2008 Hornet Notes August 29-30, 2008 Tiny Laster Memorial Tournament Contact: Brett Kahn -- Office Phone: (302) 857-6239 -- Cell Phone: (215) 431-2780 -- E-mail: [email protected] Date Opponent/Tournament Time THIS WEEK IN STATE VOLLEYBALL Aug. 29 Fairleigh Dickinson (1) 9:00 am Aug. 29 South Dakota (1) 1:00 pm 2008 Tiny Laster Memorial Tournament Aug. 30 Wofford (1) 9:00 am Delaware State vs. Farliegh Dickinson-- Friday, August 29 -- Boo Williams Complex -- 9 a.m. Aug. 30 South Carolina State (1) 3:00 pm Live Stats: N/A Sep. 5 Fairleigh Dickinson (2) 4:00 pm Delaware State vs. South Dakota -- Friday, August 29 -- Boo Williams Complex -- 1 p.m. Sep. 6 Lafayette (2) 10:00 am Live Stats: N/A Sep. 6 St. Peter’s (2) 2:00 pm Delaware State vs. Wofford -- Saturday, August 30 -- Boo Williams Complex -- 9 a.m. Sep. 12 George Washington (3) 7:00 pm Live Stats: N/A Sep. 13 Rider (3) 10:00 am Sep. 13 St. Francis – NY (3) 3:00 pm Delaware State vs. S.C. State -- Saturday, August 30 -- Boo Williams Complex -- 3 p.m N/A Sep. 23 Delaware 7:00 pm Live Stats:

Sep. 26 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON (4) 1:00 pm Sep. 26 NORFOLK STATE (4) 7:00 pm Hornets Open Up Season At Tiny Laster Memorial Sep. 27 WAGNER (4) 12:00 pm The Hornets open up their 2008 season at the Tiny Laster Memorial Tournament being held at . DSU starts play on Friday, August 29, at 9 a.m. against Farleigh Dick - Oct. 3 Hampton* 7:00 pm inson. The Hornets’ all-time record against the Knights is 1-3. They will then face South Dakota at Oct. 5 UMES* 3:00 pm 1 p.m. DSU has never faced the Coyotes before. On Saturday, August, 30, the Hornets will face Oct. 10 HOWARD* 7:00 pm both Wofford at 9 a.m. and South Carolina State at 3 p.m. DSU has never faced Wofford and is 8- Oct. 12 Morgan State* 3:00 pm 12 all-time against South Carolina State. Oct. 17 Coppin State* 7:00 pm Oct. 19 HAMPTON* 2:00 pm Head Coach Renee Arnold Oct. 24 UMES* 7:00 pm DSU Head Coach Renee Arnold (50-84) is entering her fifth season with the Hornets. Oct. 26 Howard* 2:00 pm Last season, Arnold led the team to a 11-20 overall record and a 7-3 MEAC record. She also led Oct. 31 MORGAN STATE* 7:00 pm DSU to a MEAC Tournament win over North Carolina A&T before falling to Maryland-Eastern Nov. 1 QUINNIPIAC TBA Shore (2-3) in the semifinals. Arnold’s 2007 overall record included contests against #2 Stanford Nov. 2 COPPIN STATE* 2:00 pm and #3 Penn State, along with major conference foes Boston College and Michigan State. Nov. 8 NEW JERSEY TECH 5:00 pm

Nov. 14-16MEAC Championship TBA The 2008 Hornets Topping the list of returning players is OH/MB Cassandra Joyner (jr. 5-10), who led the Dec. 17-21NCAA Finals TBA Hornets with 59 blocks, and was second with 271 kills (2.61 pg) and a .189 attack percentage last season. Joyner was also fourth on team with 225 digs a year ago. * - MEAC match The Hornets also return three players who made significant contributions as freshmen in (1) – Hampton University Tournament 2007. (2) – Lafayette College Tournament (3)- George Washington Tournament Outside hitter Erica Tajchman (so., 6-0) was second on the Hornets in kills-per-game (2.62) (4) – Delaware State Tournament and third in total kills (257) last season. A two-time MEAC Rookie-of-the-Week, Tajchman was also second on the team with 28 service aces in 2007.

