NCAA Volleyball: American at Army Patriot League Championship
November 22, 2009: Volleyball game action at the Patriot League Volleyball Campionship Finals at Gillis Field House in West Point, NY. The Army Black Knights defeated the defending champion American University Eagles 3-0, securing the program’s first-ever bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Mandatory Photo Credit: Alex Cena / Southcreek Global
NCAA Volleyball: Patriot League Championship Semi-Finals
21 November 2009: Volleyball action at the Patriot League Volleyball Championship Semi-Finals at Gillis Field House in West Point, NY. The Army Black Knights defeated Lehigh 3-0, while the American University Eagles defeated the Colgate Raiders3-0.
Photo Credit: Alex Cena / Southcreek Global
To license these and other images for editorial use, please go to Southcreek Global
10-31 NCAA Volleyball: Holy Cross at Army
Photos by: Alex Cena / Southcreek Global
To license these and other images please go to www.southcreekglobal.com
From Army Press Release on October 31, 2009:
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Freshman OH Ariana Mankus led all players with 15 kills, while junior MB Amanda Rowell and freshman RS Francine Vasquez also landed double-figure kill numbers, as the Army volleyball team extended its win streak to 14 matches with a 3-0 sweep of Holy Cross on Halloween at Gillis Field House.
Truly tested in the second of a three-set affair, the Black Knights won by 25-12, 25-22, 25-16 scores and improved to 22-3 overall and 10-0 in the Patriot League. Vasquez finished with a double-double (10 kills, 11 digs) for a third match in a row, while Rowell led all players with a .526 hitting percentage. Mankus hit .364 and Vasquez managed a .318 mark to compliment a team-high two solo blocks. Senior SMalissa Gallini and junior S Karyn Powell finished with 22 and 18 assists, respectively.
“I was really proud of the way this team came out and played tonight,” said third-year head coach Alma Kovaci. “They played with a great sense of urgency in the second set against a very much improved Holy Cross team, so give them credit.
“We’re still a little banged up, but I was extremely proud of the way that Malissa (Gallini) and Karyn (Powell) stepped it up tonight. They did a great job of mixing up the offense when we needed to.
Army scored 10 of the first 14 points of the match, as three-straight Holy Cross errors put the Black Knights ahead by a 10-4 score at a Crusader timeout. The Black Knights continued to roll, enjoying at least a seven-point cushion. Back-to-back kills from Holy Cross’ Megan Lynch made it 18-11, but the Black Knights proceeded to put the set away with a 7-1 run.
The second set seesawed throughout, featuring 14 ties and eight lead changes in what was easily the most competitive frame of the night. Neither team was able to enjoy more than a three-point lead and found themselves tied at 22-all on a Mankus kill. Her stinger started a run of three-straight kills for the Black Knights, including one from Dunn and another courtesy of Mankus, to give Gallini a chance to serve for set point. A Crusader error ended the set, 25-22.
Mankus carried her momentum over from the end of the second set to produce eight (zero errors) of her 15 kills in a decisive third set. A Holy Cross kill pulled the Crusaders to within two (9-7) before consecutive kills for Mankus and Vasquez started a mini 5-2 run that put Army ahead 14-9. The Crusaders trimmed the deficit to three (18-15) heading down the home stretch, but Army managed to put the match away with an 8-1 run that included four Mankus kills and a pair from Vasquez.
Army, which hit for a .320 percentage on the night, improved its mark each set. The match culminated in a stellar .514 percentage in a third set that saw 21 kills and just two errors in 37 Black Knight attempts.
Freshman OH Megan Lynch led Holy Cross with 12 kills, while junior S Chelsey O’Donnell finished with 20 assists. Army’s defense held the Crusaders to a .066 hitting percentage, helped by junior L Brittany Jensen and sophomore DS Liberty McEnteewith 10 digs apiece.
“No matter what the record says, we’re still improving and need a lot of work,” Kovaci added. “We’ll get back in the gym this week and get ready for a very tough weekend at Navy (Friday) and American (Saturday).”
The Black Knights visit Annapolis, Md., first for a 7 p.m. match at service-academy rival Navy on Friday. Army then travels to the nation’s capitol for a 4 p.m. match against defending Patriot League champion American on Saturday.
