13th Holly Young Invitational Kicks Off Sept. 5 vs. Seattle

UNH VOLLEYBALL
13^th Holly Young Invitational
Sept. 5-7 • Lundholm Gym • Durham, N.H.

BUY TICKETS

Thursday, Sept. 5
UNH vs. Seattle , 7 pm • Video • Stats
Friday, Sept. 6
Brown vs. Seattle, 4:30 pm • Stats
UNH vs. Holy Cross, 7 pm • Video • Stats
Saturday, Sept. 7
Seattle vs. Holy Cross, 10 am • Stats
UNH vs. Brown, 12:30 pm • Video • Stats
Brown vs. Holy Cross, 2:30 pm • Stats

ABOUT HOLLY YOUNG

Holly Young was a member of the UNH's volleyball team for a short time, but her impact on the program carries on. Holly passed away Jan. 24, 2008 after a courageous three-year battle with Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.
This past May, the 15^th Annual Volley 4 Holly raised close to $1,500 for the Holly Young Fund, which benefits The Jimmy Fund.

UNH vs. Seattle

Thursday's matchup will be the first between the New Hampshire and Seattle University volleyball programs.

UNH vs. Holy Cross

The Wildcats have won all 16 previous matchups against College of the Holy Cross – 12 in straight sets, including the past four.
Most recently (Aug. 26, 2017 at the Jack Kaiser Classic, St. John's University), the set scores were 28-26, 25-22, 25-18. • Recap • Box
The last time Holy Cross came to Lundholm Gym was for the 2016 Holly Young Invitational. The 'Cats prevailed 25-14, 25-22, 25-15 on the first day of action. • Recap • Box

UNH vs. Brown

UNH has an 8-10 lifetime record against Brown University but the Wildcats have won six of the past seven matchups, including each of the last three.
In the most recent matchup (Sept.19, 2014), the Wildcats prevailed in four sets (15-25, 25-17, 25-16, 26-24). • Recap • Box

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE • Home Page • Schedule • Roster • Stats

UNH has won two consecutive matches – and five straight sets – to take a 3-1 record into the Holly Young Invitational.
The Wildcats are 1-0 at home following Tuesday night's straight-set victory against Bryant University.
The 'Cats went 2-1 at last weekend's Army Invitational with wins against both Rhode Island and Iona sandwiched around the loss to Army West Point.
New Hampshire has begun a new era under new head coach Christopher Feliciano, who recorded a program-record 117 victories in his eight-year tenure at Rider University. He is joined on the sideline by assistant coach Ashley Tennant and graduate assistant Tiffany Verni.
New Hampshire returns seven players from last year's team that finished 12-15 overall and 8-4 in America East.
Included among the returning Wildcats is two-time America East All-Conference First Team selection Kennedi Smith.
UNH was picked fourth in the 2019 America East Volleyball Preseason Poll.

1,000 POINT MILESTONE

Senior outside hitter Kennedi Smith is on the verge of becoming the 17^th UNH Wildcat to record 1,000 career points. She enters Thursday night's match with 998.5.

DIGGING IT

Senior libero Emily Tanski is No. 7 on the program's all-time digs leaderboard with 1,130. Ahead of her on the list is Jillian Ross at 1,207.

WILDCATS RECEIVE CONFERENCE AWARDS

Emma Patlovich and Emily Tanski were named Setter of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, by America East on Tuesday.
Patlovich Patlovich averaged 4.55 assists per set to help lead UNH to a 2-1 record at the Army Invitational last weekend. Her other stats included 1.55 digs per set and two service aces.
Tanski Tanski averaged a team-leading 3.82 digs per set with 42 digs in 11 sets. She was also credited with eight assists, three kills and a service ace.

UNH POWERS PAST BRYANT

New Hampshire recorded a .244 hitting percentage and 11 blocks – and stymied the Bryant offense to a -.054 hitting percentage – to record a straight-set victory against the Bulldogs on Tuesday night at Lundholm Gym. Set scores: 25-19, 25-14, 25-15. • Recap • Box
Abby Sullivan recorded a career-high nine blocks.

ARMY INVITATIONAL RECAP

New Hampshire went 2-1 at the Army Invitational, which was held at Gillis Field House on Aug. 31 & Sept. 1.

In the tourney opener on Saturday morning, UNH upended Rhode Island, 3-1, behind a double-double from Kennedi Smith (15 kills, 10 digs) and eight-block effort by Abby Sullivan. • Recap • Box

On Saturday evening,, Army West Point won in straight sets. • Recap • Box
UNH responded with a 3-1 win vs. Iona College on Sunday afternoon. Sullivan recorded a career-high 15 kills on a .652 hitting percentage. • Recap • Box

THE CAPTAINS

The core group of five seniors includes captains Hannah Petke (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.), Kennedi Smith (The Woodlands, Texas) and Logan Welti (Middleton, Wis.).
Smith ranked second on the team in both kills and digs with a team-high 12 double-doubles; the outside hitter was also second in points, third in blocks and fourth in service aces. In the conference, she ranked No. 9 in kills per set (2.82) and No. 8 in digs per set (3.16).
Smith's career numbers include 998.5 points, 854 kills and 775 digs; she could become just the third Wildcat to reach the 1,000-milestone in both kills and digs.
Petke, a right side hitter and former All-Conference Second Team honoree, ranks second among returning 'Cats in kills (162) and kills per set (2.38), as well as points (182) and points per set (2.68). After missing eight consecutive matches last September, she recorded a double-double – one of her three on the season – in her return to action.
Welti played all 105 sets a year ago and was the top 'Cat in service aces with 28; that total ranked second in America East. The outside hitter/defensive specialist also ranked third in both digs (246) and digs per set (2.34). Welti enters the year with 1,000 career digs on the horizon; she is currently at 738.

