STORYLINE
The Bloomsburg University women's volleyball team heads to its second two-day tournament in as many weekends when it travels to Waterbury, Connecticut, to compete in the Post University Tournament. The Huskies will play Southern Connecticut State and Felician on Saturday and then Post and Saint Anselm on Sunday.
NEW LOOK
With the addition of Shepherd to the PSAC, the sport of volleyball restructured its divisions. The Central Division will consist of East Stroudsburg, Kutztown, Bloomsburg, and Lock Haven while the Northwest Division features five teams - Gannon, Clarion, Edinboro, Mercyhurst, and Slippery Rock. The Southwest Division boasts Seton Hill, Pitt-Johnstown, Cal U, and IUP, and the Southeast Division will consist of Shippensburg, Shepherd, Millersville, and West Chester. The four division winners will earn an automatic bid to the PSAC Volleyball Championship while the next four best records will earn at-large spots.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Last Friday, Bloomsburg picked up its first win of the 2019 season against Felician as it knocked off the Fighting Falcons in five sets at the Ashland University Tournament.
Sydney Buell (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) recorded a career-high 20 kills - the third-highest total in the program's abbreviated history - while
Grace Giza (Plymouth, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) totaled seven blocks broke her own school record of six she set last season. The Huskies have never competed against Southern Connecticut State, Post, or Saint Anselm.
SCOUTING BLOOMSBURG
Bloomsburg went 1-3 during its opening weekend of the 2019 campaign while playing against some stiff competition at the Ashland Tournament. The Huskies won in five sets against Felician after falling in three competitive sets against Fairmont State on day one. Bloomsburg then lost in four sets to both Notre Dame College and Ashland on day two. Sophomore
Mary Kate Mooney (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) led the Huskies with 42 kills in the four matches while adding 49 digs. Sophomores
Sydney Buell (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) and
Grace Giza (Plymouth, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) had 33 kills apiece with Giza leading the way with 12 total blocks. Freshman
Brooke Kratzer (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) (74 assists) and sophomore
Bryn Stek (Ambler, Pa./Upper Dublin) (52 assists) split setting duties while junior
Alyssa Cianciulli (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) totaled 113 digs (7.06 per set) to lead the PSAC in that category after the first weekend. Cianciulli was named the PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Week for her efforts to become the first player in program history to earn a weekly award from the league.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Only Southern Connecticut State enters the weekend tournament with a winning record as the Owls went 4-0 and lost only one set against Dominican, Queens, Assumption, and Caldwell last weekend. Felician is 1-3 to start the season with a five-set win over Cal U at the Ashland Tournament. Post comes into the weekend with an 0-6 record while Saint Anselm is 0-4 to start the year. Saint Anselm did not win a set in its first four matches while Post won just one set in its first six contests.
UP NEXT
Bloomsburg will be back on the road again next weekend as it heads to Davis & Elkins on Friday, September 20, to play Davis & Elkins and Alderson Broaddus and then travels to West Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday, September 21, for matches against Virginia Union and West Virginia Wesleyan.