Match Notes: The match lasted 1:17 in its entirety … several children in attendance dressed in Halloween attire for the event … Army remains the only undefeated team in the Patriot League (9-0) and sits firmly alone atop the league standings … in other conference action this weekend, Colgate (8-2) became the second team to clinch a Patriot League Tournament berth with a sweep of Bucknell (4-6) on Friday night … Lehigh (5-5) edged rival Lafayette (3-7) and American (7-3) swept Navy (1-9) … Army has a chance to clinch home court advantage for the 2009 Patriot League Tournament with two wins next weekend.
NJSIAA: Jonathan Dayton at Kent Place Volleyball
Summit, NJ: Jonathan Dayton at Kent Place School girls varsity volleyball.
Soccer Goalkeeper Training with Dan Gaspar
Net Edge Training, LLC works to bring you the best and most current practices in Goalkeeper training. Their courses are designed to address challenges keepers are facing in today’s game and focus on training that is not readily available in other programs. In addition, they always keep their coach-to-athlete ratio low to insure individual attention.
World-renowned Goalkeeper Coach Dan Gaspar, who is an accomplished professional with 25 years experience, will be doing the opening session of Net Edge Training, LLC’s winter training programs. Don’t miss a chance to train with Dan!
NJSIAA State Tournament Brackets – Volleyball
2008 Girls Volleyball Brackets
Tournament of Champions
Union Catholic @ Kent Place Volleyball
Summit, NJ, USA; 16 October 2008 Thursday: Union Catholic High School @ Kent Place Volleyball. The
Union Catholic Vikings defeated the Kent Place Dragons 25-13, 25-18.
CLICK HERE to view the photos from the game.
Volleyball: Profile on Marika Racibarskas
Chatham, NJ (Anthony Caruso III for www.njsi.net): Marika Racibarskas, a Senior Chatham Volleyball player, recently took time to do an interview with njsi.net. Her Q & A feature interview is about her playing career.
Gill St. Bernard’s @ Kent Place Soccer
Summit, NJ, Wednesday 24 September 2008: Christina Doherty (#10) and Amanda Rhodes (#10) of Kent Place School each scored near the end of the game, while goalkeeper Alisson Beeman blocked four shots to shut out the Lady Knights of Gill St. Bernard’s 2-0 in a girls varsity soccer game.
CLICK HERE to see all the images from the game.
Women’s Final @ 2008 AVP Crocs Tour – Belmar
Annett Davis (Valencia, Calif.) and Jenny Johnson Jordan (Tarzana, Calif.) (1) def. Carrie Dodd (El Segundo, Calif.) and Tatiana Minello (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) (2) 15-21, 21-18, 15-10 (74 minutes)
Belmar, NJ – (Writen by Louis Rossi for NJSI.net/Photos by Alex Cena) The #1 Seed of Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan would have to come from behind and win two straight in order to receive their first title of the 2008 AVP Crocs Tour season this past Saturday at the AVP Crocs Tour in Belmar NJ. The tour’s final round in the women’s competition was a hard fought three-set win over 2nd-seeds Carrie Dodd and Tatiana Minello.
2008 AVP Crocs Tour Belmar – Men’s & Women’s Final
Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan win First Title this Season at the
2008 AVP Crocs Tour Belmar presented by Bud Light. Photo by Alex Cena
Top-seeds Matt Olson and Kevin Wong win their First Title as a Team;
Tour Next Heads to Boulder. Photo by Alex Cena
BELMAR, N.J. (June 22, 2008, From Press Release) – Top seeds Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan won their first title of the 2008 AVP Crocs Tour season at this weekend’s AVP Crocs Tour Belmar presented by Bud Light with a hard fought three-set win over 2nd-seeds Carrie Dodd and Tatiana Minello. After dropping the first game in the final, Davis and Johnson Jordan bounced back to take down Dodd and Minello 15-21, 21-18, 15-10
AVP Crocs Tour at Belmar, NJ
Belmar, NJ, USA; 20 June 2008 Friday: Over the next three days there is some great volleyball action to be seen during the 2008 Association of Volleyball Professionals Crocs Tour held at Belmar Beach in Belmar, NJ. The main draw competition will be held all day on Friday and Saturday from 9:00a.m. to 6:00 p.m. as well as Sunday June 22nd from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30p.m. The men’s final will be held on Sunday June 22nd at 2:30 p.m. and the women’s final will immediately follow at 4:00 p.m. This is a great way to enjoy the fast action of beach volleyball and the best of the Jersey Shore.
