BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College volleyball team will be traveling to Juniata College for the semifinals of the Landmark Conference Tournament on November 3rd. The No. 3 seed Greyhounds (27-7) will take on No. 2 seed The Catholic University of America (26-9) in the semifinals at 1:30 p.m.
The winner of this match will take on the winner between No. 1 seed Juniata College and No. 4 seed Susquehanna University in the Landmark Championship game at 7:00 p.m. on November 3rd.
Moravian defeated Goucher College, 3-0, in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The win marked the 27th victory this fall for the Greyhounds, which ties the school-record for wins in a season.
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 416-240. 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.
Senior right-side hitter Samantha Savite leads the Greyhounds with 367 kills and a .248 hitting percentage to go with 129 digs, 67 blocks and 32 service aces. Freshman outside hitter Lauren Hostetler has added 266 kills, 233 digs, 18 service aces, 14 assists and 14 blocks in her debut season while freshman middle blocker Victoria Bobyak has 230 kills, a .221 hitting percentage and 59 blocks.
Junior setter Kelly Brown leads the Moravian offense with 1,170 assists, her second straight season over 1,000 assists, to go with 413 digs, 78 kills, 28 blocks and 28 service aces. Senior libero Jesse Krasley, who owns every school record in digs, leads the squad this fall with 687 digs to go with 118 assists and 41 service aces.
Sophomore outside hitter Taylor Jennings has contributed 210 kills, 81 digs, 15 blocks and five service aces for the Greyhounds while sophomore outside hitter Kelianne Comitalo has 130 kills, 100 digs, 25 service aces and 14 blocks this fall. Junior middle blocker Brittany O'Hara has contributed 123 kills, 84 blocks and 20 digs this season while senior outside hitter JeanAnne Carey has 147 digs, 34 kills and 37 service aces.
Freshman defensive specialist Michelle Ciccone has a team high 43 service aces for the Greyhounds to go with 48 digs while junior right side hitter Katelynn Strohl has added 34 kills, 21 digs and nine blocks. Freshman defensive specialist Andrea Giardina has 87 digs and seven service aces in her debut season while freshman setter Megan Szkolnicki has 14 digs and ten assists.
The Cardinals are headed by 20th year head coach Nagy Abdelrazek. Abdelrazek is also belongs to the 400-win club, earning his 400th victory back in the 2011 season.
On the court, Catholic is led by senior outside hitter Claudia Jean, who has 321 kills to go with 542 digs and 38 service aces. Junior right-side hitter Bridget Kulesh has 258 kills, 195 digs and 59 blocks while senior outside hitter Katie Chefalas has put up 228 kills and 380 digs.
Freshman setter Mariana Cruz has tallied 799 assists, 240 digs and 34 service aces while senior libero Kristina Purcell has 618 digs and 22 service aces. Senior middle hitter Kelly Crimmins has put up 210 kills and a team-best 90 blocks. Freshman middle hitter Audrey Bizak has totaled 82 blocks and 137 digs while classmate setter Fallon Foster has 264 assists and 54 digs.
