'Cats Begin Six-Match Homestand Oct. 6 vs. Stony Brook

UNH VOLLEYBALL

Friday, Oct. 6 • 7 pm • Lundholm Gym • Durham, N.H.
Stony Brook (11-6, 2-0 America East) at UNH (7-10, 2-1 America East)

UNH vs. STONY BROOK

UNH has a 22-14 lifetime record against Stony Brook with eight consecutive wins in the series. Last year, the Wildcats won in straight sets at home and 3-1 on the road.
Oct. 2 at Lundholm Gym (25-19, 25-15, 25-22) Recap • Box
Oct. 28 at Pritchard Gymnasium (25-16, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22) Recap • Box
SBU's most recent win in the series was Oct. 4, 2013 (3-2 at home).
UNH has defended Durham each of the last 11 matches in Lundholm Gym dating back to Stony Brook's five-set win Oct. 12, 2007.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK

New Hampshire extended its win streak to five matches with a 3-2 victory at Albany on Sept. 29 (in which the Wildcats rallied from a 2-0 deficit) and then lost in four sets at Binghamton on Oct. 1.
UNH recorded a season-best .268 attack percentage at Albany with 63 kills and 19 errors on 164 swings.
In the five-set win at UAlbany, the Wildcats recorded match highs in kills, attack percentage, assists (58) and digs (88).
UNH recorded 11 blocks at Binghamton to mark the second-highest team total this season (12 at Fairfield, Sept. 9).

'CAT NIPS

Junior setter Mali Jereczek, in her first match as UNH's primary setter, recorded her second career double-double with personal bests in both assists (49) and digs (15) at Albany.
Jereczek then tallied a career-high six kills (.750 attack percentage) with 29 assists, three service aces and three blocks, as well as five digs, at Binghamton.
Sophomore right side hitter Hannah Petke nearly recorded a double-double at Albany with 12 kills and nine digs. She committed just one error as part of a .426 attack percentage and also finished with a career-high five service aces.
Petke followed that with a career-high 14 kills at Binghamton.
Senior outside hitter and captain Courtney Bowman tallied a career-high 27 digs at Albany.
Bowman followed that with her second double-double of the season with 13 kills and 15 digs at Binghamton.
Sophomore defensive specialist/outside hitter Logan Welti had a personal best of 22 digs at Albany.
Senior middle blocker Molly Wotton recorded a career-high seven blocks at Binghamton; that total is the second highest by any Wildcat this season.

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

UNH enters Friday's matchup with a 7-10 overall record that includes 2-1 in America East and 4-0 at home; the Wildcats are yet to play a conference team at home.
New Hampshire had a five-match win streak spanning Sept. 15-29; it came to an end with last Sunday's 3-1 loss at Binghamton.
UNH is averaging 16.5 kills per set on a .170 attack percentage while the opposition is at 12.3 kills/set at a .211 clip.
UNH Volleyball home page

HOME SWEET HOME

New Hampshire is 4-0 at Lundholm Gym this season and the Wildcats have won 12 consecutive home matches.
All four wins this season are against non-conference opponents; all eight victories from 2016 as part of this home win streak were vs. America East teams.
UNH has won three of its four home matches in straight sets – vs. Bryant, Siena, Darmtouth; the other was a five-set victory against Rhode Island.
The last visiting team to leave Durham with a win was Northeastern University, 3-1, on Sept. 20, 2016.
The Wildcats have won 10 consecutive home matches vs. America East foes, and that includes four postseason victories.
UNH's most recent conference loss in Lundholm Gym was Nov. 1, 2015 (3-0 to UAlbany).

PUT ME IN, COACH

Junior middle blocker and captain Gabri Olhava is the only Wildcat who has played all 65 sets in 17 matches.
Sophomore defensive specialist Logan Welti has seen action in 64 of 65 sets.

FILLING THE STAT SHEET

Sophomore outside hitter Kennedi Smith has six double-doubles this season; the rest of the Wildcats have six double-doubles.
Smith recorded a double-double three consecutive matches spanning Sept. 16-22; she had another double-double earlier that week for a stretch of four double-doubles in five matches.
In the week of Sept. 12-16, Smith tallied 15 kills and a career-high 17 digs at Northeastern (Sept. 12), then surpassed that number with 18 digs and 11 kills vs. URI (Sept. 16); she recorded 17 kills and 13 digs against Dartmouth College (Sept. 16). Smith followed that with a career-high 21 kills and 10 digs at UMass Lowell (Sept. 22).
Smith is UNH's leader in kills (190) and kills per set (3.39), as well as points/set (3.83); she is second in points (214) and third both service aces (15), digs (140) and blocks (16).
Smith has led the team (or tied for the team lead) in kills 11 of 17 matches, including eight consecutive matches spanning Aug. 26 – Sept. 12.

BLOCK PARTY

Gabri Olhava has a team-best 48 blocks (13 solo, 35 assisted).
She has led the team (or tied for the team lead) in blocks 11 times this season.
Olhava recorded a career high of 10 blocks at Fairfield on Sept. 9; the previous time a Wildcat reached double digits in blocks was Oct. 19, 2014 (Demi Muses, 11, at Hartford); Cassidy Croci also had 11 blocks Aug. 30, 2014.
In other stats, Olhava is the leader in both points (218) and service aces (24), as well as second in kills (164), kills/set (2.52) and points/set (3.36).

