WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

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BUFFALO, NY - University at Buffalo head volleyball coach Sally Kus has announced the signing of two student-athletes to National Letters of Intent to continue their athletic and academic careers at UB in the fall of 2002. Joining the Bulls for the 2002 season are Amy Brown (Pittsburgh, PA/Mt. Lebanon), a 5-10 setter, and Katie Weekley (Dayton, OH/Chaminade-Julienne), a 6-3 middle hitter.

Brown will be counted on right away to step into the starting setter spot to replace senior Larissa LaCour (West Islip, NY/West Islip), who will graduate later this month. Brown played for Sweet Home High School graduate Brian Begor at Mt. Lebanon High School and on the Penn Juniors club team. She was a four-year letterwinner at Mt. Lebanon and led her team to the 2001 state championship title and to four state championship appearances. A three-time All-District and two-time All-State selection, she was also recruited by Butler, Lehigh and Duquesne. Brown has been accepted into the UB Honors Program.

"We know that Amy will be an impact player for us right away," said Kus. "She's had great experience at the high school and junior levels, and we'll be able to run a fast, up-tempo offense with her as the quarterback. She's a quiet leader, and she's a very solid defensive player as well."

Weekley comes to UB after a successful career at Chaminade-Julienne High School in Dayton, OH where she was coached by Paula Boch. She was the Conference Offensive Player of the Year as a senior and a second-team All-District honoree. Weekley was also a nominee for the Rae Burick Women in Sports Award, which recognizes excellence in a sport, leadership in athletics and school activities, academic performance and community service. Weekley has also played club volleyball on the Dayton Juniors team, coached by Sarah Mikla. She chose UB over Southern Mississippi and has also been accepted into the UB Honors Program.

"What I like about Katie is that she makes herself a part of every play at the net, both offensively and defensively," said Kus. "She gets into the action, she's very intense and she has a commanding net presence. She's also a positive court leader and will bring a lot of intangibles to our team off of the court."

The Bulls will look to both Weekley and Brown to step in and contribute right away in 2002 to help them build on a strong spring season. Buffalo's six returning letterwinners, with right side hitter Molly Schrantz (Depew, NY/Lancaster) handling the setting duties, posted a 20-5 game record during the spring season, playing at tournaments in Syracuse, Binghamton and Buffalo. Buffalo's game records during the spring season were as follows:

Syracuse Tournament:
2-0 vs. Canisius
2-0 vs. Syracuse
2-1 vs. Bucknell
1-2 vs. Juniata
Buffalo Tournament
2-1 vs. Edinboro
2-0 vs. Syracuse
2-0 vs. Pitt-Bradford
Binghamton Tournament
2-0 vs. Siena
1-1 vs. Syracuse
2-0 vs. Binghamton
2-0 vs. Fordham

"Our players have responded well to a new training program, and we saw a dramatic improvement in that area carry over onto the court," said Kus. "In the absence of a setter for the spring, Molly Schrantz really took over and gained a lot of experience being in that role. The biggest on-court improvements we saw were in our blocking, our transition and middle play and our running of combination plays. We played well defensively also and came up with a lot of key digs that kept us in rallies. The spring season was a success, and we're ready to build on that in the fall."

The Bulls will open their 2002 season with a home tournament, the UB Hampton Inn-vitational, on Friday, August 30 and Saturday, August 31 in Alumni Arena.