University of Connecticut Athletics
Reflecting on the 2003 UConn Volleyball Season
12/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The University of Connecticut women’s volleyball team experienced a season filled with ups and downs in 2003. Despite some disappointments, the team finished the season having recorded many significant accomplishments, both as individuals and as a squad. Most notably, the 2003 team recorded the fifth 20+ win season in the past six years of the program.
Junior outside hitter Jamie Hadenfeldt (Benicia, CA) was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team after proving to be a weapon on both offense and defense for UConn, with a team-leading 501 kills and a total of 431 digs to rank second. Hadenfeldt’s total kills were enough to put her third on UConn’s all-time single-season list, and her total in digs ranked her ninth on the all-time single-season list. With her senior year still left to play, Hadenfeldt already stands in ninth place on both the all-time career kills list with 942, and eighth on the all-time career digs list with 1,007. She was the only player to finish the regular season ranked in the top 10 in the BIG EAST for both kills and digs, ranking third and seventh in the two categories, respectively. She also ranked in the top 10 in both points and service aces. Hadenfeldt recorded a remarkable 23 double-doubles over the course of the season, including 11 straight to close out the season.
Many other Huskies also left their mark on UConn’s all-time season and career record lists following the 2003 season. Sophomore Megan Crawley’s (Georgetown, TX) 417 season kills rank her ninth on the all-time list, while her 128 blocks rank her 11th. Her season hitting percentage of .341 was especially impressive, ranking her third all-time. Senior Xaimara Coss’ (Brooklyn, NY) 571 season digs are the second-most all-time in a single season, and senior setter Julie Erbez (Stockton, CA) tallied 1,068 assists over the season to stand 10th all-time for a single-season, and put her overall number at 3.441 to rank third. Erbez also recorded a hitting percentage of .294 to rank eighth, and junior Brittany Conover’s (Bargersville, IN) 132 season blocks rank her seventh all-time. Erbez racked up 199 blocks in her UConn career to rank ninth, and senior Raftyn Birath (Marshall, MN) tallied 189 to rank 10th on the same list. With her solid performances in terms of hitting accuracy during her career, Erbez finished with a percentage of .269 to rank fourth all-time, while Crawley’s two-year percentage thus far of .314 ranks her second all-time.
This year's season began with UConn picked to finish sixth in the BIG EAST as voted by the conference’s head coaches. The poll nearly proved to be accurate at season’s end, with the Huskies finishing ranked seventh, just one win out of a four-way tie for fourth.
Five tournaments highlighted the start of the season for UConn, beginning with their own IKON Husky Classic. In their opening game, the Huskies struggled with hitting accuracy and dropped a 3-1 decision to Western Michigan. Crawley and Hadenfeldt proved to be offensive leaders early on, and would hold that title throughout the season. On the second day of the tournament, UConn split matches to finish third among the four teams. The Huskies solidly defeated Quinnipiac 3-0 to start the day off, but suffered a 3-0 loss to eventual tournament champion Idaho in their final match. Crawley led the team in hitting accuracy for both games, and her solid performances earned her a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
The second tournament of the year brought the Huskies to New Hampshire for the Wildcat Classic, where they again finished with a disappointing 1-2 record. The lone win was a 3-0 shutout over Fairfield, while the losses were both by scores of 3-1 to New Hampshire and Ball State. The record did not tell the whole story however, as two Huskies recorded significant personal accomplishments. Crawley posted 19 kills and five blocks in the Huskies’ first match, and went on to record 17 and 13 kills, respectively, in the final two matches to earn her second straight All-Tournament Team honor. Coss (Brooklyn, NY) began to show how valuable she would be to the UConn defense in 2003 when she first tallied 25 digs against New Hampshire, and then a phenomenal career-high 37 digs against Ball State. The number stood throughout the season as one of the best defensive performances among all NCAA Division I players. For her solid play, Coss earned her first-ever All-Tournament Team honor.
UConn returned home to host the Connecticut Invitational the following weekend, and started with a bang as they recovered from a two-game deficit against Akron and won the final three games to take the match. Sophomore Heather Ashley (Smithsburg, MD) led the Huskies with a career-high 21 kills. UConn ended the tournament with a second-place finish of 2-1 after sweeping Manhattan 3-0 but losing by the same score to tournament champion Illinois in the final match. Crawley impressed the four head coaches once again to receive her third-straight All-Tournament Team honor, while Ashley’s play earned her a spot on the team as well.
The Huskies took to the road once again to play in the Maine Invitational, and recorded shutouts of both Yale and Maine along with a tough five-game victory over Denver to earn their first tournament title of the season with a perfect 3-0 record. Hadenfeldt and Crawley stole the show in the wins over Denver and Yale, with Crawley recording a career-high 21 kills against Denver, and Hadenfeldt matching that number in the victory over Yale. A clean sweep of Maine and another strong performance by Hadenfeldt earned her the title of Tournament MVP, while Crawley continued to roll with her fourth-straight All-Tournament Team honor. Coss led the defensive effort once again, and by tournament’s end was ranked ninth in the nation among Division I players in digs per game with 4.91.
