Dane Pound

From the AE site: Maine Picked First in America East Women's Basketball BOSTON— For the second season in a row, defending America East Champion University of Maine, which has posted a 33-1 conference record over the past two season, has been picked to win the 2004 America East Championship in a vote of the conference’s head coaches. The Black Bears (25-7 overall, 17-1 in America East) received five first-place votes (coaches were not permitted to rank their own teams in the preseason voting) and 72 points. Boston University, which lost to Maine 68-43 in the championship game of the 2004 Friendship Cottage Cheese America East Championship, received three first-place votes and had 71 points. University of Hartford, picked sixth in last year’s poll, moved up near the top of the pack, receiving 63 points and the other first place vote. Northeastern University, a team which was ranked eighth two years ago, and picked sixth last year, continues to move up the ranks, as they were picked to finish fourth in the poll. Binghamton University (50 points), University at Albany (47), University of Vermont (35) and University of New Hampshire (29) followed. Stony Brook University and University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) received 18 and 10 points, respectively, to round out the poll. Under the guidance of second-year coach Trina Patterson, Albany set records for Division I wins in a season (13), conference victories in a season (9), earned a No. 4 seed in the conference tournament and made it to the semifinals. Albany will look to add more wins to that record, as the Great Danes will return four starters, including preseason all-conference pick Danielle Hutcheson. The senior Hutcheson was Albany’s first-ever first team all-conference selection a year ago, leading the Great Danes in scoring (12.7 ppg) and rebounding (9.6 rpg).

Vermont Chosen to Repeat in America East Men's Basketball BOSTON— Vermont, which won its second-consecutive Choice Hotels International America East Championship last season, has been chosen by the conferences coaches to make it three in a row. The Catamounts, 22-9 overall last season (15-3 America East), received eight first-place votes and 80 points to outdistance defending regular-season champion Boston University. The Terriers received the two remaining first-place votes and 69 points. Coaches were not permitted to rank their own teams in the preseason voting. Maine was chosen third with 64 points, followed by Northeastern (59). Binghamton, which finished fifth a season ago, was chosen in that position with 50 points. Hartford, one of two teams to advance to the semifinals in each of the last three years (Vermont is the other), was chosen sixth with 34 points. Stony Brook (30), which advanced to the semifinals for the first time in its three-year history in America East, was selected seventh. Albany (28), New Hampshire (23) and UMBC (12) rounded out the poll. Albany coach Will Brown expects his Great Danes to make great strides this season. After having as few as six players on his roster at times last season, Brown should have depth this season thanks to a pair of transfers and the return from injury of 2002-03 America East Rookie of the Year Jamar Wilson. Wilson, who finished second in the conference in scoring (18.9 ppg) in 2002-03, missed all but one game last year due to a broken knee cap. Levi Levine (14.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg) led the Great Danes in scoring and was second in rebounding. Jon Iati became the second-straight Great Dane named America East Rookie of the Year after leading all first-year players in scoring with 14.0 ppg. The 5-9 guard also led the nation in minutes played with 40.0 per game. Aquawasi St. Hillaire (9.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg) ranked No. 6 in America East in rebounding in his first season after transferring from SUNY-Delhi. Brown also adds transfers Lucious Jordan (Loyola (Md.)) and Kirsten Zoellner (Boston College). Jordan, a 6-2 junior guard, led Loyola in scoring with 13.2 ppg in 2002-03. Zoellner is a 7-1 junior center who played 15 games in two seasons at Boston College.

Sorry Dane96. I promise I'll try and challenge you more next week. McElroy's brother also played for the J-E-T-S. I agree with you about McElroy. Maybe a little shaky at first with the Beeten hire but since then he's done a terrific job.

Easy one today, next week's will be tougher. What two sports did Dr. McElroy play in college and at what college did he play them?

