White a fast starter for UMass volleyball
Former Plymouth North volleyball captain Kate White is having a banner freshman season for the University of Massachusetts at Boston.
Little East Conference officials named White their Rookie of the Week for the third time Oct. 8. White began the week with 10 kills, 8 digs, and a .333 hitting percentage in a 3-0 victory at the University of Southern Maine. She followed up with a 25-kill, 9-dig performance in a 3-1 victory at Emerson College.
Through 21 matches this season, White leads UMass-Boston with 2.97 kills per game and a .265 attack percentage, and ranks second on the Beacons with 2.23 digs per game. In addition, she is fifth with 23 service aces in 69 games over 20 matches.
UMass-Boston (14-7) has benefited from White's success. The Beacons have won 12 of 14 matches, including the last six on the way to their first winning season since 1999.
Another reason for the upswing is second-year coach Terry Condon, who was an All-American at UCLA in the 1970s and spent most of her career as a Division 1 college coach before becoming an associate athletic director and volleyball coach for the Beacons.
Condon didn't recruit White, but quickly realized her talent.
``Kate walked into my office this summer, and she said she wanted to go out for the volleyball team," said Condon. ``She told me what she had done, but when practice began and I saw her play, all I could say was, `Oh my. She is something special.' "
At Plymouth North, White was the team MVP and a league all-star while the Eagles won three Atlantic Coast Conference titles.
Nicoll named CEO
of YMCA network
When he was a student at Eastern Nazarene College in the late 1960s, Braintree native Neil J. Nicoll worked part time as the front desk clerk at what is now the South Shore YMCA in Quincy.
This summer, Nicoll was appointed president and chief executive officer of YMCA of the USA, the national resource office serving 2,594 YMCAs throughout the United States.
Before he was hired as the head of the nonprofit organization, which boasts 20.1 million members, Nicoll, 59, was head of the YMCA of Greater Seattle, a post he had held since 1992.
``Our opportunity today in America is to engage and support families in attaining a healthier lifestyle, one YMCA member and one YMCA community at a time," said Nicoll in a statement.
Nicoll was an outstanding soccer player at Eastern Nazarene and served as a coach while attending graduate school.
Quirk keeping it up
for Minuteman skaters
Brockton's Corey Quirk picked up an assist in a 2-1 victory over Sacred Heart in the UMass-Amherst hockey opener, and followed with a goal and an assist in a 3-3 tie against nationally ranked Clarkson.
Quirk scored on a breakaway to give the Minutemen a 3-2 lead late in the Clarkson game. The 5-foot-9, 180-pounder played in all 36 games as a freshman, scoring 8 goals -- fourth best on the team -- and picking up 5 assists.
The former Catholic Memorial star also was named to the Hockey East All-Academic team last season.
Dedham's Kelly is in
leading roll for Huskies
Northeastern University men's basketball team -- with a new coach and a host of young recruits -- needed a steadying influence this season.
Coach Bill Coen went with three seniors as captains, including former Dedham High star Bobby Kelly, who shares the duties with Bennett Davis and Adrian Martinez.
``We are a very young team that will rely upon the leadership and experience of our three seniors," said Coen. ``I believe that these three will complement one another well and help our team succeed during this transitional period."
Kelly is the team's top returning scorer, averaging 8.6 points per game in 2005-06. He shot an impressive .535 from the floor and .440 from 3-point range. He started 55 of the team's 61 games over the past two seasons.
Before he played at Northeastern, Kelly was a three-year starter at Dedham for Dave Sheehan, who played at Northeastern in the mid-1970s. When Kelly graduated, he was Dedham's all-time leading scorer with 1,141 career points.
The Huskies, who play in the Colonial Athletic Association, kick off the season when they visit Big East Syracuse on Nov. 15.