Spring 2008 Tournament Brackets
Boys Tennis
Tournament of Champions
Non-Public Group Finals | Public Group Finals
North I, Group I | North I, Group II | North I, Group III | North I, Group IV
North II, Group I | North II, Group II | North II, Group III | North II, Group IV
Central, Group 1 | Central, Group II | Central, Group III | Central, Group IV
South, Group I | South, Group II | South, Group III | South, Group IV
North A | North B | South A | South
Softball
Non-Public Finals | Public Semis/Finals
North A | North B | South A | South B
North I, Group I | North I, Group II | North I, Group III | North I, Group IV
North II, Group I | North II, Group II | North II, Group III | North II, Group IV
Central, Group I | Central, Group II | Central, Group III | Central, Group IV
South, Group I | South, Group II | South, Group III | South, Group IV
Baseball
Non-Public Finals | Public Semis/Finals
Non-Public North A | Non-Public, North B | Non-Public, South A | Non-Public, South B
North I, Group I | North I, Group II | North I, Group III | North I, Group IV
North II, Group I | North II, Group II | North II, Group III | North II, Group IV
Central, Group I | Central, Group II | Central, Group III | Central, Group IV
South, Group I | South, Group II | South, Group III | South, Group IV
Non-Public Finals | Public Semis/Finals
Girls Lacrosse
Tournament of Champions
Group Finals
North I | North II | North III | North IV
South I | South II | South III | South, Group IV
Boys Lacrosse
Tournament of Champions
Group III | Group IV | Public, Group I | Public, Group II
Non-Public A | Non-Public B
Stuff it Volleyball
Flemington, NJ, USA – We recently did a photo shoot for an apparel company called Stuff it, which specializes in volleyball shorts. The company was created to provide players with a fun and stylish compression short for use during practice. But that’s only a small part of the story. Stuff it shorts combines the most up to date sports technology in design and fabric to create apparel that has exceptional fit and comfort for the athlete. From the response they have received thus far, you are likely to hear more about these guys in the near future.
With over 30 years experience in competitive and technical sportswear their designers should continue to find new and innovative ways to bring all these elements together to make clothing that is intensely fun.
Wacholder and Gibb Take Top Prize in Trenton
Trenton, NJ - 200 tons of sand were trucked into the Sovereigh Bank Arena recently for a little beach party above the ice. AVP’s Hot Winter Night’s Tour came to the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton on January 31, 2008 for some California style beach volleyball, featuring Jake Gibb, Stein Metzger, Sean Rosenhal and Sean Scott inn the men’s games, while the women’s featured Rachel Wacholder, Tyra Turner, Barbra Fontana and Jennifer Boss. Rachel Wacholder and Jake Gibbs each walked away from the evening $4,250 by winning the round robin tournament.
CLICK HERE to view photos from the tournament or just enjoy those below
Photos by Alex Cena
AVP Women’s Beach Volleyball Coming to Trenton…in January!
Trenton, NJ-(Anthony Lawrence Caruso, III for NJSI) Tyra Turner, Rachel Wacholder, and Barbara Fontana have all won at least once on the Association of Volleyball Professionals’ AVP Hot Winter Nights Tour. Wacholder won the second and third events. Turner would win the 5th event, while Fontana won the 7th event. Also, Turner, Wacholder, and Fontana have a second place finish.
Wacholder currently has won $16,750 on the Winter tour in 5 appearances. Turner has won $10,500 on the Winter tour in 3 appearances. Fontana has won $7,750 on the Winter tour in 2 appearances.
“I don’t know if winning gives me an advantage,” said Turner. “But I definitely think just experiencing playing indoors without the conditions, because there’s a lot of experienced players who use the heat and use the wind to their advantage.
“So, this is definitely a different game, it evens out the playing field. I think everyone is at a little bit of a disadvantage because you’re not playing with your normal partner so you have to work on being flexible.”
Wacholder won the most events on the women’s event so far. Wacholder won the events in St. Louis, Missouri and Kansas City, Missouri, the second and third events on the Winter tour. Turner won the event in Madison, Wisconsin. And Fontana won her event in Minneapolis.
“I won an event in Wisconsin, so for me winning in the winter is preparation for the season.” said Turner. “It’s not as much pressure as the outdoor tournament because you don’t have to deal with the conditions of beach volleyball, whether it the wind, the heat, the dehydration so for myself that took away some things I usually have to worry about kind of out of the way so that’s nice.
“So, it’s warm inside and I’m not battling the conditions and also getting to play with different athletes. It’s a little easier to focus on yourself, per sé. It’s nice to be successful in what we usually consider the off-season.”
