The women's volleyball team played two games at St. John Fisher College on Saturday Oct. 29 and came home with one win and one loss against St. John Fisher and SUNY Potsdam, respectively, bringing their record to 17-18.
In the first match against Fisher, the Cardinals defeated the Knights in just three sets, 24-26, 18-25, 14-25.
"We just weren't completely there," head coach Jennifer Salmon said. "We had the opportunity to take the first set at 24-23, but the second and third set were both just flat games."
Senior Kat Strickland led the offensive line against Fisher with 10 kills. Sophomore Ronnie Guszcza and freshman Jessica Prater followed behind with a combined 11 kills, with Geneseo ending the game with a total of 29 kills.
Sophomore Noelle Morrison led the defensive line with 13 digs while junior Laura Galvin added 10. Sophomore Alysia Negron and senior Alex Hughes each had seven digs to bring the team's total to 43. Morrison also had 25 assists.
The team turned around against Potsdam, overtaking them in three sets. Strickland led the team to victory with 14 kills to add to her record.
"Strickland, as always, is a huge difference-maker in every match," Salmon said. Prater and Guszcza assisted the offensive line with a combined 15 kills.
On the defensive line, Negron contributed 12 digs while Morrison and Galvin shared eight digs each. Morrison had 31 assists.
"From start to finish against Potsdam we played a solid game," Salmon said. "We were able to get everyone on the court."
The team will face SUNY New Paltz on Thursday Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. at SUNY Cortland to determine if they will move on to the SUNYAC semifinals.
"If we keep the energy and focus and execute our game plans, we have a solid opportunity against New Paltz," Salmon said. The game will be the team's first match against New Paltz, whose record is 24-10 and 6-2 in the SUNYAC conference.
If the Knights win on Thursday, they will go on to play SUNY Fredonia on Friday Nov. 4. Fredonia has defeated Geneseo twice this season.
"We've got a good spot going into the tournament," Salmon said. "At this point, we are reviewing what to expect from New Paltz: their weaknesses and our advantages."