Hello Friends, Family, and Alumni of UAlbany Volleyball! UAlbany Volleyball wins it's 1st America East regular season championship! It was a great weekend in a lot of ways for the volleyball program. On Friday night, the team showed up excited to play against the much bigger Stony Brook squad. The team has been working hard on it's defense and were looking forward to getting after it with the visiting Seawolves. Offensively we really gave them a lot of problems, especially Junior middle blocker Ashlee Reed, who had a career high 17 kills and hit .640 in the three game match. The past month she's been working on a jump float serve, and that really gave them a lot of trouble. Senior middle blocker Susan Spierre also had a very effective match with 5 kills, .556 hitting percentage, and 5 blocks. The team hit .388 for the match, making it the 13th time this year going over the .300 mark. Seniors Jill Dombrowski and Susan Spierre were honored prior to our Saturday match against UMBC. They have both had great careers and have meant a lot to the success of the program. The team was determined to get a win for them in their last regular season home match. The team came out fired up and quickly rolled in games one and two. Game three was a different story, as UMBC came out with much more aggressive serving trying to slow down our offense. We struggled to find a rhythm for a while and found ourselves down 25-21 when Ashlee Reed went back to serve. When she was done, the scoreboard said 30-25, and the Great Danes had won the match 3-0. Reed had another great match with a double-double 12 kills and 10 digs, and a .440 hitting percentage. The win (along with Northeastern's loss that night) clinched the regular season championship for the program. Following the match, we had a very nice reception for the seniors. I'd like to thank Eileen Daugherty for making this great event possible! Here's what senior middle blocker, Susan Spierre, had to say about the weekend: "The two wins this past weekend over Stony Brook and UMBC were nothing short of a team effort. We had solid performances from every person on the team, which has been a major strength of ours all season. It was great to sweep both teams in three games after going four with each of them just a few weeks ago. Being our Senior night, Saturday's match was especially exciting for Jill and I. We are very thankful to all of our fans and supporters who made the night so special. The match kept our fans on the edge of their seats especially in game three when we were trailing the UMBC Retrievers most of the game. However the team worked together and found a way to win the match in three after an amazing comeback. It is nice to know that we are a team that can stay focused and composed even when the scoreboard is not in our favor. The team is ecstatic about hosting the conference championships in two weeks, which is now certain after winning the two matches this past weekend." Our last regular season matches this year will be on the road this weekend at Maine and New Hampshire before we head home to host the America East Conference Championships. Information about the tournament is below. Fri. Nov. 12 @ Maine 7:00 pm Sat. Nov. 13 @ New Hampshire 4:00 pm Fri. Nov. 19 First Semi-final match (UAlbany v. 4th Seed) 5:00 pm Second Semi-final match (2nd Seed v. 3rd Seed) 7:30 pm Sat. Nov. 20 America East Championship 4:00 pm The field has been set. UAlbany, Northeastern, Maine, and Binghamton will be in the tournament. The 2-4 seeds will be played out this weekend. If you are looking for a hotel, the Holiday Inn Turf on Wolfe Rd. will be the host hotel. Call and let them know that you are wanting the volleyball room rate. Current Division I winning streaks: 21 Hawaii 20 Washington 19 Florida A&M 19 Georgia Tech 19 Nebraska 18 Ualbany Last week, sophomore outside hitter, Shelby Goldman, won her 2nd conference player of the week award. Sophomore setter, Blair Buchanan, also picked up conference setter of the week. It was the 6th time this year that Blair has won the award and the 4th straight week. Congratulations to both! We look forward to seeing you on the road or in the stands at home! Thanks for your support! GO DANES!!! Kelly Sheffield UAlbany Volleyball

Awards were announced today. Bouna Coundoul was the goalkeeper of the year for I think the third time. Savvas Theofilou was named to the first team, Stephan Hall and George Friedman were named to the second team A bit of a mystery to me how Aarnio isn't the coach of the year. His team was picked to finish 9th and they ended up 2nd after an amazing season. BTW, Albany got some votes in the national top 30 poll.

I didn't catch the show Saturday. Was Patterson on and if so what did she say?

As much as it pains me to write it, $iena has earned it's media coverage with multiple NCAA appearances as well as hosting some NIT games. Albany basketball lacks those achievements (at least at the D1 level) as well as their fanbase. In time (hopefully soon, really soon like the coming couple of months) UA will achieve some things of their own and the fanbase and the coverage will come but it won't be handed to us just because we've moved to D1. I would love a UA story in the paper and on the local news every day but it's not going to happen for a while. When we have a .500 record and maybe sell out the RACC we'll get our fair share of attention and it will be a lot of fun to be around when that happens.

From the University site: UALBANY MOVES SITE FOR TWO HOME DECEMBER BASKETBALL CONTESTS Albany, N.Y. – University at Albany Director of Athletics and Recreation Lee McElroy announced on Monday, Nov. 8 that the school will move two home basketball games in the month of December to other locations due to some minor delays in renovations to the Recreation and Convocation Center on campus. UAlbany’s game with non-league opponent Long Island in men’s basketball has been shifted from the RACC to The College of Saint Rose’s Campus Activity Center. The contest will be held in the brand-new Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium, a 1,200-seat arena, on Wednesday, December 8 at 7:00 p.m. The Great Danes were also scheduled to host Syracuse in women’s basketball on Tuesday, December 7. The game has been moved to Syracuse’s Manley Field House. "We have made these schedule changes in an effort to allow our student-athletes to compete in the proper setting, plus provide full service to the fans in attendance," McElroy said. "There are always some unexpected delays when renovating a facility, and we believe everyone will benefit from the upgrade to the centerpiece of our current athletic complex." The $1.5 million improvement to the RACC began on Sept. 1 with an original expected completion date of Nov. 30. The facility’s three playing surfaces, located on the arena level, have been completely changed over to Robbins biochannel flooring, plus a new synthetic surface covers the 170-meter indoor track. In addition, the RACC’s sound system, wiring, telecommunications and data connections have all been upgraded.

