'Cats Travel to Michigan for Three-Match Weekend

Michigan Invitational Tournament • Sept. 1-2
University of Michigan • Cliff Keen Arena
Friday, Sept. 1
UNH vs. University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 4:30 pm • Stats

Saturday, Sept. 2
UNH at No. 19 Michigan, 1 pm • Stats
UNH vs. Butler University, 5 pm • Stats

TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW

The Michigan Invitational Tournament is a two-day, four-team tournament that is hosted by No. 19 University of Michigan at Cliff Keen Arena.
The only way to see the matches is in-person at Cliff Keen Arena – the matches will not be videostreamed online.
Fans can still follow the action through live stats.

PATLOVICH NAMED AMERICA EAST ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Freshman setter Emma Patlovich was named America East Rookie of the Week on Tuesday.
In the second day of action at the Jack Kaiser Classic (at St. John's University), Patlovich recorded 33 assists against both St. John's and Sacramento State University for an average of 9.4 assists per set.
She finished the four-match tourney with 107 assists (7.6 per set). She also tallied 25 digs (1.79 per set) with a personal best of eight vs. UConn.

UNH vs. WISCONSIN-GREEN BAY

Friday afternoon's match will be the first between New Hampshire and Wisconsin-Green Bay.
The Phoenix take a 3-0 record to Michigan following the Eastern Illinois Classic, where they defeated the host team and Bradley in straight sets and were 3-1 victors vs. Memphis.
Lydia DeWeese was honored as the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week. She averaged 3.7 kills/set on a .423 hitting percentage and also had nine blocks.
Wisconsin-Green Bay Volleyball

UNH vs. MICHIGAN

New Hampshire has an 0-1 lifetime record against Michigan.
The previous meeting was Sept. 16, 2006; the Wolverines won in straight sets (30-22, 30-15, 30-18).
No. 19 Michigan enters the weekend with a 2-1 record; UM sandwiched straight-set wins against Albany and Loyola Marymount around a 3-1 loss at Southern Cal.
Michigan Game Notes

UNH vs. BUTLER

UNH and Butler will meet for the first time Saturday evening.
The Bulldogs went 3-1 in last weekend's home tournament with wins against Stony Brook (3-0), Oakland (3-2) and Robert Morris (3-2) followed by a loss to Eastern Michigan (3-1).
Whitney Beck and Natalie Ravenell have led the attack at 3.82 and 3.18 kills per set, respectively.
Butler Volleyball

JACK KAISER CLASSIC RECAP

New Hampshire went 1-3 at the season-opening Jack Kaiser Classic that was hosted by St. John's University on Aug. 25-26.
UNH won the season opener vs. Holy Cross in straight sets. The Wildcats then lost to UConn (3-1), St. John's (3-0) and Sacramento State (3-1).
Senior captain Courtney Bowman was named to the All-Tournament Team. In four tourney matches, she compiled 31 kills (2.21 per set), 48 digs (3.43 per set), 11 assists and five blocks.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

Sophomore Kennedi Smith recorded a career-high five service aces Aug. 26 vs. St. John's. It marked the highest total by a Wildcat since 2012, when current assistant coach Morgan Thatcher also had five against Rhode Island (Aug. 31); Sam Henke equaled that number two weeks later (Sept. 11) at Bryant.
Smith tallied 14 kills and 12 digs vs. Sacramento State to record her first double-double of the season and second of her career.
Sophomore libero Logan Welti finished with a personal-best 21 digs vs. UConn and 20 digs against Sacramento State. Welti averaged 5.1 digs per set at the Jack Kaiser Classic tournament.
Senior captain Courtney Bowman recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 14 digs vs. UConn. She finished with a career-high 18 digs vs. St. John's.
Junior captain and middle blocker Gabri Olhava recorded 39 kills on the strength of a .231 hitting percentage at last weekend's tournament. She also led the team with seven blocks.
Olhava, Bowman, Welti and Emma Patlovich were the four 'Cats who played all 14 sets in the Jack Kaiser Classic.

