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Women's Volleyball—Archive

2008 Season
Season Record: 23-17
Conference Record: 9-4

All-Region IV first team: Yellie Synowiecki (Oak Lawn)
Region IV All-Tournament team: Laura Flerick (Mt. Assisi) and Synowiecki
All-Conference first team: Marina Uher (Maria) and Synowiecki
All-Conference second team: Emily Seidelmann (Queen of Peace) and Flerick

November 17, 2008
Cyclones finish season strong in Final Four

With some top players on the floor this fall, the Moraine Valley women’s volleyball team ended a lengthy season with 23 wins and 17 losses including a 9-4 conference record.

One of the goals for the team each season is to compete in the NJCAA Region IV Final Four Championships and advance to the NJCAA National Championships. The team reached the Final Four on Nov. 7, only to lose a tough battle against a hard-hitting team in three matches: 20-25, 10-25, 15-25.

The Cyclones will lose four sophomores, some of whom had a stellar season. Top hitter, Yellie Synowiecki (Oak Lawn), finished her season ranked 36th nationally with 426 kills in 136 sets—3.132 kills per game—this season. She has 775 kills for her Moraine Valley career. Synowiecki’s 21 double-double matches in kills/digs is one reason she was named to the NJCAA All-Region IV first team.
 
Another huge loss for the Cyclones will be setter Marina Uher (Maria). Uher was also in the national rankings at 21st for assists/sets and was named NJCAA Player of the Week in October. She finished her 2008 season with 1,210 kill assists and was named for the second consecutive year to the Illinois Skyway Collegiate All-Conference first team. Uher ends her two-year playing stint at Moraine Valley with 2,735 kill assists.

Emily Seidelmann (Queen of Peace) made a stunning transition this season from middle hitter to libero. She ended her 2008 Cyclone season with 524 digs.

Julie Tracy (Oak Lawn), a two-year starter at opposite, also made huge contributions to this team as a player and a leader.

“It’s hard to lose a chunk of the team at the end of each year. It’s sad to lose these players just as they were peaking as a blended and well-trained team,” said head coach Gloria Coughlin. “Our returning players have a great task in front of them—become the leaders, learn new positions, blend with new players and form a cohesive unit—and do this in time to travel to Milan, Italy, in October 2009 to compete in the IFIUS World Inter-University Games. We welcome the challenge.”

To top off the season Synowiecki was named to the All-Region IV first team and both she and Laura Flerick (Mt. Assisi) were selected for the Region IV All-Tournament team. All-Conference first team honors went to Uher and Synowiecki. All-Conference second team honors were earned by Seidelmann and Flerick.

October 29, 2008
Third Place finish for the Cyclones, athletes awarded

The volleyball team had a weekend full of hitting highs and lows during the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference Tournament at Elgin. Moraine Valley played five teams Oct. 25-26 finishing the weekend in third place.

In the first game, the Cyclones defeated Lake County: 25-22, 26-16. Yellie Synowiecki (Oak Lawn) had 10 kills, one block, one service ace and 10 digs, while Annie Eckroth (Queen of Peace) dealt five kills, a block and 12 digs. Marina Uher (Maria) helped the team with 21 assists and a service ace.

Moraine later defeated Morton: 25-12, 25-23. Laura Flerick (Mt. Assisi) had 10 kills and two blocks; Synowiecki had eight kills, a block and five digs; Melissa Barber (Oak Lawn) had four kills and a block; and Uher assisted 27 times.

The Cyclones continued their winning streak by defeating Oakton: 25-20, 21-25, 15-5. Synowiecki had six kills, two blocks and 10 digs; Barber had six kills and five blocks; Jill Gamauf (Chicago Christian) had four kills, two blocks and a service ace; while Uher had 24 assists and two kills.

The women suffered their first loss of the tournament to McHenry County College in the semi-finals 18-25, 13-25, 19-25, but the Cyclones regrouped and won their consolation match against Oakton: 25-20, 25-22, 25-16.