Setter/outside hitter Sarah Wheatcroft (so., 6-1) is one of the team’s most versatile players. Last season, she was second on the team in assists (297) and fourth in kills (158). Wheatcroft col - lected one MEAC Rookie-of-the-Week award last year.

Middle blocker Ashley Herman (so., 6.1) was 10th in the MEAC with a .224 attack percent - age last season. She is also second among returning players with 51 blocks a year ago. Delaware State Volleyball -- Page 2 -- Weekly Release -- August 29-30, 2008 The 2008 Delaware State Hornets

No. Name Pos Ht. Cl. Hometown/Previous School 2 Megan McDonald RS/MB 6-5 Fr. Spring, Tex./Klein Oak HS 3 Princess Puckett MB 5-8 So. Dover, Del./Caesar Rodney HS 4 Jessica Barnes OH 5-10 Fr. Alpharetta, Ga./Alpharetta HS 5 Martina Ferrari S 5-6 Fr. Trento, Italy/Liceo Scientifico “L. daVinci” 6 Ciana Charity Utl 5-7 Fr. Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman HS 7 Erica Tajchman* OH 6-0 So. Omaha, Neb/Omaha Gross Catholic HS 8 Jasmine Rogers S 5-9 Grad. Ambridge, Pa./Manhatten College 9 Sonja Banicevic Lib 5-9 Fr. Zagreb, Croatia/Sportska gimnazija 10 Sarah Wheatcroft* OH 6-1 So. Oro Station, Ontario 11 Ashley Herman* MB 6-0 So. Craven, Saskatchewan/Lumsden HS 12 Nazhoni Rushing OH 6-1 Fr. Rockville, Md./St. Johns College HS 16 Cassandra Joyner** OH/MB 5-10 Jr. Claymont, Del. / Concord HS 20 Elisa Hermann MB 6-2 Fr. Andernach, Germany/Kurfuerst Salentin *- Letters Earned

Head Coach: Renee Arnold (George Washington, ‘01) - Fifth season

Head Coach Renee Arnold Other Coaching Experience Arnold was an assistant coach at the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore during the 2003 season. That year, she helped lead the Hawks to a school-record 26 wins (26-12), and an ap - pearance in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament championship game. Mary - land-Eastern Shore was 9-1 in the MEAC regular season, while ranking second in the league in hitting percentage, assists, kills and services aces in 2003. Before her stint at Maryland-Eastern Shore, Arnold was head volleyball coach at Northwest - ern High School in Baltimore, MD (her alma mater) for one season.

More About Arnold Arnold was a collegiate standout at George Washington University. She earned four volley - ball letters as an outside hitter. As a senior, Arnold helped lead the Colonials to the Atlantic 10 Conference championship, and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. She was named to numerous all-tournament teams during her career, and was team captain during her junior and senior years. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Sports Management from George Washington in 2001.

Renee Arnold (Year-by-Year)

Year Overall MEAC 2004 15-23 6-4 2005 12-19 6-4 2006 12-22 6-5 2007 11-20 7-3 Totals 50-84 (.370) 25-16 (.610 )

A Deeper Look

2008 Team Information At The Net With Delaware State Starters Returning/Lost: 3/3 • For the first time since she arrived at Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 5/3 Delaware State in 2004, head coach Newcomers: 6 Renee Arnold will be without the services of two of the team’s all-time Statistical Leaders great players. Gone after four brilliant Kills Per Game: years at DSU are outside hitter/setter Erica Tajchman 2.62 Laura Huculak and middle blocker Assists Per Game: Kinga Muszynski, who rank 1-2 on the Sarah Wheatcroft 3.23 Hornets’ list for career digs. Digs Per Game: Cassandra Joyner 2.16 • The 2008 freshman class includes four Blocks Per Game: players who stand 6-1 or taller and Ashley Herman 0.65 three players with international Aces Per Game: experience. Erica Tajchman 0.29 Delaware State Volleyball -- Page 3 -- Weekly Release -- August 29-30, 2008 2008 MEAC Volleyball Standings 2008 MEAC Volleyball Preseason Order of Finish As voted by the Leagues Head Coaches and Sports Information Directors MEAC Pct Overall Pct - (First place points in parentheses) Northern Division Coppin State 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 MEAC Northern Division Delaware St. 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 Maryland Eastern Shore (17) 245 pts. Hampton 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 Morgan State (3) 191 pts. Howard 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 Delaware State 172 pts. Maryland-Eastern Shore 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 Howard (2) 169 pts. Morgan St. 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 Hampton 143 pts. Coppin State 114 pts. Southern Division Bethune-Cookman 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 MEAC Southern Division Florida A&M 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 Florida A&M (21) 261 pts. Norfolk St. 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 North Carolina A&T 183 pts. North Carolina A&T 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 Bethune-Cookman (1) 177 pts. South Carolina St. 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 South Carolina State 154 pts. Norfolk State 149 pts. Hornets Shift Into Neutral Media Information

