Volleyball Weekly Release #11

Nov. 10, 2004

UW-Milwaukee (17-7, 11-1) holds a one-match lead over Butler (16-9, 10-2) following last week's 3-1 victory over the Bulldogs at Milwaukee. The Panthers conclude the regular season with home matches against Youngstown State and Cleveland State at the Klotsche Center, where they are 10-1 this season. UWM has won nine straight matches and 13 of 14 since late September with the only blemish a five-game loss at Butler Oct. 9.

Butler is one-match ahead of Loyola (18-7, 9-3) as the teams battle for a potential title as well as the all-important bye to the tournament semifinals that goes to the regular-season runner-up. The Bulldogs and Ramblers will meet for the second time this Friday, Nov. 12, in Indianapolis in the Horizon League's marquee match this week. Loyola won the first meeting 3-0 Oct. 16 but Butler has won five of six matches since then.

Cleveland State (13-10, 6-6) owns a one-match lead over UIC (9-19, 5-7) for fourth place, which includes a bye to the tournament quarterfinals. In the event of a tie, the Vikings would earn the tiebreaker by virtue of scoring more aggregate points in the teams' two meetings. (The teams split their two matches with each winning 3-1 at home.)

UW-Green Bay (7-18, 4-8) currently is in sixth place with a chance to move up. Rounding out the standings are Wright State (4-23, 2-10) in seventh place and Horizon League Tournament host Youngs-town State (9-18, 1-11) in eighth.

Horizon League Player of the Week - Nov. 9

Jamie Bouyer
Cleveland StateMiddle HitterSeniorBedford Heights, Ohio

Jamie Bouyer of Cleveland State has been named the Horizon League Volleyball Player of the Week for Nov. 9.

Bouyer averaged 4.89 kills, 1.11 digs and 0.89 blocks per game as the Vikings went 1-1 during the week, including a Horizon League victory over Youngstown State. In addition, she hit .474 (44-7-78) in the two matches.

She registered a career-high 29 kills on .490 hitting (29-5-49) with seven digs in a five-game non-conference loss at Robert Morris Nov. 2. In the win over YSU Nov. 5, she notched 15 kills, a .448 hitting percentage (15-2-29) and six blocks.

Bouyer's performance enabled her to become just the second player in Horizon League history with 1,500 kills and 500 blocks.

Other Top Horizon League Performers - Nov. 9

Nichol Amberg
Loyola, Senior, Outside Hitter, Tulsa, Okla.Amberg recorded her 11th double-double of the season, finishing with 14 kills and 10 digs against UIC, in the Ramblers' only match of the week. She had 44 attempts in the match.

Areal Bienemy
Butler, Senior, Middle Blocker, Violet, La.Bienemy averaged 4.25 kills per game on .411 hitting (34-4-73) with 1.25 blocks per game as the Bulldogs went 1-1 during the week. She posted 16 kills in a win over UW-Green Bay and then had a team-high 18 kills and six blocks in a loss at UW-Milwaukee.

Leanne Felsing
UW-Milwaukee, Freshman, Outside Hitter, Elm Grove, Wis.Felsing averaged 4.14 kills and 3.71 digs per game as the Panthers went 2-0 during the week and took over sole possession of first place. She tallied 15 kills and 14 digs in a showdown with Butler and then collected 14 kills and 12 digs in a sweep of Wright State.

Katarina Nedeljkovic
UIC, Freshman, Right Side, Kragejuvac, Serbia and MontenegroNedeljkovic averaged 3.38 kills and 2.5 digs per game in the Flames' two losses last week. She had a double-double of 13 kills and 13 digs in a five-game setback to Western Illinois and followed with a team-high 14 kills against city rival Loyola.

Sarah Poling
Wright State, Sophomore, Outside Hitter, St. Henry, OhioPoling averaged 3.62 kills and 2.88 digs per game for the Raiders who lost a pair of road matches last week. She totalled 19 kills and 13 digs at UW-Green Bay and came back with 10 kills and 10 digs the next night at UW-Milwaukee.

Melanie Pounders
Youngstown State, Senior, Outside Hitter, Lorain, OhioPounders led the Penguins with 3.71 kills per game in a pair of losses last week. She recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs at West Virginia and added 15 kills against Cleveland State. For the week, she averaged 2.71 digs per game.

Jill Smits
UW-Green Bay, Junior, Middle Blocker, Waupun, Wis.Smits came within one block of the UW-Green Bay school standard in the Phoenix's five-game win over Wright State. She notched 12 of the team's school-record 23 blocks to go along with 16 kills in her team's only match of the week.

2004 Horizon League Players of the Week

Sept. 6 - Karen Fruit, UW-Milwaukee
Sept. 13 - Lauren Holbrook, Loyola
Sept. 20 - Jamie Bouyer, Cleveland State
Sept. 27 - Hilary Stromath, Loyola
Oct. 4 - Karen Fruit, UW-Milwaukee
Oct. 11 - Areal Bienemy, Butler
Oct. 18 - Nichol Amberg, Loyola / Karen Fruit, UW-Milwaukee
Oct. 25 - Megan Hoffman, UIC
Nov. 1 - Kali Carter, Butler / Karen Fruit, UW-Milwaukee
Nov. 9 - Jamie Bouyer, Cleveland State