Regular-Season Finale is Nov. 9 at Albany

Friday, November 9 • 7 pm • University Gym • Albany, N.Y.
UNH (12-13, 8-3 AE) at Albany (14-9, 8-2 AE) • Video • Stats

DEVELOPING THE PLAYOFF PICTURE

UNH has secured one of the three America East Championship tournament berths. Stony Brook will be the tourney's top seed and host. Albany has also clinched a berth.
The winner of Friday's UNH at Albany match will be the No. 2 seed. The other team will be the No. 3 seed. Therefore, regardless of this week's result, these two teams will meet again in next week's semifinal.

THREE 'CATS HONORED BY AMERICA EAST

All three award winners from last week repeated this week, as Kennedi Smith, Emily Tanski, and Emma Patlovich were honored by America East as Player of the Week, Defensive Specialist of the Week, and Setter of the Week, respectively. The announcement was made this past Tuesday.
This is the fifth career Player of the Week award, including three this season, for Smith. Tanski was honored for the third consecutive week and has received this award a conference-high six times this season. This is the second time Patlovich has been named Setter of the Week.
Smith averaged 3.67 kills per set last week on a .351 hitting percentage. In addition, she had averaged 2.0 digs per set with three blocks and two services aces. Smith recorded a double-double in Friday's match against Binghamton (18k, 10d).
Patlovich averaged 11.4 assists last weekend to lead UNH to a .299 hitting percentage; she also had nine digs and three blocks. Patlovich recorded a career-high 65 assists in the four-set win against Binghamton.
Tanski averaged 6.44 digs per set and had her fourth match of the season of 30+ digs with 31 vs. Binghamton. Also that night, she recorded her 1,000^th career dig.

UNH vs. ALBANY

New Hampshire has a 21-22 lifetime record against the Great Danes.

The Wildcats were defeated 3-2 by Albany at Lundholm Gym on Oct. 14. The set scores were 25-23, 19-25, 25-15, 26-28, 18-16 • Recap • Box
- Maddie Wiedenfeld recorded a match-high 20 kills on 47 attacks, leading to a .298 hitting percentage. Molly Wotton had a career high 14 kills and a .343 hitting percentage.
- Albany jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first set and led by as many as eight points (15-7) before UNH rallied to tie the score at 23; a pair of Wildcat errors gave the visitors the first set.
- In Set 2, the 'Cats led 16-14 went on a 5-0 run to build a seven-point cushion.
- Albany raced out to a 6-0 lead in Set 3. UNH closed within two points, 14-12, but the visitors responded with a 6-1 run to build a 20-13 advantage.
- Set 4 went back and forth with 19 ties and five lead changes. UNH fended off two match points at 24-22 to rally for a 28-26 win that extended the match.
- In Set 5, UNH won three consecutive points to take a 14-13 lead and had another match point at 16-15, but Albany won the next three points to take the set and the match.
In the most recent meeting at University Gym (Sept. 29, 2017), UNH overcame a 2-0 deficit to win in five sets. The set scores were 14-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-18, 15-9.

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THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE • schedule • stats • news • roster

UNH enters Friday's matchup with a 12-13 overall record that includes 8-3 in America East and 6-4 on the road (4-1 in conference road matches).
The Wildcats went 2-1 on its three-match road swing.
New Hampshire is 4-1 the past five matches, and is on a three game winning streak.
The Wildcats are one year removed from a stretch of four consecutive America East regular-season and tournament titles – as well as four straight NCAA tourney appearances. Head coach Jill Hirschinger, a six-time America East Coach of the Year, looks to lead the Wildcats back to the top in 2018.
UNH was picked second in the 2018 America East Volleyball Preseason Poll.

TOP 10 LISTS

Emily Tanski became the 11^th UNH Wildcat to record 1,000 career digs during her 31-dig effort Nov. 2. Tanski enters the regular-season finale 10th on the program's career leaderboard with 1,037 digs. Next on the list are Kim Mirts-Poen (1,040), Tori Forest (1,054) and Sara Heldman (1,067).
Tanski has 521 digs this season, which ranks fifth on UNH's list of single-season superlatives. Alyse Lahti is No. 4 with 540 and Madison Lightfoot is No. 3 with 546. The benchmark of 560 is shared by Lightfoot and Jessie Schnepp.
Emma Patlovich enters Friday night's match with 1,473 career assists, which is No. 8 on the program's all-time list. No. 7 on the list is Erin Ludwig (1,599).

