Women's Volleyball | 9/6/2018 8:11:00 PM

THE DETAILS
Bloomsburg (2-3, 0-0 PSAC) at California (Pa.) Vulcan Invitational
Friday, September 7 and Saturday, September 8
Convocation Center - California, Pa.

vs Southern New Hampshire (1-2, 0-0 NE-10)
Friday, September 7 - 1:00 p.m.
vs Notre Dame College (2-5, 0-0 MEC)
Friday, September 7 - 4:00 p.m.
vs #1 Nebraska-Kearney (8-0, 0-0 MIAA)
Saturday, September 8 - 1:00 p.m.
vs West Virginia Wesleyan (0-5, 0-0 MEC)
Saturday, September 8 - 4:00 p.m.
 
GAME COVERAGE
Live Stats (ALL FOUR MATCHES) - CLICK HERE
 
RELATED LINKS
Bloomsburg - Schedule | Roster | Statistics
Southern New Hampshire - Schedule | Roster | Statistics
Notre Dame College - Schedule | Roster | Statistics
Nebraska-Kearney - Schedule | Roster | Statistics
West Virginia Wesleyan - Schedule | Roster | Statistics
 
STORYLINE
The Bloomsburg University women's volleyball team will compete in its second tournament in as many weekends as the Huskies head to California University of Pennsylvania for the two-day Vulcan Invitational. Bloomsburg will tangle with Southern New Hampshire and Notre Dame College (Ohio) on Friday before getting a look at the top-ranked team in the country, Nebraska-Kearney, on Saturday morning. The Huskies will close out the tournament against West Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon.
 
HISTORY
Back in March of 2017, Bloomsburg University announced that it was adding women's volleyball as a varsity sport and, three months later, the school hired Dan Kreiger to be the program's first varsity coach. Prior to coming to Bloomsburg, Kreiger spent five seasons – the last four as the head coach – at Lock Haven University from 2011-15. In his four seasons as the head coach at Lock Haven, Kreiger guided the Bald Eagles to an 88-49 overall record and a 55-30 mark against PSAC opponents. Under Kreiger, Lock Haven qualified for the PSAC Tournament in each of his four years at the helm and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2012. The program earned PSAC Eastern Division regular season titles in 2012 and 2014 and was the tournament runner-up in 2012.

The inaugural roster features 28 student-athletes broken up into 23 freshmen, two transfers, and three former members of the Bloomsburg club team. Last month, the Huskies were picked to finish fourth in the PSAC Central Division and, on August 13, the team held its first official practice. Bloomsburg played its first-ever match on August 31 against Grand Valley State and, after suffering a loss to the Lakers, earned the program's first victory with a 3-1 win over Virginia Union later that day. Then, on September 4, the Huskies played their first-ever home match against Chestnut Hill and swept the Griffins in straight sets.
 
SCOUTING BLOOMSBURG
The Huskies enter the tournament with a 2-3 overall record, earning victories over Virginia Union on August 31 and, most recently, over Chestnut Hill in the program's first-ever home match on September 4. Bloomsburg went 1-3 in its opening tournament at Walsh last weekend with redshirt senior Sarah Gomish (Ebensburg, Pa./Bishop Carroll Catholic) and freshman Sydney Buell (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) getting named to the All-Tournament Team. The Huskies then swept Chestnut Hill with Gomish leading the way with 15 kills. Freshman Mary Kate Mooney (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) chipped in with 12 and sophomore Alyssa Cianciulli (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) posted a season-high 22 digs from her libero position. Freshman Emma Van Arsdale (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) collected a season-high 37 assists in the three-set win. Gomish leads the Huskies with 60 kills on the season while Mooney is right behind with 50. Buell and freshman Mia Nicholes (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) are also in double figures with 36 and 18, respectively. Van Arsdale leads the way in both assists (124) and service aces (10) while Cianciulli is tops on the team with 88 digs. Gomish ranks fourth in the PSAC in kills per set (4.0) while Van Arsdale is fifth in the league in aces per set (0.67). Cianciulli averages 5.50 digs per set, good for fifth in the conference.
 
SCOUTING SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Penmen are 1-2 on the season but have not played since a 3-1 win over Saint Anselm on August 26. Irem Bat leads Southern New Hampshire with 33 kills and ranks second on the team with 31 digs. Baylee Lippincott is second with 24 kills. Amanda Costales has totaled 10 blocks (two solo, eight assisted) through three matches to lead the Penmen in that category. Jessica Dillon serves as the team's setter and leads with 66 assists while Shaira Sanabria paces the Penmen with 54 digs.

SCOUTING NOTRE DAME COLLEGE
Notre Dame College comes into the tournament with a 2-5 overall record on the year. The Falcons have earned victories over Rio Grande (Ohio) and Malone on the young season. Mary Kate McHugh averages 4.24 kills per set and has totaled 106 kills in seven matches this season to lead the team by a substantial margin. The next highest in the category is Katie Richardson who enters with 45 kills. Paige Staudacher leads in both assists (247) and aces (9) while Alexandra Kaeberlein is tops with 168 digs - an average of 6.72 digs per set.

SCOUTING NEBRASKA-KEARNEY
The Lopers are 8-0 on the season and enter the tournament as the top-ranked team in the country according to the latest AVCA poll. Six of Nebraska-Kearney's victories this season have come in straight sets with only Point Loma (five sets) and California State San Marcos (five sets) avoiding the sweep. The Lopers spread the wealth on offense as eight different players have recorded at least 22 kills on the year. MK Wolfe and Anna Squires are tied for the team lead with 63 apiece. Lindsey Smith has an even 300 assists on the year - an average of nearly 11 helpers per set. Meanwhile, both Ellie McDonnell (133) and Julianne Jackson (101) are both in triple digits in digs.

SCOUTING WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN
The Bobcats are winless on the season as they come in with an 0-5 record. In their most recent match against Davis & Elkins on Tuesday, Anaya Hyman paced West Virginia Wesleyan with 14 kills while Alexie Arnold added nine in a losing effort. Mackenzie Wheeler had 30 assists, Lauryn Antolock had six blocks, and Hannah Bradford posted 30 digs. Hyman has posted 44 kills on the year while Arnold chipped in with 25. Wheeler has 90 assists and Bradford leads with 69 digs through five matches.
 
UP NEXT
The Huskies will play their first conference match in program history when they head to Greensburg, Pennsylvania to match up against the Griffins of Seton Hill on Friday, September 14. Start time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The following afternoon, Bloomsburg will be back in California to meet the Vulcans for a 1:00 p.m. start.

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