Aug. 30, 2007
Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown University volleyball team travels to Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky. this weekend for the University of Kentucky Classic. The Hoyas open Kentucky in the Wildcats' season opener on Friday, August 31 at 7 p.m. The Blue and Gray continue competition on Saturday, September 1 when they compete against Cleveland State at 12:30 and play their final match of the weekend against Austin Peay at 5 p.m.
The Hoyas enter this weekend with an overall record of 0-3. Georgetown lost all three matches at last week's D.C. Challenge where they faced American, George Washington and George Mason.
Sophomore Dana Dumas (Nokomis, Fla./Pine View) leads the team with 34 kills and has started all three matches for GU. She has recorded 22 digs this year, which ranks fourth on the team. Classmate Kortney Robinson (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Pleasant Grove) has put in 31 kills of her own and shares the team-lead in digs (29) with sophomore Jessica Hardy (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa). Sophomore Courtney Cohen (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley Prep) leads the team with five total blocks while freshman Vanessa Dorismond (Cary, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) has come off the bench to hit .400 with two kills.
The Kentucky volleyball team went 2-1 in its opening weekend of play at the Northern Iowa Invitational in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Wildcats defeated Wright State in the season opener before falling to Western Michigan on Saturday morning. Kentucky rebounded with a hard-fought five-game win against host Northern Iowa in the final tournament contest. Senior middle blocker Nicole Britenriker was named to the all-tournament team after totaling 44 kills, 34 digs and 16 blocks during the three-match span. On Wednesday, Britenriker just missed notching a triple-double as she finished with 14 kills, 12 blocks and nine digs in leading the Wildcats to a 3-1 victory against intra-state rival Western Kentucky.
Cleveland State is in the same position as Austin Peay, entering the tournament with a 3-2 record after losing two of their last three matches. Junior middle hitter Jenni Ramminger was named Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week after being named to the Toledo Invitational All-Tournament Team this past weekend. Ramminger did a little bit of everything over the weekend as she guided Cleveland State to a 3-1 mark, which included wins over Bradley, IUPUI and Toledo. Junior libero Jordan Bateman received honorable mention Honorable Mention after averaging 5.93 digs per game. This week, despite a career-high 19 kills from Ramminger and a career-high 27 digs from sophomore defensive specialist Maggie Bonomini, Cleveland State fell to Kent State, 3-2. Sophomore outside hitter Liz Fazio added 16 kills for the Vikings, while junior defensive specialist Jordan Bateman finished with 30 digs, one shy of tying her career high.
Austin Peay enters the tournament with a 3-2 record, but have lost two of their last three matches. Senior outside hitter Dodi Szymska was named the OVC Offensive Player of the Week while senior libero Kristen Kirch was named the OVC Defensive Player of the Week for August 20-27. Austin Peay opened the season with back-to-back wins for the first time since the 2000 season as the Lady Govs defeated Kennesaw State, High Point, and Radford. In their last outing, Austin Peay could not keep its weekend momentum going, falling 3-0 at Belmont on Tuesday night. Szymska posted a match-high 15 kills in the losing effort while sophomore outside hitter Kirstin Distler chipped in 10 kills. Defensively, the Lady Govs lost their first back-row battle by a 47-43 margin in digs and continued to have problems at the net losing the blocking battle, 5-4.
