The women's volleyball team went 2-1 on Oct. 7 and 15, improving its record to 13-14 after an eight-game skid.
On Friday Oct. 7, the Knights hosted SUNY Cortland, but fell to the No. 18-ranked team in three sets. Sophomore Alysia Negron led the offense with six kills and four digs.
"[Negron's] been stepping up for sure," noted head coach Jen Salmon. "She hasn't been filling as an outside hitter until recently. She has been reliable and consistent." Salmon continued, "She has a great attitude about it, too. Although she wants to be a defensive specialist, she's taking the outside hitter position and running with it."
Seniors Kat Strickland and Sarah Kuperus added five kills each, while sophomore Noelle Morrison dished out 25 assists. Morrison, along with junior Laura Galvin and senior Alex Hughes, each posted seven digs.
"I think that there was a lot going on emotionally," said Salmon of the string of losses. "They worked through it and become stronger from it … They want to play and they want to win."
On Oct. 15, the women "came in with a great mentality," according to Salmon, and defeated SUNY Canton, 24-26, 25-15, 25-11 and 25-12, snapping their eight game losing streak.
Strickland led the Knights, pounding 16 kills. Negron and sophomore Ronnie Guszcza added nine and six kills, respectively. Galvin contributed 17 digs while Morrison totaled 39 assists.
Later that day, the Knights continued their success against Houghton College. Strickland and Guszcza combined for 28 kills, while Morrison tallied 41 assists. Digs came from all around with Galvin leading with 11. Negron had nine, Morrison eight, Hughes seven and first year Julia Gangloff had six digs as well.
"Galvin was very consistent and had some standout defensive plays," Salmon said. "It was like those extra plays … the ones not always expected of her. She had some really good digs."
The Knights travel to SUNY Brockport to face Buffalo State College and the host, and SUNY Fredonia and SUNY Oswego on Oct. 21 and 22, respectively, for more SUNYAC play. Earlier this season, Geneseo went 2-2 against the other west division teams, defeating Oswego and Brockport.
"Obviously this weekend is huge, being the second round of SUNYAC pool play," Salmon said. "I just want to be happy with how we played. I want to know that we did everything we could and locked everything up there." u
Editor's Note:
The Knights dropped a four set match to Elmira College on Oct. 19, 17-25, 25-23, 18-25, 19-25.