Last home games for volleyball season

By Mike Petty
Collegian Staff
November 8, 2006

This past week featured the final two home games of the La Salle volleyball season and the careers of the team’s two seniors, Caitlin Conner and Carolyn Judge.

Junior Stephanie Owen gets ready to go up and make a play on the ball - Mike Dao

The week opened on Tuesday with the Explorers’ final non-conference match of the season at the Tom Gola Arena against the Lehigh Mountainhawks.

Lehigh came in with a dismal 0-25 record, and the Explorers certainly did not want to give the Mountainhawks their first win of the season.

The Explorers breezed through the first two games of the match, 30-25 and 30-20. The wins were keyed by the strong play of junior Erin Sullivan.

However, the third game told a much different story, as La Salle struggled to find a rhythm and appeared shaky throughout. They dropped the game to Lehigh, 30-28.

La Salle looked to rebound in the fourth game, and not only did they rebound, they downright dominated. The combination of Sullivan and freshman Danielle DiMarco led the Explorers to a 30-20 game four win and the overall victory for the match.

Sullivan led the team with 17 kills, and DiMarco also contributed a solid 13 of her own. Judge led the match with 19 digs, and Conner led with 48 assists. The Explorers hoped to use their ninth win of the season to propel them into their next match.

The final home match of the season saw the Explorers take on Broad Street and Atlantic 10 rival Temple.

Anyone who walked in after player introductions may have been confused, possibly thinking the Explorers were playing the Chinese national team. Temple came out strong and took it to La Salle, winning the first game handedly, 30-15.

The Explorers played like a totally different team in the next game, leading most of the way. An explosive Temple comeback left the Explorers on the bad end of a 30-24 final score.

The third game featured another inspired effort by La Salle, but Temple pulled away and won the game and match, 30-19.

La Salle was led by junior Brittany Hanley, who finished with nine kills and an impressive .364 hitting percentage. In their final home game in the blue and gold, Judge finished with 16 digs and Conner had 26 assists.

The Explorers will finish their season this week with road matches against George Washington and Charlotte.

pettym1@lasalle.edu