QU Volleyball Hosts Bryant Wednesday, Looking To Build On Historic Start

Wednesday, August 31

Hamden, Conn.

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Bryant University

QU Volleyball Hosts Bryant Wednesday, Looking To Build On Historic Start

8/29/2016 10:31:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Live Video Live Stats Follow @QUWVB on Twitter

By: QU Sports Information

Quinnipiac Bobcats vs. Bryant Bulldogs
Aug. 31, 2016, 7 p.m.
Burt Kahn Gymnasium - Hamden, Conn.
Live Stats: QuinnipiacBobcats.com
Live Video: QuinnipiacBobcats.com
Follow on Twitter: @QUWVB

HOME OPENER
Quinnipiac hosts its home opener on Wednesday against Bryant after starting out the year with a 3-1 record at the La Salle Invitational last weekend, picking up wins over Saint Francis (Pa.), NJIT and Morgan State.

HISTORIC START
The Quinnipiac volleyball team began the 2016 season with a 3-1 record at the La Salle Invitational last weekend, picking up wins over Saint Francis (Pa.), NJIT and Morgan State. The 3-1 record marks the best start that the Bobcats have had on their opening weekend since joining the Division I ranks in 1998. In fact, Quinnipiac picked up three wins in just over 24 hours at the two-day tournament, needing little more than a day to match its win total from all of last season.

LAST SEASON VS BRYANT
The Quinnipiac volleyball team began the 2015 campaign with a road match at Bryant last year and fell on the short end of a 3-1 score. After struggling in the first two sets (25-15, 25-17), the Bobcats found a groove in the third set, winning 25-16, before the Bulldogs closed out the match with a close 25-22 win in the fourth set. Senior Allison Leigh had eight kills in 20 attempts for a .400 percentage and added seven blocks, before being lost for the year with an injury after only two more matches. Katie Urycki added 14 kills for Quinnipiac, while Bryant was led by 18 kills from Julia Flynn.

LEIGH, PANSARI EARN MAAC WEEKLY HONORS
Senior middle hitter Allison Leigh and freshman setter Maria Pansari were named the MAAC Player of the Week and MAAC Rookie of the Week respectively, after an opening weekend which saw the Bobcats go 3-1 at the La Salle Invitational. Leigh became the first Bobcat to earn a conference player of the week honor since current senior Emma Ogden won it is as a freshman in 2013, and is only the fifth player in program history to earn the award since the program moved to Division I in 1998. It is also the first time that the Bobcats have swept both the Player and Rookie of the Week honors in their league in the same season.

LEIGH'S RENEWAL
Senior middle hitter Allison Leigh is back after missing all but the first three matches of last season with an injury. She came into this season already ranking fifth in school history in career blocks (286) after only two full seasons, as well as second among players who played their entire careers at the Division I level. Her 6-3 presence in the middle was sorely missed a year ago, and she wasted no time this season in proving her value, earning a spot on the All-Tournament team at the La Salle Invitational last weekend after tallying 32 kills and only nine errors in four matches. She also added 14 blocks, giving her exactly 300 in her career. Leigh was off to an impressive start last season before her injury, tallying 23 blocks in only three matches, including a high of 10. She ranked third in the MAAC in blocks per set as a sophomore with 1.16.

FRESHMEN HAVE IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Freshman libero Alejandra Rodriguez joined Allison Leigh (see above) in being named to the All-Tournament team at the La Salle Invitational after leading the Bobcats in digs on the weekend with 53 (including 23 in her debut against Saint Francis of Pennsylvania on Friday). Rodriguez wasn't the only freshman to make her presence felt on opening weekend either, as setter Maria Pansari quarterbacked the offense with 153 assists (10.2 per set) and broke 40 assists in all three wins, with a high of 48 against Saint Francis (12 per set). Freshman outside hitter Natalie Alechko, meanwhile, was second on the Bobcats with 41 kills and had two double-doubles, tallying 15 kills and 14 digs against Saint Francis and 11 kills and 10 digs against NJIT.

COFFEY TALK
Sophomore outside hitter Jen Coffey was named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team last season in a vote of the league's head coaches last fall and started off this season in fine fashion, leading Quinnipiac with 50 kills at the La Salle Invitational. Coffey started out the season with 19 kills against Saint Francis (Pa.), setting a new career high, passing the 18 she had against UMass Lowell last year. In 2015, Coffey ranked third on the Bobcats with 176 kills in just 18 matches while leading the Bobcats with 2.71 kills per set. She posted arguably her best match of the season in the Bobcats' 2015 finale at home against Manhattan with 14 kills in 18 attempts, giving her a 722 hitting percentage.