The 2008 Hornets will begin their season with three neutral week - When refering to the University, please be be aware of the following policies. end tournaments on the at Hampton, Va., Easton, Pa., and Wash - ington, D.C. DSU will then travel to Newark for a match against Photography rival Delaware before returning home on Friday, September, 26, to Photographers are limited to working along the perimeter of the court. host a tournament. Game Services Neutral Site Record under Renee Game notes, game-by-game statistics and final boxcores will be available from Arnold (Year-by-Year) SID Brett Kahn or from www.dsuhornets.com

Year Record Postgame Procedures DSU head coach Renee Arnold and requested DSU volleyball players will be 2004 5-12 available after a brief cooling-off period following the match. Player and coach 2005 4-8 requests should be made to SID Brett Kahn prior to the end of the match. All in - 2006 4-8 terviews will be conducted outside the locker room. The DSU locker room is not 2007 3-11 open to the media. Postgame procedures for opponents will be at the discretion Totals 16-39 (.291) of the opposing SID.

Interview Policy All media requests for interviews with DSU volleyball players should be directed to SID Brett Kahn preferably 24 hours in advance. The best time for in-season interviews, either in person or on the phone, is prior to or following practice. Most DSU practices begin at 6 p.m. and end at around 9 p.m. Members of the media should contact SID Brett Kahn 24 hours in advance to attend practice.

350 Student Athletes 18 Teams 1 Hornet Delaware State Combined Team Statistics (as of Aug 28, 2008) All matches

RECORD: OVERALL HOME AWAY NEUTRAL ALL MATCHES...... (11-20) ( 4-1 ) ( 4-8 ) ( 3-11) CONFERENCE...... ( 7-3 ) ( 3-0 ) ( 3-2 ) ( 1-1 ) NON-CONFERENCE...... ( 4-17) ( 1-1 ) ( 1-6 ) ( 2-10)

|------ATTACK------| |--SET---| |----SERVE----| |--DIG---| |------BLOCKING------| ## STATS SUMMARY G K K/G E TA Pct A A/G SA SE SA/G RE DIG D/G BS BA Total B/G BE BHE ------5 HERMAN,Ashley 78 98 1.26 37 272 .224 14 0.18 5 19 0.06 5 26 0.33 7 44 51 0.65 5 2 6 MUSZYNSKI, Kinga 110 6 0.05 2 21 .190 12 0.11 23 43 0.21 48 375 3.41 0 0 0 0.00 1 3 16 JOYNER,Cassandra 104 271 2.61 123 782 .189 24 0.23 26 33 0.25 15 225 2.16 21 38 59 0.57 10 8 10 WHEATCROFT,Sarah 92 158 1.72 79 510 .155 297 3.23 24 29 0.26 6 163 1.77 2 34 36 0.39 12 30 11 DYETTE,Ayana 108 386 3.57 224 1058 .153 13 0.12 19 33 0.18 25 278 2.57 14 27 41 0.38 3 5 12 BRADY,Marissa 91 102 1.12 53 348 .141 7 0.08 14 25 0.15 1 44 0.48 7 45 52 0.57 11 4 7 TAJCHMAN,Erica 98 257 2.62 151 816 .130 13 0.13 28 36 0.29 39 211 2.15 4 19 23 0.23 0 3 8 HUCULAK,Laura 110 65 0.59 45 242 .083 783 7.12 39 46 0.35 6 297 2.70 4 24 28 0.25 4 40 15 ANDERSON, Shannon 30 9 0.30 19 59 -.169 0 0.00 5 3 0.17 12 34 1.13 1 0 1 0.03 0 0 3 PUCKETT,Princess 3 0 0.00 1 3 -.333 0 0.00 0 0 0.00 0 1 0.33 0 1 1 0.33 0 0 TEAM 56 DELAWARE STATE...... 110 1352 12.29 734 4111 .150 1163 10.57 183 267 1.66 213 1654 15.04 60 232 176.0 1.60 46 95 Opponents...... 110 1573 14.30 621 4119 .231 1388 12.62 214 294 1.95 182 1693 15.39 33 370 218.0 1.98 39 80

