2011 PSUAC Volleyball Championship Recap
The 2011 PSUAC Volleyball Championship that took place at Rec Hall in State College, Pa was very exciting for all teams involved. But the most excited of them all was Penn State Fayette. They went on to win their fourth consecutive PSUAC Championship against Pennsylvania College of Technology. Fayette went undefeated in Conference play and are currently ranked third in the USCAA. With their 2011 Championship title, Fayette's Women's Volleyball team has earned a berth in the USCAA Championships in Kentucky.
Penn College and Fayette had earned their way to the championship by defeating very good rivals, Penn State Wilkes-Barre and Penn State Mont Alto, respectively. Wilkes-Barre came into the match against Penn College after a 3-0 win over Penn State Beaver, with Kellie Yekel leading the team with 13 service points in that match. They played tough in the semi-final game against Penn College before falling 1-3 in their final game of the championship. Penn College was led by freshmen Courtney Gernert had 17 kills/18 digs and Kasey Smith who had 17 digs, respectively. Senior Lyndsey Smith also recorded 47 assists for Penn College. Penn State Mont Alto also had winning on their mind heading into their semi-final game against Fayette. They were coming off a 3-1 win over higher-seeded Brandywine and wanted to keep their streak alive. Fayette has always been a tough team for Mont Alto to play against, and that showed again in the semi-final game where Mont Alto fell 0-3. Sophomore Captain Christine Walker and Sophomore Brianne Rice each had 10 kills for Mont Alto. Sophomore Co-Captain Lauren Chapman had five kills, 23 assists, nine digs and one block for her stats. Rice also finished with 2 assists, one ace and nine digs. Walker tallied 11 digs for the match. Fayette hit .304 during the set, while holding Mont Alto to a .087 percentage. Fayette was led by junior Leah Ambrosini with 11 kills, while freshman Samantha Helmantoler added a career high 10 kills.
Pennsylvania College of Technology gave Penn State Fayette a tough 4 set match. Both teams had the title in mind and knew what it was going to take to win. Fayette, who was led by Senior Katie Sleasmon, took the first two sets with scores of 25-22 and 25-16. Penn College was not losing in a set match. They took the third set by a score of 25-16. But Fayette won the fourth set with ease, posting a score of 25-8. Fayette improved to a 26-4 record and will hope to continue their winning streak in the USCAA Tournament which takes place November 10-12. Fayette was coached by Nancy Wheeler who earned the 2011 PSUAC Coach of the year award. Fayette's Leah Ambrosini and Janelle Cooper were named Player of the Year and Co-New Comer of the year, respectively. Penn College's Lyndsey Smith and Kelly Herbert earned Co-Setter of the Year and Co-New Comer of the Year, respectively. Megan Murtagh from Penn State Wilkes-Barre also earned Co-Setter of the Year honors.
2011 PSUAC Volleyball Post Season Awards
Coach of the Year: Nancy Wheeler, PSU Fayette
Player of the Year: Leah Ambrosini, PSU Fayette
Setter of the Year: Megan Murtagh, PSU Wilkes-Barre & Lyndsey Smith, Penn College
New Comer of the Year: Janelle Cooper, PSU Fayette & Kelly Hebert, Penn College
1st Team PSUAC Volleyball All-Conference
Katie Sleasman – PSU Fayette
Leah Ambrosini – PSU Fayette
Christine Walker – PSU Mont Alto
Kellie Yekel – PSU Wilkes-Barre
Lyndsey Smith – Penn College
Kelly Hebert – Penn College
Meghan Murtagh – PSU Wilkes-Barre
Kate Cowan – PSU Brandywine
Lauren Chapman – PSU Mont Alto
Brianne Rice – PSU Mont Alto
2nd Team PSUAC Volleyball All-Conference
Rachel Grubbs – PSU Beaver
Lindsay Moyer – Penn College
Kaitlyn Karpinski – PSU DuBois
Abigail Collins – PSU Wilkes-Barre
Amanda Rasley – PSU Brandywine
Michele Vowler – PSU Wilkes-Barre
Honorable Mention
Tara Powell – Penn College, Janelle Cooper – PSU Fayette,
Alyssa Finocchi – PSU Greater Allegheny, Beth Yuschovitz – PSU Scranton,
Tessa Vargas – PSU DuBois, Ashly Perez – PSU Hazelton, Jen Fannin – PSU Beaver,
Alexandra Vitale – PSU Brandywine, Sam Helmantoler – PSU Fayette