This should only add to the storyline this year. How many news stories do you think we'll see that will begin with "they began the season ranked as the worst team in Division I and then went on to..." ...beat Villanova or whatever. People love stories like that.

With second place NU's loss and the Danes win over UMBC, Albany clinched the top seed and will host the tourney on Nov 19+20. Way to go Danes! UALBANY CLINCHES TOP SEED FOR AMERICA EAST TOURNAMENT Albany, N.Y. – Ashlee Reed posted a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs to lead the UAlbany volleyball team to a 3-0 victory over America East opponent UMBC on Saturday, Nov. 6 at University Gymnasium. The Great Danes won in straight games with scores of 30-20, 30-20, 30-25, to increase their win streak to 18 matches. With the win, the Great Danes clinched home court advantage for the America East Tournament. The 2004 championships will be held on the UAlbany campus on Friday, Nov. 19 and Saturday, Nov. 20. Ashley Hunter led the Great Danes offensively with 15 kills while Ashley Green chipped in 10. On the defensive side, Ashley DeNeal notched a team-high 16 digs while Susan Spierre and Shelby Goldman each recorded three block assists. Blair Buchanan tallied a game-high 39 assists to go along with 11 digs defensively. UMBC (12-17, AE 3-9) was led by Jocelyn Teoh with 11 kills and 11 digs. Emily Berman recorded nine kills for the Retrievers while Christine Skala posted a team-high 16 digs. UAlbany (24-5, AE 12-0) will return to action on Friday, Nov. 12 and Saturday, Nov. 13 as they make a swing through New England to close out the regular season against America East rivals Maine and New Hampshire.

I saw this in the season ticket application but I don't remember it well. I thought the LIU game was going to be held off-campus but the Dartmouth game (12/30) would be at the RACC. Has something changed?

Hopefully it isn't serious. There was something in today's TU about a future scrimmage with Manhattan but nothing about Wilson's injury.

Depaul was the other school listed as offering so you're certainly right Dane96. I do like that their taking some shots at getting kids like this. Especially local players who, you never know, may want to stay home. The only way you're sure you don't have a chance at getting a player like this is to not get involved.

I caught the final half of yesterday's game on the radio. It didn't taken Joe Walton long to figure out that if you stop Bazan we're going nowhere on offense. Sounded like there where 3 or 4 guys on him every time he ran the option. There were alot of questions about the Danes offense before the season began but not many about their defense. They haven't played nearly as well as we all thought and have looked horrible against the pass.

Insiders has Albany offer 2006 recruit Alex Zampier. A PG from Columbia High. Do you think it would help if we donned some UAlbany stuff and went to his games? Just kidding. Curiously $iena is on of the other schools listed as offering him a scholarship. Kind of surprising considering how many guards they have now.

Thanks for the suggestion Statefan. Iati is the reigning national champ in minutes played, hopefully he doesn't defend that title.

I thought about it but it was hard to read. I was afraid when taken out of context people wouldn't understand what it said and I wanted the message to be very clear.

I agree with you Reeder although it seems most of the local coverage starts with the invidual team's media day. The MAAC had their media day yesterday so I was reading about it today. Should be very interesting to see where other coaches pick the Danes this year. Also the indiviual accolades such as preseaon first team, etc. I figure they many not pick J. Wilson and Jordan because they didn't play last year but Iati and Levi may have a shot and 3rd team. Did you see the attendence for the Bing's exhibition the other night? 2500! The tournament out there should be packed.

Agree that there's a fun environment in the old gym this year. The #1 seed hosts the tourney so lets hope the Danes can close out the regular season and become the first team since Hofstra to go undefeated in the conference. If they do the tournament and the first basketball game will be on the same Friday, Nov. 19. Hopefully they get a night game so more of us can attend.

Congrats Dane96!

They remain third in the regional rankings but have closed the gap considerably. Northeastern has jumped over a couple of Big East teams to move to 4th. The Danes are edging closer and closer-Pittsburgh better watch it's back for the second spot. Northeast Region (Overall RKPI) 1. Notre Dame (23) 2. Pittsburgh (40) 3. Albany (55) 4. Northeastern (75) 5. American (84) 6. Xavier (85) 7. Connecticut (88) 8. Rutgers (92) 9. Syracuse (96) 10. St. John's (99) 11. Dayton (102) 12. Boston College (105) 13. Cornell (128) 14. Penn (130) 15. Georgetown (131)

That's a great win a fantastic regular season! Bing is ranked in the top 25 and has been for a good part of the season. That gets UA the #2 seed and a first round bye in the conference tourney. To think this team was picked to finish 9th in the preseason coaches poll.

You got it UA66. He didn't have a memorable stint as head coach. I think he's in the NBA now. If you're going to be at the CCSU game I'll give you your button if you want.

What former Albany assistant coach later became Siena's head coach?