Against Oakton Synowiecki came up with a .350% hitting percentage and led the team with 13 kills, two blocks and 12 digs for her 19th double-double of the season. Uher also notched her 15th double-double of the season, with 33 kill assists and 14 digs, plus five kills, three blocks and three service aces. Eckroth had her biggest match of the season with nine kills, zero errors out of 23 attempts, giving her a .390% kill average. Eckroth also scored on three service aces, had two blocks and added 17 digs. Emily Seidelmann (Queen of Peace) was the third player to add another double-double to her stats, making her total nine, after 10 receptions and 26 digs.

After this past weekend, Uher has now assisted in 1,156 kills and was named NJCAA Player of the Week earlier in October. In the Oakton consolation match, Synowiecki notched her 402nd kill for the 2008 season, “quite a remarkable feat for any hitter,” said head coach Gloria Coughlin. Because of their excellent play, Synowiecki, Uher and Seidelmann were named to the ISCC All-Tournament Team for the weekend.

The Cyclones will continue their season Oct. 30 at home against Highland Community College, also deemed team spirit game. Moraine Valley sports fans are encouraged to come cheer the team on to victory.

October 8, 2008
Another win for the Cyclones

The Cyclones defeated the College of Lake County October 7 in four matches: 25-13, 25-21, 22-25, 25-23.

Yellie Synowiecki (Oak Lawn) led the team with 14 kills, two blocks, a service ace and 21 digs for her 11th double-double of the season in kills/digs. Laura Flerick (Mt. Assisi) also had a good night with 12 kills off 27 swings, hitting .333%.

Setter Marina Uher (Maria) set a well balanced match with 42 kill assists, 10 digs, a block for a kill and a service ace.

“Lake County was a tough team to score points against. We had many long rallies as represented by our team total of 101 digs. Having big defensive nights were our libero, Emily Seidelmann (Queen of Peace) with 26 digs, Meghan Ardolino (Mt. Assisi) with 20 digs and Julie Tracy (Oak Lawn) adding another 16 digs,” said coach Gloria Coughlin.

As the team moves into the final full month of the season, it is staying above .500 with a 12-9 record.

October 7, 2008
Cyclones beat South Suburban

The Cyclones defeated South Suburban October 2 at Moraine Valley in four sets: 25-18, 22-25, 25-16, 25-19.

Yellie Synowiecki (Oak Lawn) had a big match leading the team with 15 kills, hitting a kill percentage of .314 and adding seven service aces and 18 digs for her tenth double-double match of the season in kills-digs.

Julie Tracy (Oak Lawn) had a season high 10 kills to add to her two service aces and a block for kill, equaling 13 points for the match. Tracy was also defensively strong with 13 digs.

Melissa Barber (Oak Lawn) also played well and hit .277 with her nine kills, two blocks and a service ace.

The libero for the game, Emily Seidelmann (Queen of Peace), was a huge defensive factor with her career high 30 digs and 13 good receptions.

Setter Marina Uher (Maria) set a balanced offense tonight and assisted 40 times in kills, attacked five times for kills and played a tough back row with 15 digs and two service aces.

September 22, 2008
The Cyclones have a winning Friday

Moraine Valley beat both its opponents September 19 at the Tri-Match at Oakton Community College.

The Cyclones beat College of DuPage in four matches: 25-14, 25-27, 26-24, 25-17.

Yellie Synowiecki (Oak Lawn) led the team with 15 kills and also marked her eighth double-double of the season with 24 digs, plus two service aces and a block for kill, scoring 18 points. Julie Tracy (Oak Lawn) had a big defensive match with 22 digs and also scored on four aces and five kills. Emily Seidelmann wore the Libero shirt and had 11 good receptions and made 20 digs for her first double-double match of the season in receptions/digs. Marina Uher (Maria) scored six points on her four kills and two aces, plus distributing 35 kill assists along with 14 digs for her fifth double-double match of the season in assists/digs.

"We played with a lot more energy tonight, quicker arm swings, tougher defense and we challenged COD with our serving game," said head coach Gloria Coughlin.