SENIOR CLASS
Quinnipiac enters the new season with a seven-member senior class, who will be looking to lead the Bobcats back to the postseason this fall. Setter Emma Ogden, middle hitters Allison Leigh and Sam Alechko, outside hitters Katie Urycki and Jamie Paolucci, and defensive specialists Cody Michaels and Jana Kmec give the Bobcats plenty of veteran leadership, in contrast to a year ago, when Chandler Thornton was the only senior on the roster. Urycki was lost for the season with an injury she suffered in the first week of practice, while Leigh and Ogden have missed full seasons in the past with injuries and also have a year of eligibility remaining.

SISTER ACT
The Bobcats have two sets of siblings on this year's team, with the addition of freshman outside hitter Natalie Alechko and freshman defensive specialist Lauren Miller to the roster. Alechko's older sister, Sam, is a senior outside hitter on this year's squad, while Miller's older sister, Kat, is a sophomore setter/outside hitter.

DEEP FRESHMAN CLASS JOINS 2016 BOBCATS
Quinnipiac added six members of the Class of 2020 to its 2016 roster. In addition to Natalie Alechko and Lauren Miller (see above note), the Bobcats also added defensive specialist Maddie Lough, outside hitters Kaleigh Oates and Alejandra Rodriguez, and setter Maria Pansari. The recruiting class stretches south to Puerto Rico, where Rodriguez is originally from (before playing high school volleyball in Florida), and as far west as the Cleveland area (Lough). Alechko and Pansari are both from New Jersey, while Miller and Oates are products of the same Pennsylvania high school (see below note).

VILLA MARIA CONNECTION
Sophomore Kat Miller, freshman Lauren Miller (Kat's younger sister), and freshman Kaleigh Oates were all part of a successful Villa Maria Academy high school program in Pennsylvania before coming to Quinnipiac. Oates and Laura Miller helped Villa Maria earn a District 1 championship and an appearance in the state semifinals last fall, while the three alumnae were responsible for leading the team to AACA league titles and district finals appearances in 2013 and 2014.

MISS VERSATILITY
Sophomore Kat Miller was one of the most valuable members of the Bobcats in her freshman season, due to her ability to play multiple positions. Miller vacillated between the setter and outside hitter positions and was successful in both roles, tallying a team-high 454 assists and 280 digs, while also 164 kills and 73 blocks. Miller would often change positions in the same match, including a near-triple double with 21 assists, 12 digs, nine kills and four blocks in a win over Saint Peter's.

RETURNING STATISTICAL LEADERS
The Bobcats return a wealth of talent from a year ago, including their top six leaders in kills. Senior Katie Urycki led the way last season with 279 kills, while junior Elizabeth Kloos was second with 218. Kloos was also the most efficient attacker with a .272 hitting percentage, followed by senior Sam Alechko with a .225 percentage. Sophomore Jen Coffey, meanwhile, was tops on the Bobcats in kills per set with 2.71, followed by Urycki's 2.61, while sophomore Kat Miller (454) was the team leader in assists. Defensively, Kloos (111) and Alechko (88) were 1-2 in blocks (senior Allison Leigh was at an impressive 1.92 blocks per set through three matches, before being lost to injury). Miller and senior Cody Michaels were 1-2 in digs with 280 and 235, respectively.

KLOOS PICKS UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF
Junior middle hitter Elizabeth Kloos had a strong finish to last season which she has carried over into the early part of the 2016 campaign. In late October and early November, she had a stretch where she hit .350 or higher five times in seven matches, including a .455 effort against eventual MAAC champion Fairfield (Oct. 22). Against UMass Lowell on Oct. 25, she tallied 12 kills in 22 attempts for a .409 percentage, and then she had eight kills in three straight matches against Canisius, Hartford and Rider on Nov. 1, 4 and 7. Her top effort of the season came on Sept. 23 against Saint Francis (N.Y.) with 14 kills in 21 attempts, hitting at a .571 clip. She had another strong effort in the early part of this campaign with nine kills in 16 attempts (.438 percentage) in a win over NJIT.

YOU AGAIN?
The Bobcats will face rematches with two of the four teams it played at the La Salle Invitational later this fall. Quinnipiac will have a second match against NJIT at the Terrier/Rose Hill Classic on Friday at Saint Francis Brooklyn. The Bobcats will then face La Salle a second time on the opening day of the Providence Invitational on Sept. 9.

NEXT UP
Quinnipiac will be back in action at the Terrier/Rise Hill Classic this weekend, playing three matches total against NJIT, Saint Francis Brooklyn and Fordham. Saturday will be a unique day as the Bobcats will play two road matches in two different boroughs, playing at Saint Francis at 11:30 a.m. in Brooklyn and then crossing over the bridge to meet Fordham in the Bronx at 4:30 p.m.