WHAT JUST HAPPENED

Last weekend, New Hampshire defeated Binghamton and UMBC in the final two home matches of 2018. The Binghamton set scores were 25-12, 25-20, 30-32, 25-16. • Recap • Box
- Kennedi Smith recorded a match-high 18 kills, while Emma Patlovich tallied a career high 65 assists to become the first Wildcat since Keelin Severtson in 2015 with a 60+ assists game, and the first Wildcat since Kate Uitti in 2007 with 65+ assists.
The UMBC set scores were 17-25, 25-23, 25-15, 25-13, 15-9. • Recap • Box
- Smith (15 kills, two blocks, one ace), Gabri Olhava (nine kills, six blocks) and Emma Tupa (10 kills) led the 'Cat attack.
- Patlovich recorded 38 assists to direct UNH's offense while Emily Tanski had 27 digs.

OCTOBER RECAP

New Hampshire went 4-2 in October with a breakdown of 0-1 at home and 4-1 on the road. UNH recorded a .215 team hitting percentage in comparison to the opponent's .176.
Kennedi Smith killed it last month with 84 kills (3.82/set) on a .260 hitting percentage. She also averaged 3.82 digs per set.
Gabri Olhava followed with 71 kills (3.23/set) with a .267 hitting percentage.
Hannah Petke averaged 2.61 kills per set and hit at a .263 clip.
Emma Patlovich was the one setting them up to an average of 10.6 assists per set.
Emily Tanski amassed 134 digs for an average of 6.09 per set.

SET-BY-SET BREAKDOWN

UNH has a 5-2 record in three-set matches, 4-9 in four-set matches and 3-2 in five-set matches.
UNH has won Set 1 in 13 of 25 matches and has the edge in Set 3 (14-11). Opponents have won Set 2 in 14 of 25 matches and have a 10-8 edge in Set 4. The Wildcats hold a 3-2 lead in Set 5.

DOUBLING UP

Kennedi Smith recorded her team-leading 12^th double-double of the season with 18 kills and 10 digs against Binghamton. (Nov. 2). Five of those double-doubles were in conference play.
Smith has more double-doubles than the rest of her teammates combined.
Emma Patlovich recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 51 assists and 14 digs at Stony Brook (Oct. 26); her previous double-double was Sept. 14 vs. Princeton (37 assists, 10 digs).
Hannah Petke has recorded two double-doubles. She finished with 11 kills and 11 digs at UConn (Aug. 31), and tallied 10 kills with 10 digs vs. Stony Brook (Sept. 30).
Mali Jereczek recorded her only double-double of the year vs. Stony Brook (Sept. 30) with 34 assists and 10 digs.

PUT ME IN, COACH

Three Wildcats enter the weekend having played all 98 sets this season – Gabri Olhava, Emily Tanski and Logan Welti.
Kennedi Smith played in 97 of 98 sets and Maddie Wiedenfeld has seen action in 95 of 98. Emma Patlovich has played in 93 of 98.
Those are the six players who have played all 25 matches.

'CATS ON THE ATTACK

Gabri Olhava, a second-year captain, leads UNH in kills (311), kills/set (3.17), hitting percentage (.283), points (359), points/set (3.66), blocks (69) and blocks/set (0.70).
Kennedi Smith has climbed to second in kills (262) with an average of 2.70 kills per set; she has a team-high 846 attacks. Smith is also second in digs (304) and digs/set (3.13), as well as points (296) and points/set (3.06).
Maddie Wiedenfeld ranks second in blocks (57) and blocks/set (0.60), as well as third in kills (239) and kills/set (2.52), and points (270) and points/set (2.84).

READY TO ASSIST

Emma Patlovich was UNH's primary setter through 17 matches, then split time with Mali Jereczek the weekend of Oct. 5-7. In that weekend, Patlovich tallied 49 assists for an average of 7.00 per set while Jereczek had 29 assists for an average of 4.14 per set.
Patlovich has been the primary setter the past six matches. She recorded a career-high 65 assists in last Friday's 3-1 win against Binghamton and directed UNH to a .299 hitting percentage, the second-best of the year.
With Jereczek sidelined the Oct. 14 match against Albany, Patlovich tallied 58 assists, which at that time was a personal best; her previous high was 49 vs. Iona College earlier this year.
For the season, Patlovich has a team-high 914 assists for an average of 9.83 per set. She is also tied for second on the squad in service aces with 23.
Patlovich has recorded 40+ assists 11 times, including three of the last four matches as well as a stretch of five consecutive matches spanning Sept. 1-8. That streak began with 49 vs. Iona (Sept. 1). She followed that with 47 at Bryant, 43 against both URI and Yale, and 42 vs. Army.
Jereczek recorded a season-high 34 assists Sept. 30 against Stony Brook. She has 132 assists (3.22 per set).

