 13 Cal Lutheran, Richard Stockton, No. 5 CNU, Cortland State, Frostburg State, No. 17 UMASS-Boston and Ithaca College. Included in that group are three of the teams that reached last year’s Elite 8 in CNU, NYU, and UMASS-Boston.
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