SENIORS

Emily Tanski and Jenny Weston are the other two seniors.
Tanski, a 2018 All-Conference Second Team honoree in her first year as libero, finished with a team-high 566 digs and average of 5.39 digs per set, both of which were tops in America East. She also tied for second on the squad in service aces (24) and was one of three Wildcats who played all 105 sets.
Tanski enters her senior year with 1,082 career digs, which ranks seventh on UNH's leaderboard. The benchmark is 1,657.
Weston, a defensive specialist, played in 23 of 27 matches and 73 sets in '18. Her stats included 100 digs (1.37 per set) and 14 service aces.

READY TO ASSIST

Junior setter Emma Patlovich – the lone junior on the roster – has directed the 'Cat attack the past two years and was an America East All-Rookie Team selection in 2017.
Patlovich finished with nearly 1,000 assists (991) last year and ranked third in the conference in assists per set (9.91).
She also tied with Tanski for second on the team in service aces at 24, and ranked fourth in digs (199; 1.99 per set).
Patlovich played every match and 100 of 105 sets, and she tallied seven double-doubles (assists-digs).
Patlovich and freshman setter Wren Macaulay split time at the Army Invitational last weekend. Patlovich finished with 50 assists (4.55 per set) and Macaulay had 39 (3.55 per set).

ALSO RETURNING

Sophomore middle blocker Abby Sullivan appeared in 13 matched and played 25 sets as a rookie. She recorded 27 kills (1.08 per set) on a .232 hitting percentage and also had 17 blocks (0.68 per set).
Sullivan had a breakout weekend at the Army Invitational with a career-high eight blocks against URI and personal-best 15 kills (with no errors) on a .652 hitting percentage vs. Iona.

THE NEWCOMERS

Among UNH's seven newcomers is sophomore outside hitter Kate Bilyeu, who was a 2018 America East All-Rookie Team selection at UMass Lowell. She played all 26 matches at UML and led the Rivers Hawks in kills (195) and kills per set (2.19).
Holly Bentley is a setter/hitter who began training with England's national team when she was 14 years old. She has competed at the U19 NEVZA the past two years and placed fourth in '17.
Hannah Crist was named to the AAU All-America Team, Indiana All-Star Team, Academic All-State First Team, All-County First Team and All-Conference First Team as a senior middle blocker/right side hitter at Hamilton Heights High School.
Erin Hedrick was named All-State Second Team as a senior right side hitter and selected All-County First Team as both a junior and senior at Pascack Hills High School.
Katie Jablonski was an outside hitter/libero at Kaneland High School, where her accolades included All-State, conference Player of the Year, All-Conference, Daily Chronicle Volleyball Player of the Year and All-Area, and Fox Valley All-Area. She finished with more than 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
Wren Macaulay was named a high school Under Armour All-America Honorable Mention as a senior setter at Lake Orion High School. Her other accolades included All-State Second Team, All-Region and All-Conference as a junior.
Bre Smith was named All-District First Team, All-Conference First Team and All-State Academic Team as a senior middle blocker at Boonville High School. One year earlier, she broke the school blocks record at Geneseo High School.

SCOUTING SEATTLE • Home Page

Seattle University travels to Durham to play in the Holly Young Invitational with a 2-1 record.
Last weekend, the Redhawks were 3-1 victors against both Southern Miss and San Francisco before falling to Denver, 3-0, at the Mile City Classic.

Eve Kerschenbaum, the reigning WAC Offensive Player of the Week, currently leads the team in kills averaging 4.91/set and ranks second in digs with 2.73/set..
Freshman setter Ezgi Ozkan leads the team with assists averaging 10.00/set, with a total of 110 over the three games Seattle has played.
Junior libero Tijana Milojevic currently leads her team in digs averaging 3.00/set.

Ezgi Ozkan and Lauren Mccabe are tied for leading Seattle in blocks both averaging 1.18/set and followed closely by Julia Quieroz, who averages 1.09/set.

SCOUTING HOLY CROSS • Home Page

The College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, Mass.) went 0-3 at last weekend's Penn State Classic with straight-set losses to Wichita State, No. 8 Penn State and Hofstra.
The Crusaders averaged 8.7 kills per set on a .104 hitting percentage in comparison to the opponents' 15.7 kills per set with a .358 clip.
Rachel Harding (2.78 kills/set) and Gracyn Benck (1.89) led the attack with Shannon Dwyer (4.17 assists/set) and Kathleen Philo (2.75) splitting time at setter.
Sophie VanSeveren anchored the defense at 4.89 digs per set.

SCOUTING BROWN • Home Page

The Holly Young Invitational is opening weekend of the 2019 season for Brown University (Providence, R.I.).
The Bears went 11-13 overall last year with a 7-3 mark in non-conference.
Eliza Grover was All-Ivy Honorable Mention as she ranked second on the squad in kills per set (2.53). Gabrielle Moriconi was next at 2.25 kills per set.
Makena Ehlert averaged 2.84 digs and 1.76 kills per set with eight double-doubles.
Paris Winkler ranked seventh in the Ivy League at 3.79 digs per set.
Kristin Sellers was No. 5 in the league in assists per set at 7.96.
Jacqueline Jacobs averaged 1.03 blocks per set to rank sixth in the Ivy League.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Holly Bentley

Kate Bilyeu

Hannah Crist

Erin Hedrick

Katie Jablonski

Wren Macaulay

Emma Patlovich

Hannah Petke

Bre Smith

Kennedi Smith

Abby Sullivan

Emily Tanski

Logan Welti

Jenny Weston

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

University of New Hampshire Athletics