MAKING A DEFENSIVE STAND

Emily Tanski, a junior who was All-Conference First Team in 2016, has transitioned from the front line to the back row this season and has become the Wildcats' primary libero.
Tanski has been named America East Defensive Specialist of the Week six times this year, including each of the first two weeks and the past three weeks.
She has amassed 521 digs –217 more than the closest teammate (Kennedi Smith, 304) – for an average of 5.32 digs per set.

SERVING IT UP

Logan Welti is UNH's leader with 28 service aces. Emily Tanski and Emma Patlovich are next with 23 apiece.
Welti has recorded multiple aces in a match eight times, including a high of four vs. Iona College (Sept. 1).
Tanski established a season high of three aces vs. UMass Lowell (Sept. 21) and matched that Oct. 14 against Albany.

CONFERENCE CALL

New Hampshire is atop the America East leaderboard in both service aces (1.29 per set) and digs (16.74 per set); the Wildcats also rank second in kills (12.88/set) and assists (12.18/set). Also of note, the 'Cats are third in hitting percentage (.191).
Gabri Olhava is No. 4 in kills/set (3.17), hitting percentage (.283), and points/set (3.66/set).
Emily Tanski leads the conference in digs per set (5.32) and is ninth in aces per set (0.23).
Logan Welti is fourth in aces per set (0.29).
Emma Patlovich is No. 4 in assists per set (9.83) and is No. 6 in aces/set (0.25).
Kennedi Smith is No. 8 in digs/set (3.13), No. 9 in points/set (3.06) and 10^th in kills/set (2.70).
Maddie Wiedenfeld is No. 10 in hitting percentage (.234).

CONFERENCE PLAY

In 11 America East matches, Gabri Olhava is averaging 3.27 kills per set on a .284 hitting percentage, as well as 0.88 blocks/set.
Kennedi Smith (3.24 kills/set), Hannah Petke (2.68 kills/set) and Maddie Wiedenfeld (2.10 kills/set) have been the other top threats on attack.
Emma Patlovich is averaging 10.5 assists per set in 37 sets.
Emily Tanski is averaging a team-high 5.44 digs per set. She is followed by Smith (3.20).

HIRSCHINGER'S HISTORY

Jill Hirschinger began her UNH tenure in the 1996 season. She has amassed a 371-326 record with 10 seasons of 20+ wins.
Hirschinger has been named America East Coach of the Year six times.

SCOUTING ALBANY • website

The University at Albany (Albany, N.Y.) has a 14-9 overall record and is 8-2 in America East conference games with a 4-1 record at home.
The Great Danes' six-match win streak ended last Sunday with a 3-0 home loss to Stony Brook.
The Great Danes are averaging 11.9 kills per set, 11.1 assists per set and 15.9 digs per set, while opponents are averaging 12.6 kills per set, 11.8 assists per set and 14.9 digs per set.
Akuabata Okenwa is leading Albany with 246 kills and 296.5 points. Chloe Evering has 183 kills with 196.5 points and Grace Cozad has 181 kills and 207.5 points.
Courtney O'Connell leads the Great Danes with 0.92 blocks per set followed by Danielle Tedesco at 0.84 blocks per set and Okenwa at 0.73 blocks per set.
Nicole Otero has 421 total digs with an average of 5.07 per set. Charlotte Macken and Anna Chalupa are the next top dig producers with 200 and 140, respectively.

2018 AMERICA EAST AWARDS

Gabri Olhava: Player of the Week (Sept. 11 … Oct. 23)
Emma Patlovich – Setter of the Week (Oct. 30 … Nov. 6)
Kennedi Smith: Player of the Week (Oct. 9 … Oct. 30 … Nov. 6)
Emily Tanski: Def. Specialist of the Week (Aug. 28 … Sept. 5 … Oct. 9 … Oct. 23 … Oct. 30 … Nov. 6)
Maddie Wiedenfeld: Rookie of the Week (Sept. 5 … Sept. 11 … Sept. 25)

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Mali Jereczek

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