The Geneseo volleyball team returned to campus on Aug. 16 for summer workouts and the beginning of their preseason practices. This season, the Knights welcome five new first-year players: defensive specialists Emily Haber and Emily Bablin, middle blocker Jackie Borland, setter Grace Thomas and outside hitter Isabella Imbo.
Another new face for the Knights is assistant coach Emily Orminiski, a recent graduate from SUNY Brockport where she was a setter on the school’s volleyball team.
To kick off the 2019 season, the Knights traveled to Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Penn. on Friday Aug. 30 to face teams from Franklin & Marshall, Arcadia University and the University of Mary Washington over the weekend.
The Knights fell to Arcadia in four straight sets in the season’s first match. During the match, sophomore outside hitter Maddie McLughlin and senior outside hitter Grace Cergol combined for 13 hits. Junior setter Mary Bartkus and Thomas combined for 34 assists at the net and junior middle blocker Kiersten Colvin recorded five blocks, three of which were solo blocks.
On Saturday, the Knights faced Franklin & Marshall dropping the match in three sets. Cergol and senior outside hitter Abby May combined for 13 kills. For defense, Mendelson recorded 14 digs and Imbo recorded 11.
In the third and final game of the Knights opening weekend, Mary Washington put up a tough fight and ultimately won after a grueling five sets.
Though the Knights opening weekend did not go as planned, the season is still looking very promising. The past two seasons have been 20-plus win seasons for the Knights and, after only graduating one senior and bringing in a lot of young talent, the Knights still have a very strong and experienced lineup.
Another huge component for the Knights is the return of Cergol, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury last fall. Cergol returned to the court and participated in all three matches during their opening weekend. The talent she brings to the team is evident from the second-straight SUNYAC Offensive Player of the Year award she received last fall.
Last year was Cergol’s second consecutive season leading the SUNYAC with 4.18 kills per set while finishing fifth in total kills and 14th in digs. Cergol was one of only two players ranked in the top 15 for both kills and digs per set and she compiled double-digit kills in all but four of her 23 appearances while notching double-doubles in kills and digs on nine occasions. The 2017 All-American is only the fifth player in SUNYAC history to win multiple Player of the Year honors.
Regarding other records, Mendelson and May also return to the starting lineup in 2019. Mendelsohn is a three-time All-SUNYAC defensive specialist that ranked sixth in the league with 3.92 digs per set last fall while climbing to fourth in program history with 1,312 career digs. Similarly, May finished fourth on the squad with 199 kills last year and currently stands 21st in program history with 659 kills. The outside hitter was tabbed a second-team SUNYAC All-Star in 2017.
Looking forward, the Knights will face Thiel College at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio on Friday Sept. 6. From there, they take on Washington & Jefferson University on Saturday Sept. 7 and will face Case Western Reserve later that day. Live stats and video can be found on the Geneseo Knights Athletic website.