Volleyball update from Coach Sheffield

[Dane Pound]

Hello Friends, Family, and Alumni of UAlbany Volleyball!

 

We just finished off a busy week. Three matches since the last e-mail blast has made it five matches in the last nine days that we played. We started off the week playing at Binghamton, who started the week third in the conference. With two starters out nursing injuries, the team really picked each other up and performed at a high standard and limiting their co-conference player-of-the-week to 10 kills and .185 hitting percentage. Sophomore outside hitter Shelby Goldman was virtually unstoppable on the outside with 14 kills and a .542 hitting percentage. And sophomore Kristin Fiorillo stepped in at the libero position and had one of her best matches for the purple and gold. Their play led to a 3-0 win (30-23, 30-16, 30-28) over our in-state rivals.

 

On Friday we had one of the most exciting volleyball matches ever played on campus against 2nd place Northeastern. They were out to prove that they had improved since our win at their place three weeks ago and we were out to prove that we were the dominant team in the conference. The match featured some incredible defensive plays by both teams and some amazing rallies. Both libero's were fantastic. The biggest difference on this night was the team's outside hitters. Goldman and Junior Ashley Hunter had 16 and 19 kills respectively, and both hit over .400 for the match. By the end of the night, we had lost our first game at home, but we responded great and came back very strong and ended up winning the match in four (30-20, 18-30, 30-14, 30-18). Junior Eileen Nicole Rodriguez was recognized prior to the match by Athletic Director Lee McElroy for breaking the NCAA career service aces record the week before.

 

The following afternoon was our match against Hartford. The highlight of the match was the coming-out party for freshman Ashley Crenshaw who had 7 kills, hit .500, and led the team with 4 blocks. Although we were playing the last place team in the conference, the team came ready to compete, as was evidenced by the head-over-heels play by Ashley DeNeal into the wooden stands, and Shelby Goldman running full-speed into the officials stand. Shelby's probably still sporting a mark across her forehead, and DeNeal probably woke up feeling like she got ran over by a Mack truck! By match end, the Great Danes had another great win (30-17, 30-15, 30-12).

 

Here is what Kristin Fiorillo had to say about the week:

 

"This past week was really exciting for our team. We took a couple steps closer to the most anticipated part of our season (Conference Championship!) Sweeping Binghamton on Tuesday night was great because it was our first win of the second round of the regular season conference play. After Tuesday night the whole team could not wait for our match up with Northeastern on Friday. We played some great volleyball and boosted our confidence even more. I really feel that our Saturday game vs. Hartford finished the week off perfectly. As a team we set specific goals for ourselves, and ended up meeting them and then some. Even with the line-up switched up a little bit we still accomplished our goals and everyone stepped up to play. The season seems to be getting better and better; and our team is having more fun with every game we play."

 

Our last regular season home matches of the year are this week, and will be capped off with Senior Night on Saturday. I want to encourage you to come as we recognize Jill Dombrowski and Susan Spierre prior to the match. Their importance to the program is impossible to measure. They have been strong leaders and examples to everyone that has come in after them. They have spent numerous summer days on campus working out on their own, improving their games, and being two of the most coachable players that I've been around, and their hard work and dedication most definitely can be seen by the progress of the program. They will leave here as the first four-year players to leave UAlbany with a winning Division I record (not a small task considering their freshman year record).

 

2001 2002 2003 2004

(so far)

4-20 overall record 16-15 overall record 24-10 overall record 22-5 overall record

1-13 conference record 5-7 conference record 9-5 conference record 10-0 conference record

# 269 national ranking # 205 national ranking # 102 national ranking # 62 national ranking

 

Please come out and support these two great players and people and give them the standing ovation that they both have earned and deserve!!!!

 

Fri. STONY BROOK 7:00 pm

Sat. UMBC 7:00 pm (Senior Night)

 

I know this is already an extremely long e-mail, and I apologize for that if you are still reading. I had someone e-mail me last week and asked that I explain the box scores and what things mean, I will do so briefly.

GP=Games played

K=Kills

E=Errors

TA=Total Attempts

PCT=Hitting percentage. A great percentage for outside hitters is .250, for middles .275. And anything over .230 for the team is great.

A=Assists

SA=Service Aces

SE=Service Errors (good teams will have a 1 ace/2 error ratio)

RE=Receiving Errors

DIG=Should be obvious

BA/BS/BE=Block Assist (two or more people jump)/Block Solo (jump by yourself)/Block Error (net violation) BHE=Ball handling error (lift or double contact)

POINTS= Kills+Aces+Blocks

 

NATIONAL RANKINGS

1st Eileen Nicole Rodriguez Aces/game 1.00

7th Team Aces/game 2.45

23rd Team Hitting percentage .271

28th Team Kills/game 16.32

 

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

[DaneFan2k3]

SE=Service Errors (good teams will have a 1 ace/2 error ratio)

 

Even though true, I still find that astounding. You're giving away 2 "free" points for every "free" point. Yet, that is the standard most teams subscribe to.

 

I wouldn't be happy with even 1:1 as a coach.

 

Just doesn't make that much sense to me; you wouldn't give away 2 balls for every strike.

 

But that is the price for being a good server, I guess.

 

Because for every ace you get, most likely you get (I'd say) another 1 "service winner" (where they can't play it well and you go on attack, or they launch a weak attack that is 'easy' to return). So I guess it does even out to 2:2 in the end, in theory.