2008 Hornet Volleyball Notes October 31 - November 2 vs. Morgan State (10/31), vs. Quinnipiac (11/1), vs. Coppin State (11/2) Contact: Brett Kahn -- Office Phone: (302) 857-6239 -- Cell Phone: (215) 431-2780 -- E-mail: [email protected] nnDate Opponent/Tournament Time THIS WEEK IN DELAWARE STATE VOLLEYBALL Aug. 29 Fairleigh Dickinson (1) L, 0-3 Aug. 29 South Dakota (1) L, 1-3 Aug. 30 Wofford (1) W, 3-2 Delaware State (11-10, 5-3) vs. Morgan State (3-22, 2-6) -- Friday, October 31 -- Memorial Hall Aug. 30 South Carolina State (1) W, 3-0 -- 7 p.m. Live Stats: dsuhornets.com Sep. 5 Fairleigh Dickinson (2) L, 2-3 Sep. 6 Lafayette (2) L, 0-3 Sep. 6 St. Peter’s (2) W, 3-1 Delaware State (11-10, 5-3) vs. Quinnipiac (3-25, 0-4) -- Saturday, November 1 -- Memorial Hall -- 9 a.m. Sep. 12 George Washington (3) L, 0-3 Live Stats: dsuhornets.com Sep. 13 Rider (3) L, 0-3 Sep. 23 Delaware L, 0-3 Delaware State (11-10, 5-3) vs. Coppin State (0-21, 0-8) -- Sunday, November 2 -- Memorial Hall -- 2 p.m. Sep. 26 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON (4) W, 3-0 Live Stats: dsuhornets.com Sep. 26 NORFOLK STATE (4) W, 3-1 Sep. 27 WAGNER (4) W, 3-0 Oct. 3 Hampton* W, 3-1 Hornets Host Busy Weekend After a big five-set conference win against Howard last Sunday, the Hornets return home Oct. 5 UMES* L, 0-3 Oct. 10 HOWARD* L, 2-3 to play three matches against Morgan State (10/31), Quinnipiac (11/1), and Coppin State (11/2). Oct. 12 Morgan State* W, 3-0 DSU is 16-29 all-time versus Morgan State, has never faced Quinnipiac, and is 39-8 against Cop - Oct. 17 Coppin State* W, 3-1 pin State. Oct. 19 HAMPTON* W, 3-0 Oct. 24 UMES* L, 0-3 Looking Back Oct. 26 Howard* W, 3-2 The Hornets tallied a three-set shutout against Morgan State earlier this season. In that Oct. 31 MORGAN STATE* 7:00 pm match, Erica Tajchman recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs. Nov. 1 QUINNIPIAC 9:00 am Nov. 2 COPPIN STATE* 2:00 pm Last season, DSU took care of business against the Eagles, 3-0. Sarah Wheatcroft lit up Nov. 8 NEW JERSEY TECH 5:00 pm the scoresheet in that match, recording 22 assists, nine kills, and seven digs. Nov. 14-16MEAC Championship TBA Head Coach Renee Arnold Dec. 17-21NCAA Finals TBA DSU Head Coach Renee Arnold (61-94) is in her fifth season with the Hornets. In 2008, she led the Hornets to a 3-0 showing at the Delaware State Tournament in late September. She * - MEAC match has also led DSU to two three-game winning streaks this season. (1) – Hampton University Tournament The 2008 Hornets (2) – Lafayette College Tournament Junior Cassandra Joyner leads the team in kills (225), kills/game (3.00), total blocks (62) (3) - George Washington Tournament and blocks/game (0.83). (4) – Delaware State Tournament Sophomore Erica Tajchman leads the Hornets in digs (156), digs/game (2.23) and service aces. (31) She also ranks second in kills, (172) and kills/game, (2.46) Freshman Martina Ferrari leads the team in assists (344) and assists/game (4.71). As a team, the Hornets rank second in the MEAC in opponents hitting percentage (.183), hitting percentage, (.197) and service aces/game, (1.97) (All as of 10/27) Delaware State Volleyball -- Page 2 -- Weekly Release -- October 31 - November 2, 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 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 Renee Arnold (Year-by-Year) Year Overall MEAC 2004 15-23 6-4 2005 12-19 6-4 2006 12-22 6-5 Sophomore Sarah Wheatcroft- S 2007 11-20 7-3 2008 11-10 5-3 In 2008, Wheatcroft has tallied two out of the three triple-doubles Totals 61-94 (.394) 30-19 (.612 ) in the MEAC. Wheatcroft currently ranks second on the team in assists (255) and third in kills (110). Three is Key Player Triple-Doubles K/D/A (Last) Sarah Wheatcroft (DSU) 2 10/12/22 After their win against Hampton on 10/24, the Hornets have registered two three- Christina Estabane’ (UMES) 1 10/13/33 game winning streaks this season. This is the first time DSU has