Volleyball finds success against SUNYAC opposition, falls to out-of-conference RIT

Junior middle blocker Allison Wick (no. 8) begins to elevate for a set from junior setter Mary Bartkus in a game against SUNY Potsdam on Friday Sept. 27. The Knights won against two SUNY schools this weekend (Courtesy of Jenna Smolinski).

This past weekend the Knights continued their undefeated SUNYAC record with wins over the SUNY Buffalo State Bengals and the SUNY Fredonia Blue Devils. Both matches were settled in three sets. In the Friday match versus the Bengals, set scores were 25-17, 25-20 and 25-19. The Saturday match versus the Blue Devils was very similar, with the Knights sweeping their opponent. 

The game highs of the match against Buffalo State were outside hitter Maddie McLaughlin recording 13 kills, middle blocker Kiersten Colvin with three blocks, senior libero Sam Mendelsohn with 17 digs and senior outside hitter Abby May with two service aces. First-year setter Grace Thomas set up 38 assists, her second-best performance in that stat column this season. The first set was won without much of a fight from the opposition, but the second proved to be more of a challenge. The Bengals roared back from a ten-point deficit, but it wasn’t enough. A close third set sealed the Geneseo victory. 

Against the Blue Devils, the game highs were outside hitter Grace Cergol with 11 kills, in addition to junior middle blocker Allison Wick and Cergol both recording three blocks. Junior outside hitter Alexandra Frank recorded five service aces which tied a season-high and led a 13-0 run in the first set. Geneseo attacked with a .556 kill percentage in the first set, logging 12 kills on 18 swings without any errors. In the following two sets, Geneseo fought tooth and nail to preserve their straight set victory. In this match, Cergol became the second player in program history to eclipse the 1,400 kill mark with 1,407 to date. 

When talking about SUNYAC standings, it is important to note that the Knights have not been defeated by a SUNY team thus far this season, which Wick commented on. 

“It’s pretty important since it will give us the huge advantage of hosting the SUNYAC Championship,” she said. “To defeat [the Rochester Institute of Technology ] we are going to have to focus on our style of play and making sure we use our game plan to our advantage.” 

When asked what the team learned from the weekend matches, sophomore setter Morgan Michalski told us that focusing on the details was a major factor. “We learned that when we do the little things, we are successful and performing at a higher level with more confidence,” she said. “We also learned that with the right focus we can limit our opponents’ runs to two or three points which makes a huge difference to the final score.” 

She went on to talk about the importance of the SUNYACs. “It’s been on our mind all season; we go into every game with “hang the banner” in mind. We make sure we focus on where we want to be and we use every game to help us get there,” she said. 

Michalski also named all of the team’s hitters as players who deserve praise. “I think in general our hitters deserve recognition for this past weekend as they have been working so hard on transitioning fast and trying new shots to work the opposing team's defense,” she said.

On Tuesday Oct. 8, the Knights traveled to RIT for a midweek out-of-conference road game. After the Tigers won the first set, Geneseo was able to narrowly secure the second set to tie the match 1-1. Unfortunately, RIT proved to be too much to handle and the Knights fell 4-1.

This weekend, the Knights will travel to SUNY Oneonta and SUNY New Paltz. On Friday Oct. 11 they face Oneonta at 6 p.m., while the Saturday Oct. 12 matchup versus New Paltz starts at 2 p.m.