BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After defeating Neumann University in the quarterfinals of the 2011 ECAC Division III South Tournament, Moravian will travel to Bethany College in West Virginia Saturday to take on eighth seed St. Vincent College in the semifinals. The fourth seed Greyhounds took down the fifth seed Neumann University in three-sets Wednesday evening, winning every set 25-20 in a hard fought contest of close action.
The other semifinals game will put second seed Bethany versus third seed Swarthmore College at 11 a.m. The winner of that match will face the winner of Moravian/St. Vincent in the Championship game at 5 p.m.
This is the sixth time Moravian has played in the ECAC South Tournament. During The other five trips, Moravian has lost in the championship twice, the semifinals once and the quarterfinals twice.
Head Coach Shelley Bauder has headed the Greyhounds volleyball program for 19 seasons while compiling a 389-232 overall record. She needs just 11 more wins to reach the 400 win plateau. She has Moravian playing excellent as of late, winning seven of their last eight games. Their only loss was to #10 Juniata College in the semifinals of the Landmark Conference Tournament.
Junior right side hitter Samantha Savite (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) leads the Greyhounds with 343 kills, and she also has 61 blocks and 50 digs. Sophomore setter Kelly Brown (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic), has tallied 1,110 assists and is averaging 8.76 assists per game, and needs only 15 more assists to move into fifth place for assists in a single season. Brown also has 413 digs and 39 service aces.
Junior libero Jesse Krasley (Allentown, PA/Parkland) has been rewriting the record book in digs for Moravian. She holds the career dig record with 1,719. Krasley also broke the single-season dig record at 639 previously set by herself, she has 774 thus far this season. She broke the record for most digs in a 5-set game with 54, breaking the old record by 15 digs. Krasley also holds the record for the 4-set and 3-set game.
Senior middle blocker Katie Moquete (Midland Park, NJ/Midland Park) is second on the team in kills with 265 to go with her 59 blocks and 19 aces. Junior JeanAnne Carey (Bucks County, PA/Pennsbury) has totaled 211 kills with 44 aces and 212 digs while sophomore middle blocker Brittany O'Hara (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge) has a total of 92 blocks to go with her 138 kills.
Freshman outside hitter Kellianne Comitalo (Philadelphia, PA/St. Basil Academy) has 166 kills, 42 aces and 210 digs while classmate outside hitter Taylor Jennings (Cedar Run, NJ/Southern Regional) tallied 172 kills and 114 digs. Senior defensive specialist Ashley Schmidt (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) is third on the team in digs with 352, and she has 42 aces. Sophomore right side hitter Katelyn Strohl (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) has 34 kills while junior middle blocker Jenny Wizeman (Sugarloaf, PA/Hazleton) has 18 kills.
The Bearcats are headed by Head Coach Sue Hozak, who is in her 26th season with St. Vincent. She has led her volleyball program to two straight ECAC South Championships in 2006 and 2007.
The Bearcats are led by senior outside hitter Taylor Guido, who has a team-high 370 kills to go with 243 digs, 42 blocks and 33 service aces. Junior setter Devin McGrath is leading St. Vincent with 1,234 assists and 43 aces. She is also third on the team with 424 digs and 49 blocks. Senior outside hitter Natalie Hozak has 586 digs and 339 kills while sophomore middle hitter Brittany Hauser has 131 blocks and 140 kills.