In the second game Moraine took three matches from Oakton Community College: 25-16, 25-23, 25-22.

"Our middles came up big for us both offensively and defensively in the match with Laura Flerick (Mt. Assisi) leading the team with 13 kills and three blocks and Melissa Barber (Oak Lawn) followed her with 10 kills, four blocks and two service aces, scoring 16 points to add to Laura’s 15 points," said Coughlin.

Yellie Synowiecki (Oak Lawn) added nine kills and passed nine good receptions and had six digs. Julie Tracy (Oak Lawn) contributed six kills and was huge on defense with 17 digs.
The team's Libero, Emily Seidelmann, was tough with 14 receptions and 26 digs, her second double-double receptions to digs for the season. Marina Uher (Maria) dished out 42 kill assists (14 assists per set), plus 10 digs, recording her sixth double-double of the season in assists/digs.

August 29, 2008
Volleyball team blending veterans and newcomers for success this season

Having lost half of the 2007 Moraine Valley volleyball team, including Kaitlin Fischer (Marian Catholic), a top five player in the country in ace serves and kills per game, the complexion of the 2008 team has changed.
 
Blending seven new players with four veterans this season will be a challenge, but the coaches are excited and eager to get started.

Marina Uher (Maria) returns as the Cyclones setter and held the ranking of number one setter in the country in assists per game through most of the 2007 season. She was named to the NJCAA all-Region IV first team and all-conference first team last year. Uher’s experience and leadership will get the rookies involved in the team’s offensive system in no time.

Another significant offensive weapon returning to the team is Julie Tracy (Oak Lawn), a right side attacker, also called the Opposite. Being opposite the setter on the court, she blocks the opponent’s stronger hitters and also must run the offense when the setter is involved in a defensive play. Tracy was named to the all-tournament conference team in 2007. She is expected to have a successful season as the only left-handed attacker with much improved defensive skills.

Returning this season is Yellie Synowiecki (Oak Lawn). Synowiecki was a huge part of offense last season and will be the go-to hitter this year. Her defensive and passing skills will give the team many opportunities to convert and score.

Emily Seidelmann (Queen of Peace), moves positions this year from middle attacker to Libero. The Libero is volleyball’s “free” player who is free to move in and out of the game, not counting as one of the allowed 12 substitutions. Seidelmann will be one of the primary passers to receive serves and also will be the main defensive player in the back row.

For the 2008 season three new middle blocker/attackers were added to the roster including Melissa Barber (Oak Lawn), Laura Flerick (Mt. Assisi) and Jill Gamauf (Chicago Christian). All three will add blocking strength and a wide variety of attacks. Head coach Gloria Coughlin is excited about having true middles who will each contribute early and often to the offense.

Newcomer Dana Morano (Mother McAuley) has high school and club experience as setter and left side attacker and will allow the team to change the offensive system against some teams from a five-hitter system to a six-hitter system. She brings an aggressive serve to the game that will score points or make it difficult for opponents to score against the Cyclones.

Another outside hitter that joins the team this season is Annie Eckroth (Queen of Peace). She has both high school and club experience and will be an immediate impact on defense from the back or front row, blocking and hitting.

New faces Meghan Ardolino (Mt. Assisi) and Sam Ciara (Marist) will primarily be defensive players, but both could see some time as hitters.

“This will be a season… like most. We will learn so many new things about each other, the game, ourselves and love every minute because we are so lucky to have been given the opportunity to play collegiate sports. It should be fun,” Coughlin said.

2007 Season

Season Record: 31-14
Conference Record: 9-3

First-team All-Region IV and Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference: Kaitlin Fischer and Marina Uher
            Second-team All-Conference selections: Kaitlyn Clemens and Meghan Hughes
Conference All-Tourney Team selections: Clemens, Fischer, Hughes, and Julie Tracy
Other distinctions: Uher also was named the National Junior College Athletic Association's Setter of the      
            Week October 15 for Division II Volleyball; Fischer was named NJCAA Division II volleyball Co-Hitter
            of the Week on October 8.