UNH DEBUTS

Four Wildcats made their collegiate debuts in the season-opening tournament at St. John's.
Sophomore Jenny Weston played all four matches and 10 of 14 sets last weekend. In the opener against Holy Cross, she tallied 11 digs and also contributed one kill, one assist, one service ace and one block.
Hannah Stewart, another sophomore, also made her collegiate debut in the first match vs. Holy Cross; she recorded two kills on a .333 hitting percentage. She also saw action vs. St. John's and Sacramento State. Stewart has a total of eight kills with a .348 hitting percentage.
In addition to aforementioned freshman Emma Patlovich, classmate Delaney McKee saw her first action with one set played vs. Sacramento State; she was credited with one block.

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

UNH has won four consecutive America East regular-season and tournament titles and, as a result, the Wildcats have advanced to the NCAA tourney each of the past four years.
New Hampshire returns 14 letterwinners from last year's squad that finished 21-11 overall, including 10-2 in America East.
Included among the returning 'Cats are four conference award winners – Courtney Bowman (Elite 17), Gabri Olhava (Second Team), Kennedi Smith (All-Rookie Team) and Emily Tanski (First Team and All-Rookie Team).
UNH was picked atop the 2017 America East Volleyball Preseason Poll.
The 'Cats lost both the two-time Player of the Year (Demi Muses) and Setter of the Year (Keelin Severtson) to graduation last May.
UNH Volleyball

TOP 'CATS OF 2016

Sophomore hitter Emily Tanski ranked second on the team in points and points per set, kills and kills per set, and assists last; Tanski also recorded a team-high 41 service aces. Defensively, she was third in digs and digs per set as well as fourth in blocks.
Tanski recorded 11 double-doubles, which ranked second.
Junior middle blocker and captain Gabri Olhava led all Wildcats in solo blocks, assisted blocks and total blocks, and was second in hitting percentage. Furthermore, Olhava was third in points and fourth in points per set as well as both kills and kills per set.
Sophomore hitter Kennedi Smith ranked third on the team in kills and kills per set as well as points per set, service aces and blocks.
Senior captain Courtney Bowman ranked fifth on the squad in both kills and kills/set and points and points/set. She was fourth in digs and digs/set.
Hannah Petke emerged as an offensive weapon midway through her freshman year in '16 and she finished with a .235 hitting percentage that ranked third on the team.

READY TO ASSIST

The starting setter position will be inherited by either junior Mali Jereczek or freshman Emma Patlovich, both of whom were impressive in preseason.
The duo split the setting duties on Friday; Jereczek recorded 27 assists in six sets (4.5 per set) while Patlovich had 41 in seven sets (5.9/set).
Saturday was a different story. Jereczek played one set in both matches with a total of three assists, whereas Patlovich played seven sets with 66 assists.
Jereczek saw limited action last year with 13 sets played in nine matches; she averaged 3.23 assists and 1.15 digs per set.
Patlovich was a three-year captain and four-year starting setter at Lake Forest High School; as a senior, she averaged 8.7 assists per set with 80 service aces, 199 digs and 64 kills; Patlovich was named to the All-Tournament Team at the 2015 Junior Nationals.

FOUR-PEAT

UNH is the first team to win four consecutive America East tournament titles. The Wildcats have won seven titles overall, which is also an America East record.

ROARING 20's

UNH has won 20+ matches each of the past four years, and last year's 21 wins marked the highest total since the 2003 team had 23.
UNH head coach Jill Hirschinger has reached 20 wins 10 times at New Hampshire and 19 times in her 38 years overall.

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 756 career wins, 347 have been at UNH's helm.
Hirschinger has been named America East Coach of the Year six times.

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Players Mentioned

Courtney Bowman

Mali Jereczek

Delaney McKee

Demi Muses

Gabri Olhava

Emma Patlovich

Hannah Petke

Keelin Severtson

Kennedi Smith

Hannah Stewart

Emily Tanski

Logan Welti

Jenny Weston

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

University of New Hampshire Athletics