BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Sept. 7, 2011) – The C.W. Post women's volleyball team will be opening up East Coast Conference play tonight as the Golden Lions of Dowling will make a trip to the Brookville Campus. The Pioneer opened up play this past weekend, going 1-2 at the Kutztown Tournament.

 

C.W. Post began the 2011 season on Friday, Sept. 2, with a loss in three sets to Stonehill (24-26, 23-25, 14-25). The Pioneers then quickly bounced back the next day with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-16) match win over the Golden Knights of Saint Rose. However, the finale of the tournament resulted in another setback, with this one coming at the hands of the host team, Kutztown. Kutztown took 4 set match victory (25-23, 21-25, 12-25, 15-25) over the Pioneers to cap off the two-day tournament. 

 

To this point in the season, Makamae Namahoe (Hilo, Hawaii) is the early leader on the Pioneers in kills with 24, one of four individuals to have at least 20 kills in the first three games. Jordan Schroer (Kailua, Hawaii) comes in behind Namahoe on the team in kills with 22 of her own while also notching 21 digs in the game against Kutztown.   

 

The Pioneers have also been fortunate to see two freshmen begin their careers on the right in foot with Heather Adams (Centerville, Ohio) and Kaiulani Kaalekahi (Waimanaio, Hawaii) getting off to solid starts. 

 

Adams is one of those Pioneers who have tallied at least 20 kills in the early part of the season as she as accumulated exactly 20 kills. She also is currently leading the team in two categories with a .286 hitting percentage and notching eight total team blocks. Kaalekahi has stepped in nicely as the team's setter thus far, as she put together a 30 assist game against Stonehill and then later had 22 assists against Kutztown.  

 

On the other side of the court, Dowling jumped out with two 3-0 victories to begin the year. However, the Golden Lions latest contest resulted in a tough 3-2 loss to Lock Haven. Junior Bethany Shepard has been the vocal point of the Dowling offense so far in 2011, putting down 45 kills in 11 sets played.  Graduate student Maja Potpara has also helped generate the offense, coming into tonight's match with 103 assists already in three matches. 

 

This will be the first of two matches between these two schools in 2011. During the 2010 season, the Pioneers and Golden Lions met on three separate occasions with Dowling winning all three by the same 3-0 match score. The match will also kick off the ECC 2011 schedule for all teams.

 

Things are set to begin tonight at 7 p.m. in the Pratt Recreation Center of the C.W. Post campus.