Regular Season Ends This Weekend at Hartford and at UMBC

Thursday, Nov. 9 • 6 pm • Hartford Volleyball Gym • West Hartford, Conn.
UNH (11-13, 6-4 America East) at Hartford (5-19, 2-8 America East)
Video | Stats

Sunday, Nov. 12 • 1 pm • RAC Arena • Baltimore, Md.
UNH (11-13, 6-4 America East) at UMBC (13-11, 5-5 America East)
Video | Stats

PETKE, PATLOVICH RECEIVE AMERICA EAST WEEKLY AWARDS

Sophomore right side hitter Hannah Petke (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) was named America East Player of the Week and Emma Patlovich (Lake Bluff, Ill.) was honored as Rookie of the Week this past Monday.
Petke recorded a career-high 24 kills and just four errors on 44 swings for a .455 attack percentage last Sunday at Stony Brook. She had a dominant first set with seven kills and no errors on eight attacks for a .875 hitting percentage.
Patlovich recorded her third double-double of the season with 25 assists and a personal-best 15 digs that tied for best on the team vs. the Seawolves. She recorded seven assists and three digs in Set 4 to help UNH hit at a .270 clip and limit SBU to .188.

UNH vs. HARTFORD

UNH has a 42-3 lifetime record against Hartford with 10 consecutive wins in the series vs. the Hawks.
Back on Oct. 14 in Lundholm Gym, the Wildcats won in straight sets: 25-11, 25 -21, 25-18. Recap | Box
Kennedi Smith (The Woodlands, Texas) and Emily Tanski (Plymouth, Mich.) led the 'Cats with 10 kills apiece.
New Hampshire recorded a .292 hitting percentage and 10 service aces; Harford hit at a .125 clip.
In the 2016 season, the Wildcats won on the road in four sets: 21-25, 25-17, 25-12, 25-21. Recap • Box
Hartford's most recent win against New Hampshire was Oct. 13, 2012; that was a five-set match at Hartford.

UNH vs. UMBC

UNH has a 20-10 lifetime record against UMBC; the Retrievers ended the Wildcats' 11-match win streak in the series Oct. 13 at Lundholm Gym with a five-set victory.
The set scores were: 25-21, 19-25, 27-25, 23-25, 15-12. Recap | Box
With the match tied at one set apiece, UMBC trailed 24-20 in Set 3 but fought off four set points as part of a 7-1 run to close out the set and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Trailing 11-7 in the decisive fifth set, UMBC reeled off six consecutive points to go ahead 13-11.
New Hampshire had an impressive .238 hitting percentage in Set 5, but the visitors were even more impressive at .429 with 10 kills and just one error on 21 attacks.
Last year (Oct. 30) in Baltimore, the Wildcats prevailed 3-1in set scores of 25-16, 27-29, 25-16, 25-20. • Recap • Box

DEVELOPING THE PLAYOFF PICTURE

UNH is tied for third place in the America East standings with Stony Brook at 6-4, one-half game behind Binghamton at 7-4.
Those two teams battle this weekend, which means at least one of them will end the season with five losses.
UNH holds the tiebreaker against Stony Brook, but Binghamton has the edge against the Wildcats.
The top four teams earn a berth in the conference tournament. UMBC is on the outside looking in at 5-5.
UAlbany (10-1) has won the regular-season title and will host the America East Championship tournament.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK

New Hampshire rallied from a 2-1 deficit to upend Stony Brook University at Pritchard Gymnasium last Sunday. The set scores were 25-14, 25-27, 21-25, 25-20, 15-10. Recap | Box
Stony Brook smashed the ball at a .351 hitting percentage in the third set to take a 2-1 lead, but UNH stymied the Seawolves' attack in Set 4 (.188 hitting percentage) and Set 5 (.118).
New Hampshire improved to 24-14 against Stony Brook with its 10^th consecutive win in the series.
UNH's .279 hitting percentage was the third highest of the season.

'CAT NIPS

Hannah Petke recorded a match-high 24 kills at Stony Brook on a .455 hitting percentage.
Kennedi Smith recorded her team-leading ninth double-double of the season with 17 kills, a .224 hitting percentage and 14 digs.
Emma Patlovich tallied 24 assists and 15 digs for her third double-double of the season.
Gabri Olhava (Mount Prospect, Ill.) contributed 16 kills – on a .310 hitting percentage – and four blocks.
Smith and Patlovich were two of four Wildcats who finished with double digits in digs. Logan Welti (Middleton, Wis.) matched Patlovich's team high of 15 digs and Emily Tanski equaled Smith's total of 14.
Mali Jereczek (Green Bay, Wis.) finished with a team-high 31 assists. Both Jereczek and Welti had three service aces.

