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Blue Hen Weekend: Basketball, volleyball 2:54 p.m., Nov. 9, 2006--The University of Delaware women's basketball team will open the 2006-07 season at home on Sunday, and the volleyball team will prepare for the upcoming Colonial Athletic Association championship tournament with home games Friday and Saturday. The Fightin' Blue Hens women's basketball team will open with a game against Villanova University of the Big East Conference at 1 p.m., Sunday, at the Bob Carpenter Center. UD Head Coach Tina Martin has said this will be one of the toughest schedules ever played by the Hens, who in the early weeks of the season also will face Boston College of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the University of Kentucky of the Southeastern Conference and Bowling Green State University, which has won the last two Mid-American Conference titles. In a preseason CAA poll, Martin's team has been picked to finish third behind perennial champion Old Dominion University and James Madison University. The Hens feature a strong lineup that includes 2005-06 CAA Defensive Player of the Year Tyresa Smith, a senior guard, as well as point guard Alena Koshansky, center Courtney Irving, guard Melissa Czorniewy and forward Chrissy Fisher. “Tyresa is very athletic and makes a lot of things happen on the defensive end, and that spills over to help us offensively,” Martin said. “I am looking for a big senior year for her.” At the point, Martin said Koshansky is a “solid, steady force” who has “a calming influence on the team.” She said she expects Koshansky will provide leadership to help the nucleus of the team mesh with the three transfer players and the freshmen. The transfer players are Kyle DeHaven, a point guard from the College of William & Mary with “a lot of speed and quickness,” Kristina Gineitis, a 6-2 forward from George Washington University who has an outstanding outside shot, and Jamie Mundy, a guard from Georgetown University. For the Hens to be successful, Martin says she believes at least one of the team's freshmen will have to contribute. The group includes redshirt freshman Farrah Ferguson, a 6-3 center from Wissahickon High School in Ambler, Pa., and Corinthia Benison of the Holderness School in New Hampshire, who enrolled last January and who Martin says “has a bright future in this program.” True freshmen include Sha'Ron Harrison of Kennedy High School in Paterson, N.J., Brittany Bell of Padua Academy in Wilmington, Del., Ariene Jenkins of Woodbridge (Va.) High school and Ronniece Kirby of Towson (Md.) Catholic High School. The 17-8 UD volleyball team, which has clinched a berth in the conference championship tournament, will be at home for a pair of weekend CAA matches. The Hens will take on the College of William & Mary at 7 p.m., Friday, and Virginia Commonwealth University at 7 p.m., Saturday, at Barbara Viera Court in the Carpenter Sports Building. Following weekend action, the conference will announce the seeds for the tournament. Two UD volleyball players are among the leaders in NCAA Division I statistics, with Megan Welch ranked No. 14 with an average of 13.23 assists per game and Colleen Walsh No. 25 with 4.66 kills per game. In other home action, the UD football team will host William & Mary at 1 p.m., Saturday, at Tubby Raymond Field at Delaware Stadium. UD's swimming and diving teams will be on the road for a tri-meet at Drexel University on Saturday. Following weekend action, the UD men's basketball team will open its season with a game against Marist College at 7 p.m., Tuesday, at The Bob. |
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