TEAM STATISTICS DSU OPP DATE OPPONENT W/L SCORE SCORE-BY-GAME ATTEND ------ATTACK...... 08-24-07 vs Sacramento State L 0-3 9-30,19-30,27-30 72 Kills...... 1352 1573 08-24-07 vs Missouri-Kansas City L 2-3 25-30,26-30,30-28,30-25,8-15 213 Errors...... 734 621 08-25-07 at Missouri State L 0-3 14-30,21-30,22-30 638 Total Attacks..... 4111 4119 08-25-07 vs Tulsa L 0-3 13-30,12-30,21-30 89 Attack Pct...... 150 .231 Aug 31 vs Eastern Michigan L 0-3 19-30,27-30,18-30 109 Kills/Game...... 12.3 14.3 Sep 01 at Xavier L 0-3 25-30,21-30,16-30 348 SET...... Sep 01 vs Univ. of Evansville L 1-3 28-30,17-30,32-30,27-30 178 Assists...... 1163 1388 Sep 04 UNIV. OF DELAWARE L 0-3 22-30,24-30,17-30 215 Assists/Game...... 10.6 12.6 Sep 07 at Harvard L 0-3 14-30,22-30,19-30 64 SERVE...... Sep 08 vs Boston College L 0-3 18-30,16-30,16-30 42 Aces...... 183 214 Sep 14 vs #2 Stanford L 0-3 9-30,12-30,12-30 523 Errors...... 267 294 Sep 15 vs #3 Penn State L 0-3 12-30,10-30,17-30 314 Aces/Game...... 1.7 1.9 # Sep 15 at Yale L 0-3 21-30,21-30,25-30 1439 SERVE RECEPTIONS.... Sep 18 LASALLE W 3-1 26-30,34-32,30-21,30-25 55 Errors...... 213 182 Sep 26 vs Lafayette L 0-3 27-30,26-30,24-30 35 Errors/Game...... 1.9 1.7 * Sep 28 at UofMD Eastern Shore L 1-3 30-28,15-30,23-30,18-30 124 DEFENSE...... Sep 29 vs Robert Morris Univ. W 3-1 30-24,30-20,25-30,30-27 54 Digs...... 1654 1693 Sep 29 vs St. Francis (PA) W 3-0 31-29,30-26,30-23 - Digs/Game...... 15.0 15.4 * Oct 03 vs HAM W 3-0 30-26,30-24,30-20 110 BLOCKING...... * Oct 07 vs UofMD Eastern Shore L 2-3 24-30,30-24,21-30,30-24,9-15 50 Block Solo...... 60 33 * Oct 13 at Coppin State W 3-0 30-18,30-22,30-21 47 Block Assist...... 232 370 * Oct 18 at Howard W 3-1 30-26,30-27,26-30,32-30 67 Total Blocks...... 176.0 218.0 * 10/22/07 at MORGAN STATE L 1-3 26-30,27-30,30-24,18-30 75 Blocks Per Game... 1.6 2.0 Sep 08 vs Michigan State L 0-3 12-30,27-30,13-30 32 Block Errors...... 46 39 * Oct 27 at HAM W 3-0 30-17,30-16,30-26 - BALL HANDLING ERRORS 95 80 * Nov 01 HOWARD W 3-0 30-24,40-38,30-16 50 ATTENDANCE...... * Nov 03 COPPIN STATE W 3-0 30-24,30-12,30-21 88 Total...... 463 3100 * Nov 08 MORGAN STATE W 3-2 30-19,30-21,25-30,19-30,15-10 55 Dates/Avg Per Date 5/93 12/258 Nov 10 at NJIT L 2-3 22-30,26-30,30-20,30-21,11-15 139 Neutral site #/Avg 14/130 Nov 16 at #2 North Carolina A&T W 3-1 27-30,32-30,30-23,30-25 93 Current win streak 0 - Nov 16 at #1 UofMD Eastern Shore L 2-3 30-26,16-30,27-30,30-19,10-15 66 Home win streak... 4 - Delaware State Overall Team Statistics (as of Aug 28, 2008) All matches