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

UNH enters Thursday's match with an 11-13 overall record that includes 3-5 on the road and 6-4 in America East (3-1 in conference road matches).
New Hampshire has a 6-4 record the past 10 matches.
Two wins this weekend would send the Wildcats into the postseason on a three-match win streak, which would be their second longest streak of the season.
UNH is averaging 11.9 kills per set on a .185 attack percentage while the opposition is at 12.0 kills/set at a .205 clip.
UNH Volleyball web page

PUT ME IN, COACH

Junior middle blocker and captain Gabri Olhava is the only Wildcat who has played all 93 sets in 24 matches.
Sophomore defensive specialist Logan Welti has seen action in 92 of 93 sets.

FILLING THE STAT SHEET

Sophomore outside hitter Kennedi Smith has nine double-doubles this season; the rest of the Wildcats have combined for 10 double-doubles.
Smith is UNH's leader in kills (279) and kills per set (3.32), as well as points (319) and points per set (3.80). She is also third in both digs (2.50/set) and blocks (30), and is fourth in service aces (21).
Smith has led the team (or tied for the team lead) in kills 15 of 24 matches, including eight consecutive matches spanning Aug. 26 – Sept. 12.
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).

BLOCK PARTY

Gabri Olhava has a team-best 66 blocks (20 solo, 46 assisted).
She has led the team (or tied for the team lead) in blocks 14 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, ranks second in kills (240) and kills/set (2.58) as well as points (314) and points/set (3.38), and service aces (31).

SMOKING ACES

New Hampshire recorded 10 service aces four consecutive matches against Stony Brook, UMBC, Hartford and UMass Lowell (Oct. 6-20).
Mali Jereczek recorded three aces last Sunday at Stony Brook to climb to the top of UNH's leaderboard with 32. Jereczek recorded 15 service aces in a four-match span from Oct. 6-20. She served six aces against UMBC to mark the highest total by a 'Cat since September 2007 (Alyse Lahti vs. Holy Cross).
Gabri Olhava recorded five aces at Northeastern (Sept. 12); that total is tied for the second most by a Wildcat this season (established by Kennedi Smith at St. John's and matched by Hannah Petke at UAlbany).

DIG THIS

Logan Welti has a team-high 377 digs and is averaging 4.10 per set.
She has led UNH in digs in 16 of 24 matches, including a career-high 34 vs. UMBC on Oct. 13. It marked the highest total by a UNH Wildcat since November 2013 (Madison Lightfoot, 39 vs. Binghamton
Welti has tallied 20+ digs six times and she has three other matches with 19 digs.

GIVING ASSISTANCE

Freshman setter Emma Patlovich (Lake Bluff, Ill.) is UNH's leader in assists, with 501, and assists/set (6.26).
She has been UNH's top 'Cat in assists in 16 of 24 matches with 30-plus assists five times, including a career high 36 against Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Patlovich was a DNP for both matches on the Empire State road trip (Sept. 29 & Oct. 1).
She has three double-doubles with a 24-assist, 12-dig effort vs. Butler (at Michigan); a 35-assist, 10-dig performance at UMass Lowell; and a 25-assist, 15-dig effort at Stony Brook.
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 and matched that vs. Hartford.
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 third-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 tallied three service aces and three blocks, as well as 29 assists.
In 80 sets, Jereczek has amassed 408 assists for an average of 5.10 per set.
Jereczek has led the 'Cats in assists six of the past nine matches and in service aces six of the last eight matches.

CONFERENCE CALL

UNH leads America East in service aces with 159 and in service aces per set at 1.71. The Wildcats also yield the fewest kills per set to opponents (12.01).
Kennedi Smith is second in kills (279) and kills/set (3.32) as well as points per set (3.80).
Gabri Olhava is third in hitting percentage (.286), sixth in service aces per set (0.33), ninth in kills/set (2.58) and seventh in points/set (3.38).
Logan Welti is third in digs (377) and fifth in digs/set (4.10).
Emma Patlovich is sixth in assists/set (6.26) and seventh in service aces per set (0.31).
Mali Jereczek has ascended to second in service aces/set (0.40) and is also ninth in assists/set (5.10).
Hannah Petke has climbed to 10^th in hitting percentage at .234.

ANOTHER CONFERENCE CALL

Through nine America East conference matches, UNH's leaders are Kennedi Smith in kills/set (3.97), Gabri Olhava in hitting percentage (.318), Mali Jereczek in assists/set (6.12), Logan Welti in digs/set (3.95) and Olhava in blocks (26).

SET-BY-SET

UNH has won the first set 12 times in 24 matches; the Wildcats have won the second set 12 times.
The opposition has won Set 3 14 times.
UNH is 5-9 in Set 4, and the Wildcats are 5-2 in the decisive fifth set.
The 'Cats have a 6-4 record in matches decided by three sets; 0-7 in four-set matches; 5-2 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 766 career wins, 357 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.

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
America East Player of the Week (10/10) – Kennedi Smith
America East Player of the Week (10/24) – Kennedi Smith
America East Player of the Week (11/06) – Hannah Petke
America East Rookie of the Week (11/06) – Emma Patlovich

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