MARCY, N.Y. – The SUNY Polytechnic Women's Volleyball Team (10-11, 3-2 NEAC) split their four-match home tilt over the weekend, which wrapped up early Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats fell to Alfred State, who went a perfect 4-0 on the weekend to improve to 15-2 for the year, in the first match of the invitational on Friday evening. The Pioneers defeated the Wildcats in straight-sets behind a match-high 16 kills from Kay Pfleghardt. The Pioneers as a team hit .309. The Wildcats managed to make a run in the final set but ultimately fell 25-23.
In the nightcap SUNY Polytechnic rebounded with a 3-1 win over Elmira College. The Wildcats won the first set 25-18, then dropped the second set by the same score before finishing things out with set wins of 25-18 and 25-17.
Megan Will (Remsen, N.Y. / Remsen) and Emma Larson (Miller Place, N.Y. / Miller Place) led the team in kills with 11 and 10 respectively, with the Wildcats as a team making just 10 hitting errors on the match (.298 hitting percentage).
Perhaps SUNY Polytechnic's best showing of the weekend came in the team's third match, which occurred on Saturday morning versus Utica. SUNY Poly was swept by Utica in an earlier meeting on September 10th, but played a much better match on Saturday, beating the Pioneers 3-1 to even the season series.
The Wildcats won each of their three sets in convincing fashion. The team's only hiccup came in the second set, which the Pioneers won handily, 25-14.
SUNY Poly was in command the entire match, playing extremely well on both offense and defense. The Wildcats recorded an eye-popping 92 digs on the match, which no doubt helped the team transition to offense where the Wildcats held a 51-32 advantage in kills. Four players recorded double-digit kills for the home team, as Larson led the way with 13. Megan Will, Morgan Eberley (Utica, N.Y. / Whitesboro), and Shelby Kostal (Greenport, N.Y. / Greenport) were the other players in double-figures, each recording 11 kills.
Erika Reakes (Brewerton, N.Y. / Paul V. Moore) had the lioness's share of the team's impressive dig total, tallying 32 of her own, while Eberley recorded 23 digs to go along with a team-high 3 service aces.
SUNY Poly finished the weekend with another match against the Alfred State Pioneers, where the home team again was swept, 3-0. Still, the Wildcats appear to be playing well as they head into a big conference weekend next Saturday at Cazenovia. First, though, SUNY Poly will host Southern Vermont College this Tuesday. Match time is scheduled for 6:00 pm.
