Dallas Volleyball Wins NEAC Tournament, Advances to NCAAs!

The University of Dallas Volleyball team knows how to finish strong. In their first Sunday match of the North Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament, the Crusaders overwhelmed Penn State Harrisburg in three games; 25-18, 25-11, and 25-20. UD continued their winning ways into the tournament final by blowing by SUNY-IT in dominating fashion. The scores were 25-12, 25-13, 25-23 and the win pushed their record to 19-19 on the year. The victory also gave the Dallas volleyball program the NEAC crown, and will give the team their first appearance in the NCAA tournament. 

In their first match of the pivotal day, several Crusaders made their presence known.  Junior middle blocker Celina Farrell (Corinth, TX/Lake Dallas H.S.) and freshman outside hitter Theresa Wohldmann (Florissant, MO/Nerinx Hall H.S.) both registered 13 kills.  Farrell’s 13 kills came on 18 attempts for a .667 attack percentage to along with 1 block assist and a service ace, while Wohldmann chipped in 11 digs and 2 aces.  Sophomore rightside Danielle Fuchs (St. Charles, MO/Duchesne H.S.) registered 11 kills and 3 aces, while freshman setter Rebecka Ortega (El Paso, TX/Silva Health Magnet) lead the team with 4 service aces.  Leading the squad in assists was freshman setter Amanda Kitten (Slaton, TX/Lubbock-Cooper) who recorded 37.

In the afternoon’s second match and championship victory over SUNY-IT, UD rolled behind a balanced offensive and defensive attack.  Farrell led the team in kills with 11, and registered an outstanding attack percentage once again with a .562 clip.  Fuchs and sophomore middle blocker Liz Baska (Tonganoxie, KS/Tonganoxie H.S.) finished the match with identical lines, as they each recorded 7 kills to go along with a team leading 2 aces.  Kitten provided UD with 29 assists and Dallas cruised to the victory.

During the three day NEAC Tournament Dallas dominated their opponents.  In all matches Dallas rolled in four games or less.  In the first two matches of the tournament, UD won the affairs 3-1 before winning the final three games in three sets.  The team finished with a 15-2 game record during the tournament, currently have an eight match winning streak, and wrapped up the regular season with a 19-19 record.

Live Video Available

In partnership with College TV Ticket (CTVT), the University of Dallas is launching their live video plan starting with the October 20th volleyball match at the Maher Center. To watch the game please go to the College TV Ticket website at: http://www.collegetvticket.com. Since it is our first game, please be patient with any problems you may encounter. If we do experience technical difficulties during the match, you can still view the video on the website upon the completion of the contest.

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Coming off a 16-16 2008 season that featured two five game winning streaks, the UD volleyball team has their sights set on a breakthrough season in 2009. The Lady Crusaders return five letter winners from last year’s squad including the team MVP while losing only two starters. Among those returning are 2008 AD3I first team selections, libero Kelli Fuentes (Garland, TX/Rowlett H.S.) and middle blocker Celina Farrell (Corinth, TX/Lake Dallas H.S.). The two juniors and AD3I honorees, and senior outside hitter Cortney Anderson (San Antonio, TX/Antonian H.S.) represent the lone upperclassmen on the young squad. Fuentes and Anderson also serve as the captains and possess great leadership skills that will only benefit the freshman and sophomores. Beside head coach Rachel Hanson, who will be at the helm for her fourth year, UD will also receive guidance from the experienced hand of new assistant coach Dr. Bob Howard, the author of “An Understanding of the Fundamental Techniques of Volleyball.”

This year’s team will be joined by freshman setter Rebecka Ortega (El Paso, TX/Silva Health Magnet) defensive specialist Emily Glick (Dallas, TX/North Hills Prep), outside hitter Emily Urquidi (El Paso, TX/Eastwood H.S.), outside hitter Theresa Wohldmann (Florissant, MO/Nerinx Hall H.S.), and setter Amanda Kitten (Slaton, TX/Lubbock-Cooper H.S.). The Lady Crusaders open the first of 33 games on Tuesday, September 1st, at 6:00pm in Georgetown, TX against Southwestern University. UD will play their inaugural home game on October 20th at 7:00pm when they host Southwestern Assemblies of God University. Dallas will be competing in the North Eastern Athletic Conference this season and have a chance at post season play depending on the performance at the NEAC Conference Championships that starts in early November.

More details and Dallas Volleyball match stories can be found at Volleyball News, along with stats and scores at <a href='http://resource.udallas.edu/132schedule'?Year=T">Schedule & Results

Celina Farrell, Soph. (Corinth, TX/Lake Dallas H.S.): 9/1-9/7
Celina Farrell, Soph. (Corinth, TX/Lake Dallas H.S.): 9/8-9/14
Kelli Fuentes, Soph. (Garland, TX/Rowlett H.S.): 9/15-9/21
Scarlet Walls, Sr. (Garland, TX/Rowlett H.S.): 9/22-9/28
Kelli Fuentes, Soph. (Garland, TX/Rowlett H.S.): 10/13-10/19
Kelli Fuentes, Soph. (Garland, TX/Rowlett H.S.): 10/27-11/2

The University of Dallas is a charter member of the Association of Division III Independents. Please click on the heading below to check out all the latest information.

http://www.udallas.edu/athletics/volleyball/resources/CampInfowMailer.pdf

Want to become a Crusader? Fill out the Athletics Questionnaire, or Email the coaches.

Volleyball began as a varsity sport in 1974, coached by Paul Swegler. Currently, the team competes at the NCAA Division III level as an independent, and has had winning seasons 7 out of the last 10 years.

In recent years the team has traveled to California, Florida, Colorado, Tennessee, Maine, Ohio, Virginia and Illinois for matches against other NCAA Division III schools. This year the team will travel to Minnesota and Arkansas. In addition, the team hosts the University of Dallas Volleyball Festival in early September each season. Home matches are played on campus in the Maher Center.