Papageorgiou outdid herself in a historic win against Austin Peay and showed hard work makes the dream work! Faki, Psoma, Anagnostou and Karakasi recorded double doubles, significantly enhancing the performance of their teams. In fact, Psoma, with her new career high of 22 kills, was only 4 kills away from the highest number of kills (26) for SSC this season. Mpampiri in the 2nd All-Conference team! National rankings for Bakodimou, 3rd in NCAA for aces, and Kathariou, 2nd in NCAA for blocks!
With the season just underway in collegiate women's basketball teams, international girls started to make a difference in the box scores. Elena Bosgana had her maiden voyage with the national champion Stanford Cardinal, and delivered a great performance, helping Stanford to an easy win, leading the positive column of the box score with a +34 efficiency rating, adding 4/8 FGs, 2/4 3pters, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
With the regular season wrapping up in October, and just concluding with their Regional tournaments, the NJCAA girls are now preparing for the big NJCAA D1 Volleyball Tournament! Alexandra Koleva broke her personal record of 51 assists with 53 in the match against Blinn and then two days later she broke it again with 56! Cagla Bengi notched her first career double-double against Marquette with 12 assists and 11 digs while Irem Elmas added another one in her bio with 10 kills and 12 digs!
The Greek middles are having a blast in the States! Kathariou is further establishing herself as one of the premier blockers nationally this season, sitting at #3 nationally in total blocks, only one block behind second place… In the match against Marquette University, had 15 kills with 0 hitting errors, a performance that put her on the Big East Weekly Honor Roll! Along her side, Mpampiri and Tontai with 55% and 66.7% hitting efficiently respectively, significantly continue to help their teams. More good performances, so more double-doubles! Last week, two Greek players recorded double doubles, enriching their bios even more. Strange is the fact that both of them had 10 kills and 12 digs, with Faki in the match against Fresno State and Hounta against Cleveland State.
1. In short, what are your memories of your career in America and at the University of Pittsburgh, Coach Dan Fisher, ACC & NCAA D1 Volleyball? I think I should start with a reference to my first coach, Dan Fisher, who has managed to launch the program to the top of the rankings. He is probably the best coach I have ever worked with and he deserves everyone's congratulations. It has been almost four years since I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and what has remained beyond my memories are the excellent relationships I have maintained with the coaching staff and with former teammates, many of whom I have found playing in the Greek championship. I only have positive memories to remember from my career in America. I developed spiritually and as a player, I got to know different cultures and I traveled to places that I then thought I would only watch on TV.
With yet another basketball season about to begin, it is fascinating to observe the continuous increase in both numbers and talent level of international women’s basketball players competing across the US. From the national champions at Stanford adding Elena Bosgana, to All-Conference players in Power-5 and high/mid-major D1 conferences, to D2, NAIA, and NJCAA All-American prospects, this 2021-2022 season may be the year of the foreigner.
Last week, not 1, not 2, but… 8 Greek internationals recorded double-doubles in their stats! More specifically, the players who had a double-double are Zoi Faki, Alexandra Psoma, Elena Karakasi (two), Ariadni Kathariou (two), Iro Hounta (two), Ioanna Charitonidi, Elena Baka and Olga Zampati. Actually, in her second double-double Karakasi broke her previous personal record of 57 assists from 2019, with 58 against FSU! With this new record output, Karakasi rose to #44 in total assists in NCAA D1. On the other end of the state of New York, St. John was on the road this weekend, travelling to DC to face Georgetown, and to Philadelphia to face Villanova. Ariadni Kathariou helped her Johnnies by setting three personal bests with 14.5 points, 14 blocks (a new Big East record), and 5 assists against Georgetown in a hard-fought 3-2 W. Not letting up, the very next day the Greek Red Storm was out for more damage, raining 10 more blocks and 14 points on Villanova. After this weekend, Ariadni sits at #21 in total blocks in NCAA D1. Words are not enough for these girls…
Beste Ayhan is in 2nd place in America East for hitting percentage and first for total blocks, while still Top-10 overall in blocks in NCAA D1! Mila Ilieva is in 10th place in America East for hitting percentage and Melisa Tore is in 5th place in Conference USA for serving aces! Hande Yetis, Sevgi Koyuncu and Irem Ucar broke their personal records and added new career-highs to their resumes with 41 assists, 8 assists and 48 assists respectively! In the match against UCSB, Sabire Karacaova put down 17 balls and picked up 15 hits!
Freshman outside/opposite hitter Peyman Yardimci recorded another double-double last week with 19 kills and 14 digs! Beste Ayhan and Mila Ilieva’s UMBC currently stands at the top of the America East Conference with a conference overall record of 9-0! Also, Beste is the player with the most blocks in AEC and 4th in the entire nation (112 in total)!
With yet another basketball season about to begin, it is fascinating to observe the continuous increase in both numbers and talent level of international women’s basketball players competing across the US. From the national champions at Stanford adding Elena Bosgana, to All-Conference players in Power-5 and high/mid-major D1 conferences, to D2, NAIA, and NJCAA All-American prospects, this 2021-2022 season may be the year of the foreigner. 