Overall record: 11-20 Conf: 7-3 Home: 4-1 Away: 4-8 Neutral: 3-11

TEAM STATISTICS DSU OPP ------ATTACK...... Kills...... 1352 1573 Errors...... 734 621 Total Attacks...... 4111 4119 Attack Pct...... 150 .231 Kills/Game...... 12.3 14.3 SET...... Assists...... 1163 1388 Assists/Game...... 10.6 12.6 SERVE...... Aces...... 183 214 Errors...... 267 294 Aces/Game...... 1.7 1.9 SERVE RECEPTIONS...... Errors...... 213 182 Errors/Game...... 1.9 1.7 DEFENSE...... Digs...... 1654 1693 Digs/Game...... 15.0 15.4 BLOCKING...... Block Solo...... 60 33 Block Assist...... 232 370 Total Blocks...... 176.0 218.0 Blocks Per Game...... 1.6 2.0 Block Errors...... 46 39 BALL HANDLING ERRORS...... 95 80 ATTENDANCE...... Total...... 463 3100 Dates/Avg Per Date...... 5/93 12/258 Neutral site #/Avg...... 14/130 Current win streak...... 0 - Home win streak...... 4 -

MATCH WINS BY #GAMES 1 2 3 4 5 Total ------Delaware State...... 0 0 6 4 1 - 11 Opponents...... 0 0 13 3 4 - 20

GAMES WON BY GAME 1 2 3 4 5 Total ------Delaware State...... 11 12 12 8 1 - 44 Opponents...... 20 19 19 4 4 - 66

POINTS BY GAME 1 2 3 4 5 Total ------Delaware State...... 724 761 756 324 53 - 2618 Opponents...... 861 862 843 316 70 - 2952 Delaware State Overall Team Statistics (as of Aug 28, 2008) Conference matches

Overall record: 7-3 Conf: 7-3 Home: 3-0 Away: 3-2 Neutral: 1-1

TEAM STATISTICS DSU OPP ------ATTACK...... Kills...... 517 465 Errors...... 212 229 Total Attacks...... 1395 1332 Attack Pct...... 219 .177 Kills/Game...... 14.0 12.6 SET...... Assists...... 415 408 Assists/Game...... 11.2 11.0 SERVE...... Aces...... 60 62 Errors...... 106 99 Aces/Game...... 1.6 1.7 SERVE RECEPTIONS...... Errors...... 62 59 Errors/Game...... 1.7 1.6 DEFENSE...... Digs...... 561 555 Digs/Game...... 15.2 15.0 BLOCKING...... Block Solo...... 21 8 Block Assist...... 91 103 Total Blocks...... 66.5 59.5 Blocks Per Game...... 1.8 1.6 Block Errors...... 14 21 BALL HANDLING ERRORS...... 36 42 ATTENDANCE...... Total...... 193 313 Dates/Avg Per Date...... 3/64 5/63 Neutral site #/Avg...... 2/80 Current win streak...... 4 - Home win streak...... 3 -

MATCH WINS BY #GAMES 1 2 3 4 5 Total ------Delaware State...... 0 0 5 1 1 - 7 Opponents...... 0 0 0 2 1 - 3

GAMES WON BY GAME 1 2 3 4 5 Total ------Delaware State...... 8 8 6 2 1 - 25 Opponents...... 2 2 4 3 1 - 12

POINTS BY GAME 1 2 3 4 5 Total ------Delaware State...... 290 292 275 117 24 - 998 Opponents...... 242 244 248 144 25 - 903