Aug. 27, 2005
Northeastern Box Score UMBC Box Score
BALTIMORE, Md. - Junior middle blocker Adrian Semrau (Grafton, Ohio) and freshman outside hitter Alona Cherkez (Raanana, Israel) each tallied 31 kills, and Villanova (2-0) started the 2005 season with a pair of 3-1 victories over Northeastern (1-1) and UMBC (0-2) on Saturday at the RAC Arena.
In the team's season opener during the afternoon, the Wildcats defeated Northeastern in four games by scores of 26-30, 30-23, 32-30 and 30-15. During its evening match, Villanova bested the host Retrievers by scores of 30-20, 30-25, 28-30 and 30-16.
In the match against Northeastern, four Wildcats reached double figures in kills to lead Villanova to the victory. Cherkez was at the front of the pack, and registered 16 kills, 10 digs and three service aces in her collegiate debut. Senior outside hitter Dana Kabashima (Santa Monica, Calif.) and sophomore middle hitter Kacy Sellers (Battle Creek, Mich.) contributed 12 kills apiece, while Semrau had 11 kills and four blocks.
Villanova made just 15 attack errors in the entire match against Northeastern and boasted a .301 team hitting percentage. Sellers made just one attack error and finished with a .458 average, while also posting a team-high five block assists. The Wildcats had 10.0 team blocks and nine service aces in the match.
Junior setters Jenna Link (Wheaton, Ill.) and Jen Lalli (Media, Pa.) shared the role of running the offense. Link, a transfer from UAB, had 37 assists, six digs, three blocks and two kills. Lalli, who took over as the team's starting setter last season, dished out 16 assists.
During the nightcap, Villanova tuned up its offense even more, finishing with a .352 attack percentage against UMBC. Semrau was the main reason for the high percentage, hitting a career-best .679 for the match (20 kills, one attack error). Cherkez and fellow freshman Dana Tartazky (Haifa, Israel) added 15 kills apiece, while Link dished out 46 assists.
Cherkez and Tartazky displayed the form that enabled each of them to play for the Israeli National Team before coming to Villanova. Both players registered a double-double (kills-digs) in one of the matches on Saturday, and the pair combined for eight of the team's 20 service aces for the day. Kabashima produced the other double-double for the Wildcats, as she had 12 kills and 16 digs in the match against Northeastern.
Villanova is next in action at the Comcast Lobo Volleyball Tournament on September 2-3 at the University of New Mexico. The Wildcats will face Lamar on Friday evening to open the tournament, and then takes on host New Mexico and Northern Arizona on Saturday.
NOTES: Semrau reached 20 kills in a match for the fifth time in her career ... Villanova attacked at a .325 clip in the two matches.