AVP Men’s Volleyball-Preparing for Beijing Olympics
Trenton, NJ (Anthony Lawrence Caruso, III for NJSI) – The Association of Volleyball Professionals AVP men’s volleyball players are using the Hot Winter Nights Tour to prepare for the beach volleyball event coming up this summer in the Beijing Olympics. Only two teams are going to be able to appear in the beach volleyball event in the Beijing Olympics from the AVP tour. Stein Metzger previously finished fifth in his Olympic debut, in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.
“It was a great experience,” said Metzger. “Appearing in the Olympics was a memorable experience that I will never forget. I finished 5th in Athens and I am hoping I could get back to the Olympics this summer.”
Metzger and his partner Mike Lambert are one of the team’s competing for one of the two slots in the beach volleyball event at the Beijing Olympics. Jake Gibb and his partner Sean Rosenthal are another team competing for the open spots.
“The best players in the world play on the AVP Tour,” said Gibb. “So, it’s good practice and a big goal for us.”
Shooting Sports Indoors
As the indoor sports season approaches, I thought I would opine on how to simulate arena lighting inside typically dark high school venues. Many people take their fancy DSLR cameras to basketball and ice hockey games thinking they will get great images of their favorite athlete, but all they get are blurry images full of digital noise similar to grain we used to get when we were shooting mostly film. You can spend a lot of money on the fastest lenses and the fanciest camera bodies, but your images still will not come close to rivalling those shot with some artifical light. Save your money. You do not need that 200/2.0 lens. What you need are some strobes.
My suggestions are applicable to basketball, wrestling, track, ice hockey, swimming and other indoor events in dark locations. I will talk about my strategy using Dynalite strobes and packs, but they are certainly applicable if you plan to use monolights from White Lightning, Dynalite, Speedotron, Elinchrom, Profoto and others as well as camera flash units with sync such as the QFlash, SB-800 or 580-EXII. Done right, you can capture images like those below.
If you want to know how it’s done, continue to the rest of the article:
Immaculate Heart vs Hunterdon Central – TOC Finals
Wayne, NJ – Immaculate Heart Academy defeated Hunterdon Central in two very close games 26-24, 25-23 during the NJSIAA Girls Volleyball Tournament of Champions held at William Patterson University’s Recreation Center on November 18, 2007.
Click Here to view some of the pictures from the game or CLICK HERE to view the pictures from the group finals.
Photo by Eugene Parciasepe, Jr for NJSI.net
Chatham vs NV Demarest – Volleyball Group Final
Wayne, NJ – In a big upset, the Lady Cougars of Chatham defeated the Lady Norsemen of Northern Valley Demarest 11-25, 25-19, 25-22 during the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Girls Volleyball Tournament Group II Finals held at William Patterson University’s Recreational Center in Wayne New Jersey.
CLICK HERE to View all the Photos from the game
You can also view the video below brought to you by our Friends at Morris County High School Sports
North Hunterdon vs Hunterdon Central-Volleyball Group Final
Wayne, NJ – In a very close game that could have gone either way down to the last serve, Hunterdon Central coached by Mandy Rodriguez, T. Lang and D. Macionis defeated North Hunterdon 25-19, 24-26, 25-3. During the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Girls Volleyball Tournament Group IV Finals held at William Patterson University’s Recreational Center in Wayne New Jersey. The Hunterdon Red Devils had a big day With #14 Amanda Ailes and #12 Kelly Edwards with 12 kills each. #6 Brittney Gajewski had 16 digs, while teammates #2 Stephanie Lavallato and #7 Shakeela Faulkner had 15 a piece. It was a team effortt, however: #5 Cara Tripp had one block, 4 digs, 5 kills and aced a serve; #20 Leanne DeRose had 7 digs and one kill; #4 Elizabeth Previte had 7 digs and aced 2 serves.
CLICK HERE to view all the pictures from the game.
Immaculate Heart vs Holy Angels-Volleyball Group Final
Wayne, NJ – Immaculate Heart Academy defeated Academy of Holy Angels during the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Girls Volleyball Tournament Non-Public Group Finals held at William Patterson University’s Recreational Center in Wayne New Jersey.
CLICK HERE to view all the pictures from the game
Mendham vs Fair Lawn-Volleyall Group Final
Wayne, NJ – Fair Lawn defeated West Morris Mendham during the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Girls Volleyball Tournament Group III Finals held at William Patterson University’s Recreational Center in Wayne New Jersey.
CLICK HERE to view all the images from the game
