BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's volleyball team has earned the third seed in the 2012 Landmark Conference Tournament, and the Greyhounds will host sixth seeded Goucher College in a first round match on Thursday, November 1st in Johnston Hall at 7:00 p.m.
The Greyhounds are 26-7 overall, one victory shy of tying the school record for wins in a season, and Moravian was 4-2 in the Landmark Conference regular season. The Greyhounds are making the 16th postseason appearance in the last 17 years. Goucher is 9-23 overall and was 1-5 in conference action. The Greyhounds posted a 3-0 victory when the teams met during the first Landmark Conference Round Robin at Goucher on September 29th.
Thursday's other first round match has fourth seed Susquehanna University hosting fifth seeded The University of Scranton. The winners of the first round matches will advance to the semifinals at Juniata College on Saturday, November 5th. The winner of the Moravian vs. Goucher match will play second seed The Catholic University of America at 1:30 p.m. while the winner of Susquehanna vs. Scranton will battle the top seeded Eagles at 11:00 a.m. The championship match is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with the winner earning an automatic berth to the 2012 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament. The tournament schedule is subject to change based on Hurricane Sandy.
Greyhounds' head coach Shelley Bauder has Moravian in the postseason for the 16th time in her 20 seasons at the helm. Earlier this year, Bauder earned her 400th career victory, and she has an overall record of 415-240. Bauder is one of four Greyhound coaches with over 400 wins making Moravian the only NCAA Division III school in the country with four active 400-win coaches. Moravian enters the match having won 28 of its last 30 home matches including 12 of 13 matches in Johnston Hall this season.
Senior right side hitter Samantha Savite (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central HS) leads the Greyhounds with 355 kills and a .250 hitting percentage to go with 121 digs, 64 blocks and 32 service aces. Freshman outside hitter Lauren Hostetler (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley HS) has added 261 kills, 227 digs, 17 service aces, 14 assists and 14 blocks in her debut season while freshman middle blocker Victoria Bobyak (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall HS) has 225 kills, a .226 hitting percentage and 59 blocks.
Junior setter Kelly Brown (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic HS) leads the Moravian offense with 1,138 assists, her second straight season over 1,000 assists, to go with 404 digs, 76 kills, 28 blocks and 27 service aces. Senior libero Jesse Krasley (Allentown, Pa./Parkland HS), who owns every school record in digs, leads the squad this fall with 674 digs to go with 111 assists and 39 service aces.
Sophomore outside hitter Taylor Jennings (Cedar Run, N.J./Southern Regional HS) has contributed 201 kills, 78 digs, 14 blocks and five service aces for the Greyhounds while sophomore outside hitter Kelianne Comitalo (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Basil Academy) has 127 kills, 98 digs, 25 service aces and 14 blocks this fall. Junior middle blocker Brittany O'Hara (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge HS) has contributed 118 kills, 80 blocks and 20 digs this season while senior outside hitter JeanAnne Carey (Bucks County, Pa./Pennsbury HS) has 140 digs, 34 kills and 35 service aces.
Freshman defensive specialist Michelle Ciccone (Middletown, N.Y./Minisink Valley HS) has a team high 42 service aces for the Greyhounds to go with 47 digs while junior right side hitter Katelynn Strohl (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty HS) has added 34 kills, 20 digs and nine blocks. Freshman defensive specialist Andrea Giardina (Effort, Pa./Pleasant Valley HS) has 85 digs and seven service aces in her debut season while freshman setter Megan Szkolnicki (Springfield, Pa./Country Day School of the Sacred Heart) has 13 digs and ten assists.
The Gophers are under the direction of Michael Bossom, who has Goucher in the Landmark Conference Tournament for the fifth straight year.
Junior outside hitter Megan Chalk leads the Gophers with 372 kills, 338 digs, 72 service aces, 34 blocks and 11 assists this season while freshman outside hitter Sami Kennelly has added 173 kills, 88 digs, 22 blocks, 12 assists and seven service aces. Junior outside/right side hitter Tori Rain has contributed 149 kills, 148 assists, 242 digs, 36 service aces and ten blocks while freshman setter Sarah Johnson has 753 assists, 236 digs, 36 service aces, 21 kills and eight blocks.
Senior middle hitter Sabina Smajlovic has added 119 kills, 88 digs, 34 blocks, 13 service aces and 11 assists while senior libero Ashley Fan leads the Gophers with 458 digs to go with 35 service aces, 14 kills and 14 assists. Freshman middle hitter Hannah Kuehl has contributed 118 kills, 51 blocks, 23 digs and eight service aces this fall while sophomore defensive specialist Ilana Schear has 123 digs and 18 service aces.