SMOKING ACES

Gabri Olhava has a team-high 24 service aces, and she has also led – or tied for the lead – in aces nine times.
She recorded five aces at Northeastern (Sept. 12); that total is tied for the most by a Wildcat this season (established by Kennedi Smith at St. John's and matched by Hannah Petke at UAlbany).
Olhava recorded three aces in 2 of 3 matches at the Michigan Tournament. (against Wisconsin Green Bay and Butler)

DIG THIS

Logan Welti has a team-high 269 digs and is averaging 4.20 per set.
She has led UNH in digs in 11 of 17 matches, including a career-high 22 last Friday at UAlbany.
Welti has tallied 20+ digs four times and has three other matches with 19 digs.

GIVING ASSISTANCE

Emma Patlovich is UNH's leader in assists, with 375, and assists/set (6.82).
She has been UNH's top 'Cat in assists in 13 of 17 matches with 30-plus assists five times, including a career high 36 against Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Patlovich was a DNP both road matches last weekend.
She has two double-doubles with a 24-assist, 12-dig effort vs. Butler (at Michigan) and a 35-assist, 10-dig performance at UMass Lowell.
Patlovich's highlights include 35 assists, three kills, two service aces and six digs at Northeastern; she recorded a personal-best four aces at Fairfield.
Mali Jereczek stepped into the starting role the Sept. 29-Oct. 1 weekend. She did so very admirably at UAlbany with a career-high 49 assists that quarterbacked the 'Cats to their highest hitting percentage of the season (.259). She also tallied a personal-best 15 digs to record her second career double-double.
Jereczek followed that with a career-high six kills (and .750 hitting percentage) at Binghamton. She also matched her personal best of three service aces and also had three blocks, as well as 29 assists.
In 52 sets, Jereczek has amassed 250 assists for an average of 4.81 per set.

CONFERENCE CALL

UNH leads America East in service aces with 103; the Wildcats rank second in aces per set (1.58).
Gabri Olhava is second in service aces (24) and is fourth in aces/set (0.37). She is also third in points (218.5), seventh in points/set (3.36), fifth in hitting percentage (.254) and eighth in kills per set (.2.52).
Kennedi Smith is No. 2 in points per set (3.83), kills (175) and kills per set (3.39), as well as No. 9 in service aces per set (0.27).
Logan Welti is No. 2 in digs (232) and No. 4 in digs per set (4.22).
Emma Patlovich is sixth in assists per set (6.82) and eighth in service aces per set (0.29).
Senior outside hitter and captain Courtney Bowman ranks eighth in digs per set (3.00).

ANOTHER CONFERENCE CALL

In three America East conference matches, UNH's leaders are Kennedi Smith in kills/set (3.60), Mali Jereczek in assists/set (7.15), Hannah Petke in hitting percentage (.301), Logan Welti in digs/set (4.14) and Molly Wotton in blocks (12).

SET-BY-SET

UNH has won the first set 8 of 17 matches this season and the second set nine times.
The opposition has won Set 3 10 times.
UNH is 2-8 in Set 4, but the Wildcats are 3-1 in the decisive fifth set.
The 'Cats have a 4-3 record in matches decided by three sets; 0-6 in four-set matches; 3-1 in five-set matches.

HIRSCHINGER'S HISTORY

This is the 22^nd year as UNH head coach for Jill Hirschinger. She recorded her 750^th career victory when the Wildcats prevailed 3-1 at UMBC last October.
Of her 762 career wins, 353 have been at UNH's helm.
Hirschinger's 350^th win at UNH was a five-set victory against Rhode Island at the Holly Young Invitational on Sept. 16.
Hirschinger has been named America East Coach of the Year six times.

SCOUTING THE SEAWOLVES

Stony Brook University (Stony Brook, N.Y.) has a 11-6 overall record that includes 2-0 in America East and 3-2 on the road.
The Seawolves are on a seven-match winning streak following last weekend's home wins against Hartford (3-1) and UMBC (3-0). Their last loss was Sept. 9 at Bryant University by a score of 3-1.
During the win streak, Stony Brook has won twice in three sets, four times in four sets and once in five sets.
SBU is averaging 12.6 kills per set on a .208 attack percentage. The opponents are hitting at .200 with 12.8 kills per set.
The Seawolves are atop the America East leaderboard in kills (12.57/set), hitting percentage (.208), assists/set (11.89) and digs (16.85/set). The Seawolves also yield the fewest service aces (1.18/set).
Emily Costello has a team-high 187 kills (2.88 per set) on a .176 hitting percentage; she also ranks second in service aces (21) and digs (177).
LeAnne Sakowicz quarterbacks the offense with 10.40 assists per set (676 total). She also has a team-best 22 service aces and is third in digs.
Kiani Kerstetter is averaging a team-high 4.63 digs per set (301 total).
At the net, Cydney Bowman and McKyla Brooks rank 1-2 in blocks with 52 and 51, respectively.

2017 WILDCAT ACCOLADES

Jack Kaiser Classic All-Tournament Team (08/26) – Courtney Bowman
America East Rookie of the Week (08/29) – Emma Patlovich
Michigan Invitational All-Tournament Team (09/02) – Gabri Olhava
America East Defensive Specialist of the Week (09/12) – Logan Welti
Holly Young Invitational All-Tournament Team (09/16) – Gabri Olhava
Holly Young Invitational All-Tournament Team (09/16) – Emma Patlovich
Holly Young Invitational All-Tournament Team (09/16) – Kennedi Smith
America East Player of the Week (09/19) – Gabri Olhava

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