October 9, 2010

Senior OH Jackie Podraski Goes Over 1,000 Career Kills As Pitt-Bradford Moves to 17-3

Story Courtesy of the Pitt-Bradford Athletics Staff







PITTSFORD, NY - Senior Jacki Podrasky went over 1,000 career kills in leading 
the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's volleyball team to a pair of 
non-league  wins on Saturday.



In improving to  17-3 overall, the Panthers swept Hilbert, 25-5, 25-16, 25-15, 
and downed host St. John Fisher, 25-17, 25-19, 21-25, 25-21 in extending their 
winning streak to 15  matches.



The Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference leader at 5-0, Pitt-Bradford hasn't 
lost  since the opening weekend of the season when it played NAIA power Mount 
Vernon Nazarene at the St. Vincent Tournament.



Yesterday, Podrasky finished with 23 kills, 30 digs, five aces and one block as 
the Panthers stopped a red-hot Fisher team that had won five of its last six  
matches.



The senior from Medina, Ohio and two-time first-team conference all-star is only 
the fourth UPB player to reach 1,000 career kills and is just the third to have 
eclipsed the 1,000 mark in both kills and digs. She now has 1,003 career kills 
and 1,268 career digs, which is third all-time.



"It's just fantastic to see Jackie reach a milestone like that," UPB coach Tina 
Phillips said. "She's meant a lot to this program  for four years and we're 
happy for her. And, really, her totals are even more impressive when you think 
that she's the only person to do that in the so-called 'modern' era when we've 
gone to rally scoring."



Podrasky had 14 kills against Fisher, while Maggie Johnson had 10 kills  and two 
blocks against the Cardinals and nine kills and two blocks against Hilbert. Also 
for Pitt-Bradford, Meghan Lindquist finished the day with 13 kills and two 
blocks, Cari Olewinski with 12 kills and two blocks, Michelle Sink with 21 digs 
and two aces, and Alisha Wisel with 66 assists, 17 digs and seven kills.
Wisel, a senior from Troy (Pa.) High School, also moved into second on the 
all-time UPB assist  chart with 1,893 assists.



Jillian Reitz added 20 digs against Fisher and Laura Long four assists, seven 
digs and seven kills.



"It was a good  day," said  Phillips. "We had a lot of energy and got back to 
the way we know how to play, considering we haven't been that overly sharp the 
last couple of matches."



After taking the first two sets from the Cardinals, Pitt-Bradford jumped to a 
15-7 lead in the third set before Fisher scored 15 of the next 19 points for a 
22-18 lead.



"We  just went kind of flat," explained Phillips. "Our serve receive broke down 
and we weren't getting many attacks. But we made a nice run at the end and I 
think that momentum carried over into the fourth set.
The nice thing is, in tight games  our kids don't panic. They continue to play 
with a lot  of confidence and they keep battling."
Fisher, now 14-11, did its best to take Podrasky out of the match, but like most 
of UPB's opponents this season, found the task more difficult than they had 
hoped.



"She's use to having teams key on her," Phillips said. "But what has helped is 
that we've gone to a more spread offense now and we don't just have to rely on 
her. But she continues to bang away and works hard on defense ... and I have to 
say, her and Alisha make a great team."



Pitt-Bradford, which also improved to 16-1 in the Mid-Atlantic Region, will be 
back in action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in an AMCC match at Medaille.