Volume 3, September 22, 2009

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Playing in her home state of New Jersey, Yale senior middle blocker Laurel Johnson (Cherry Hill, N.J.) hit a commanding .424 (29-4-59) as the Bulldogs swept a trio of matches to win the Seton Hall Invitational. Johnson earned All-Tournament honors on the back of averaging 3.22 kills per set and amassing a tournament-best 1.22 blocks per set. In the weekend-opening sweep of Hofstra, the senior hit at a clip of .421, piling up 10 kills on 19 swings. Johnson also tallied three blocks (one solo), an assist and a career-best seven digs. The 5’11 middle was even better against NJIT on Saturday, sharing the team high of 12 kills with just one error on 25 swings for a .440 hitting percentage. Johnson also added a match-best six blocks (one solo) against the Highlanders. In the weekend finale, a Yale sweep of Seton Hall, Johnson hit .400 once again (7-1-15) and had a hand in two more blocks.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Penn freshman Lauren Martin (Bedford, Texas) was a model of consistency for the Quakers at the Towson Invitational. Martin recorded double-digit kills in each of her three matches over the weekend, totally 37 kills (3.08) while hitting a team-high .290. For her efforts, she was named to the all-tournament team. Against Ball State, the freshman had 13 kills, three digs and two total blocks in Penn's four-set win.

THE HONOR ROLL
Brown junior Brianna Williamson (Cincinnati, Ohion) played consistently outstanding volleyball for the Bears in their four matches this week, helping them bounce back from a 1-4 start to go 2-2 against some tough competition. In the Thursday game against Wyoming, Williamson led Brown in both kills and digs, with eight and 14 respectively, as Bruno pushed the Cowgirls to four sets, and easily could have won the match. Williamson then followed that with a terrific performance against Stony Brook on Friday, turning in 16 kills, 14 digs, and two aces, as Brown fell in five sets in an extraordinarily close match. To close out the weekend, Williamson led the Bears to two consecutive wins over Holy Cross, wracking up a combined 26 kills and 30 digs in those two matches.

Columbia first-year outside hitter Megan Gaughn (Winter Park, Fla.) had a strong week offensively for the Lions, on her way to being named to the all-tournament team at the 2009 Columbia Classic. Gaughn had 46 kills (.223 attack percentage), along with 34 digs, helping the Lions to a 3-0 weekend, winning the tournament title. She started the tournament off with an 18-kill performance against Bryant, hitting .289, and followed that up with an 18-dig performance against Fairleigh Dickinson. But Gaughn saved her best for last: in what would be the championship match of the weekend, Gaughn had a double-double, tallying 22 kills and 11 digs, helping Columbia rally back to win a thriller, 3-2.

Cornell freshman outside hitter Deveney Pula (Long Beach, Calif.) made her second-straight All-Tournament team, taking home honors from the Cornell Fall Invitational. The rookie from Long Beach, Calif, led the Big Red on the weekend with 26 kills on 91 attempts over three matches. She also chipped in 22 digs.

Dartmouth senior outside hitter Megan MacGregor (Carlsbad, Calif.) was named to the Dartmouth Invitational All-Tournament team as the co-captain recorded 16 kills on Saturday in two matches along with 18 digs, three blocks and four service aces. In the first match of the tourney she again had double-figure kills with 11 as she recorded just three hitting errors in the match. MacGregor also had three service aces and one block. In a 3-0 win over Providence earlier in the week she had 10 digs with two blocks and one service ace. For the season she's second on the team in kills, averaging 2.31 per set. She leads the squad with 15 services aces and has recorded 13 total blocks.

Harvard senior setter Lily Durwood (La Jolla, Calif.) earned all-tournament honors at the Holly Young Invitational at New Hampshire this past weekend. Durwood handed out 100 assists in total, recorded 20 digs, registered nine kills and posted five blocks in three matches. She handed out 39 assists and posted five kills in Harvard's win over New Hampshire. She had 46 helpers, nine digs and four blocks in a loss to Wyoming.

Penn junior setter Madison Wojciechowski (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) was honored with an all-tournament selection at the Towson Invitational following her second consecutive weekend with a 30 digs effort. The Penn junior had 31 digs in a 3-2 win over host Towson and finished the weekend with 65 digs (5.33) overall.
Princeton freshman outside hitter Lydia Rudnick (Encinitas, Calif.) led the Tigers with 3.42 kills per set at the West Virginia Classic last weekend and also averaged more than three digs per set. She led all non-middles with .58 blocks per set and recorded double-doubles against both West Virginia and Duquesne.

Yale junior libero Kelly Ozurovich (Playa del Ray, Calif.) was the anchor of a Bulldog defense that held opponents to a .083 hitting percentage in three wins at the Seton Hall Invitational. The two-time All-Ivy honoree took home All-Tournament laurels after averaging a stellar 7.00 digs per set and landed four service aces in nine frames over the weekend. In the weekend opener against Hofstra, Ozurovich notched 19 digs, dropped in an ace and was perfect on 12 service receptions. She also distributed two assists in Yale’s sweep of the Pride. The next morning against NJIT, Ozurovich piled up 28 digs in a three-set match (9.33 per set) and notched another ace. Against the host Pirates, the junior libero led the Bulldogs with 16 digs and landed two more service aces. Ozurovich eclipsed 900 career digs during this weekend’s action.

2009-10 AWARDWINNERS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sept. 8 — Ashley Hawkins (Penn) / Cat Dailey (Yale)
Sept. 14 — Megan Gaughn (Columbia)
Sept. 22 — Laurel Johnson (Yale)

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Sept. 8 — Taylor Docter (Harvard)
Sept. 14 — Megan Gaughn (Columbia)
Sept. 22 — Lauren Martin (Penn)