The Huskies briefly got out of tournament mode with a home match against Northeastern, but could only win the second game of the four-game match, despite a 17-kill performance by Crawley. Birath (Marshall, MN) came up with one of her best offensive performances of the season with 16 kills, and Hadenfeldt recorded her sixth kill-dig double-double of the season.
The fifth tournament of the season ended on a high note for the Huskies, who finished with a 3-0 record to win their own UConn Autumn Classic. Hadenfeldt led UConn with a match-high 22 kills as they defeated Florida Atlantic 3-1 in a hard-fought match. Three-game sweeps of UMBC and Maine followed, and Hadenfeldt earned her second-straight Tournament MVP title, while Erbez earned her first All-Tournament Team spot of the season, and Crawley finished tournament play having been named to the All-Tournament Team in all five of UConn’s tournaments.
Following their final tournament of 2003, the Huskies began BIG EAST play with a 3-1 comeback win over Syracuse. Hadenfeldt tied her career-high 23 kills in the match along with tallying 14 digs. The match that followed pitted UConn against league-leading and #17 nationally-ranked Notre Dame, who defeated the Huskies 3-1. The match was a heartbreaker for UConn, who won game two by a score of 30-20, and were ahead 28-22 in game three before the Irish came back to win that game as well as the final game to take the match.
The first BIG EAST match on the road saw UConn travel to Pittsburgh, where the Panthers kept their undefeated conference record alive with a 3-1 defeat of the Huskies. The next day, UConn dropped a disappointing match to West Virginia in what would tell the tale of the season for the Huskies, who defeated or came close to defeating some of their strongest opponents, but lost key matches to some of their weaker ones. The loss was the first loss in the last 10 matches UConn and West Virginia had played against each other, and even an 18-kill, 19-dig performance by Hadenfeldt wasn’t enough to save the Huskies. A third straight loss followed for UConn, who lost in three games to visiting BIG EAST opponent St. John’s.
A break from conference play proved beneficial to the Huskies, who took a trip to Corpus Christi, Texas in the middle of October. UConn won both games in Texas, with a 3-1 defeat of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and a five-game thriller victory over Texas-Pan American. Hadenfeldt and Crawley tallied 22 and 21 kills, respectively, in the first win of the weekend, and numerous career-highs were achieved in the second match. Hadenfeldt set career-highs in both kills and digs with 26 and 24, and Crawley also recorded a career-high 24 kills. Sophomore setter Jenny Neelands (Gainesville, FL), filling in at the time for an injured Erbez, tallied a career-high 69 assists as well as a career-high 18 digs.
The Huskies came back from Texas with renewed confidence, and promptly upset the University of Miami in four games, handing the Hurricanes their first BIG EAST loss of the season. Hadenfeldt led the Huskies on offense with 20 kills, and Coss was unrelenting on defense with 27 digs. Virginia Tech came to Storrs the following day, but in a tough five-game match, it was the Hokies who came out on top. Conover notched a career-high 20 kills in the match, with an impressive hitting percentage of .441.
The Huskies took to the road for their next two BIG EAST matches, starting with a clean 3-0 sweep at Rutgers with Hadenfeldt registering her 17th double-double of the season with 20 kills and 14 digs. The next day’s match at Seton Hall showcased a low point of the Huskies’ season, as they were upset 3-1 after winning the first game of the match by a score of 30-15.
Following the loss at Seton Hall, UConn rebounded to close out the season with five straight victories, starting with a 3-0 shutout of Yale for the second time over the course of the season. The next match, a home contest against Boston College, was the final match at home for UConn’s three seniors. With double-figure kill performances by Crawley, Ashley and Hadenfeldt, the Huskies swept the visiting Eagles 3-0. In the next match against Fairfield, with 14-kill performances by Hadenfeldt and Crawley, UConn earned their third straight 3-0 win. Hadenfeldt also recorded a match-high 15 digs for her 21st double-double of the season.
The final two matches of the season took UConn to BIG EAST rivals Georgetown and Villanova where they defeated both by scores of 3-1. The two wins were a strong push in conference play, but were not enough to overcome earlier losses. For the first time since the inception of the BIG EAST Tournament in 1982, the Huskies failed to qualify. Only four of the 13 BIG EAST volleyball teams were invited to play, and the Huskies’ 6-6 conference record ranked them seventh. Despite the disappointment, UConn’s final victory was a big one, as it marked the 20th win of the season. The total marked the fifth time in six years that Kelli Myers has led UConn to 20+ wins, and also got the team back up to a higher level after recording just 14 wins the previous season.
