University of Connecticut Athletics
Volleyball Opens BIG EAST Play at Gampel on Friday Night
9/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 25, 2008
STORRS, Conn. - The BIG EAST portion of the 2008 regular season begins on Friday night for the University of Connecticut women's volleyball team. The Huskies take on defending regular season co-champions Louisville (4-6) at 7 p.m. in their first conference match of the season. On Sunday, UConn hosts Cincinnati (10-3) at 2 p.m. at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion.
UConn posted an 8-6 BIG EAST record last season and are currently 9-4 overall this season. The Huskies went 3-1 last week and captured the 2008 UConn Toyota Classic title after earning a 3-1 victory against Temple on Sept. 20. Reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Week, Annie Luhrsen (Wheaton, Ill.) earned tournament MVP honors and tallied 46 assists in the final match. She leads the Huskies with 473 assists in 47 sets played.
Lauren Lamberti (Cary, Ill.) was named to the BIG EAST honor roll for the second time this season after leading the UConn offense in each of its three wins last week. Lamberti recorded 43 kills in total over four matches played and is averaging 2.38 per set. She along with, Megan Frey (Chaska, Minn.) were named to the tournament team. Frey had the best hitting-percentage (.326) for the Huskies during the UConn Classic.
Louisville dropped the final of its two matches at the Flyer Classic in Dayton, Ohio on Sept. 20. The Cardinals started on the right foot with a 3-2 win over Miami (Ohio), but lost its final two contests against Purdue (3-0) and Dayton (3-2). Led by Lecia Brown's 40 total blocks and Gwen Rucker's 39, Louisville enters the weekend leading the BIG EAST in blocks per game (2.50). The Cardinals are second in hitting-percentage (.255) with Rucker leading the team with a .366 mark in nine matches played.
Cincinnati enters the first weekend of conference competition with reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week, Stephanie Neimer leading the team in kills (3.70/g). The Bearcats start off their conference slate on Friday at St. John's. Depending on the outcome of its first BIG EAST match, Cincinnati may arrive in Storrs with a five-match winning streak. The Bearcats have a four-match winning streak going after recording three 3-0 wins at the TIS Bookstore Invitational and a 3-0 win over IUPUI on Sept. 23.
The first 100 fans at Friday's match against Louisville will receive a t-shirt and the first 100 fans to attend Sunday's match against Cincinnati will receive a free water bottle.
Following this weekend's BIG East action, volleyball continues the conference portion of the schedule on the road. UConn travels to Syracuse to take on the Orange on Friday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. and Marquette on Sunday, Oct. 5 at 3 p.m.