accomplished this feat in two years. (9/30/06-10/6/06 and 10/21/06-10/27/06) Above .500 Serving the Competition After 21 matches, the Hornets are 11-10. They have a chance to post the first As of 10/27, the Hornets rank seventh in the nation with 1.97 winning season for DSU since 1991. service aces/game. They are second in the MEAC behind UMES (2.01). A Deeper Look Junior Cassandra Joyner- OH/MB 2008 Team Information Joyner is tied for the MEAC lead in most Starters Returning/Lost: 3/3 20-kill games this season. (2) She hasn’t, Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 5/3 however, eclipsed more than 20, in 2008. Newcomers: 6 2008 Statistical Leaders (21 matches) Kills Per Game: Cassandra Joyner 3.00 Assists Per Game: Martina Ferrari 4.71 Digs Per Game: Erica Tajchman 2.23 Blocks Per Game: Cassandra Joyner 0.83 Aces Per Game: Erica Tajchman 0.44 Delaware State Volleyball -- Page 3 -- Weekly Release -- October 31 - November 2, 2008 2008 MEAC Volleyball Standings (As of games played on 2008 MEAC Volleyball Preseason Order of Finish 10/29) As voted by the Leagues Head Coaches and Sports Information Directors MEAC Pct Overall Pct (First place points in parentheses) NORTHERN DIVISION Maryland-Eastern Shore 8-0 1.000 21-8 .724 MEAC Northern Division Howard 6-2 .750 12-16 .429 Maryland Eastern Shore (17) 245 pts. Delaware St. 5-3 .625 11-10 .524 Morgan State (3) 191 pts. Hampton 3-6 .333 5-26 .161 Delaware State 172 pts. Morgan State 2-6 .250 3-22 .120 Howard (2) 169 pts. Coppin State 0-8 .000 0-20 .000 Hampton 143 pts. Coppin State 114 pts. SOUTHERN DIVISION Florida A&M 5-1 .833 9-11 .450 MEAC Southern Division South Carolina State 4-2 .667 11-19 .333 Florida A&M (21) 261 pts. Norfolk State 4-4 .500 8-21 .276 North Carolina A&T 183 pts. Bethune-Cookman 3-4 .429 8-14 .364 Bethune-Cookman (1) 177 pts. North Carolina A&T 1-6 .143 4-21 .160 South Carolina State 154 pts. Norfolk State 149 pts. Three In a Row at Home Media Information This weekend marks the first time in DSU history that the team will When refering to the University, please be be aware of the following policies. play three straight home games in consecutive days. Photography Photographers are limited to working along the perimeter of the court. Game Services Game notes, game-by-game statistics and final boxcores will be available from Facing the Eagles SID Brett Kahn or from www.dsuhornets.com The Hornets have an all-time record of 39-8 against the Coppin Postgame Procedures State Eagles. That is the most number of wins DSU has against DSU head coach Renee Arnold and requested DSU volleyball players will be any other team. available after a brief cooling-off period following the match. Player and coach requests should be made to SID Brett Kahn prior to the end of the match. All in - terviews will be conducted outside the locker room. The DSU locker room is not open to the media. Postgame procedures for opponents will be at the discretion of the opposing SID. Conquering the Home and Away Interview Policy All media requests for interviews with DSU volleyball players should be directed The Hornets swept their last home and away weekend tallying wins to SID Brett Kahn preferably 24 hours in advance. The best time for in-season at Coppin St. and home against Hampton. They have not accomp - interviews, either in person or on the phone, is prior to or following practice. ished this since 1998. (10/15/98 at Coppin State and 10/17/98 vs. Most DSU practices begin at 6 p.m. and end around 9 p.m. Members of the UMES) media should contact SID Brett Kahn 24 hours in advance to attend practice. “Digging” Up a New School Record Freshman Setter Sonja Banicevic set a new school record with 30 digs against Hampton, 10/3. The previous record stood at 26 by Kinga Muszynski. (10/7/06 vs. Howard) 350 Student Athletes 18 Teams 1 Hornet Delaware State Volleyball -- Page 4 -- Weekly Release -- October 31 - November 2, 2008 The 2008 Morgan State Bears No.