KUTZTOWN, Pa. (September 1, 2011) – After opening its season with a victory over New York Institute of Technology, the Kutztown University women's volleyball team returns home to host the 2011 KU Classic this weekend. 

The Golden Bears (1-0 overall) will play four matches over the weekend as it hosts four out-of-conference team at Keystone Arena.  KU begins play on Friday at 2:30 p.m. against the College of Saint Rose, and will close out the day with a 7:00 match against the University of the Sciences.  Kutztown will also open and close the day on Saturday with a 10 a.m. match against Stonehill College and a 6 p.m. match against C.W. Post. 

Admission is free for the entire tournament. 

Junior Brittany Harman (Hanover, PA/South Western) helped lead KU to its opening 3-2 road victory Thursday afternoon.  She had a career-best eight kills and was one of four KU players to finish with at least that amount. Senior Cait Hess (Newark, DE/St. Mark's) led the Golden Bears with 13 kills, while Cali Snell (York, PA/York Suburban) contributed nine kills and Erin Kissling (York, PA/Central York) added eight. Overall, KU had 47 kills as a team. Junior setter Kimberlee Gomber (Washington, PA/Washington) had a team best 21 assists. Senior Lindsey Smith (Hanover, PA/Delone Catholic) had 15 digs and Kissling tallied 14 digs for the Golden Bears. 

Here's a look at the four other competing schools at this year's KU Classic: 

College of Saint Rose: The Golden Knights return five starters and 10 letterwinners from last year's squad that recorded a 6-21 overall record. Senior outside hitter Sarah Kahrs and senior setter Theresa Staulo are both serving as team captains in 2011. Kahrs put together another stellar campaign in 2010 after leading Saint Rose in kills (264) for the second year in a row. Staulo enters the year third all-time in school history with 2,309 career assists. 

C.W. Post: The Pioneers open their season this weekend after earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2010.  They finished their season at 20-13 while competing in the East Coast Conference. Makamae Namahoe is the Pioneer's top returner as she was second on the team with 292 kills. Fellow sophomore Shayla Hixson had 213 kills and contributed 36 service aces. Hixson also had 188 digs. KU defeated the Pioneers 3-2 in last's year's season opening tournament.  

Stonehill College: The Skyhawks finished with a 16-13 record last season including an impressive 11-4 mark in the Northeast-10 Conference.  Senior Laura Huselton was second on the team with 265 kills last season.  She also led the team with 35 service aces.  Sophomore Sydney Maxey is coming off an excellent freshman campaign as she finished with 218 kills, good for second on the team.   

University of the Sciences: The University of the Sciences finished the 2010 season with a 9-14 overall record and a 7-12 mark in conference play, finishing in fifth place in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Southern Division. The Devils return four players from last year's team. Junior libero Stacey Wooden led the team last season in digs with 358 while playing in 21 of the Devils 23 matches.  Fellow junior Sheryse Taylor also returns after starting 20 of the Devils 23 matches. Taylor was third on the team with 28 service aces and 194 digs and fifth with 70 kills. Sophomore Diana Solomon is the Devils best offensive threat returning, recording 129 kills last season.
 

KUTZTOWN CLASSIC SCHEDULE

Friday, September 2, 2010

2:30 p.m.        KUTZTOWN vs. College of Saint Rose
5:00 p.m.        C.W. Post vs. Stonehill College
7:00 p.m.        KUTZTOWN vs. University of the Sciences

Saturday, September 3, 2010

10:00 a.m.      KUTZTOWN vs. Stonehill College
12:00 p.m.      C.W. Post vs. College of Saint Rose
2:00 p.m.        Stonehill College vs. University of the Sciences
4:00 p.m.        University of the Sciences vs. College of Saint Rose
6:00 p.m.        KUTZTOWN vs. C.W. Post