ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College women's volleyball team welcomes Misericordia University to Speidel Gymnasium for a non-conference match on Thursday, October 18. The bout is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. and will serve as the Soaring Eagles' Class of 2018 Recognition Day.
LAST TIME OUT
The Soaring Eagles last competed at the Roos Classic, hosted by SUNY Canton, on Saturday and Sunday. Elmira ended the event with a 2-1 record after rallying from two sets down to beat the host Kangaroos, 3-2, and downing University of Maine at Fort Kent, 3-1. EC's only blemish over the weekend came at the hands of SUNY Potsdam, who bested the Soaring Eagles by a 3-0 final score. Juniors
Taylor Kaznowski '19,
Natalie Schieder '19 and
Rachel Katzenberger '19 all shined at the event. Kaznowski finished the trio of matches with 115 assists and 31 digs. Schieder continued to show why she is one of the best two-way players in the Empire 8 Conference, as she recorded a team-high 54 kills in addition to 39 digs. Katzenberger excelled on the defensive end of the court with a team-high 60 digs over the weekend.
THANK YOU COURTNEY
Thursday's bout will serve as Elmira's Class of 2018 Recognition Day.
Courtney VanBuren '18 will be recognized prior to the start of tomorrow's contest, as the only graduating member of the team. VanBuren, a middle blocker from Middleport, New York, has tallied 24 kills and six total blocks in her three years at EC.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
After dropping three of its last four bouts, Misericordia's overall record stands at 13-16. The Cougars' most recent contest was a 3-1 loss at the hands of Fairleigh Dickinson on Tuesday evening, which dropped its mark inside Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom play to 1-5. Misericordia's main strength this year has been its ability to generate service aces, as it ranks second in the MAC in aces per set (2.38). It has been a team effort at the service line for the Cougars, as Karley May (0.47), Tara Welliver (0.46) and Ariana Gagliardi (0.41) all rank in the top 20 of the conference's aces per set leaders. Welliver has also been one of Misericordia's most consistent offensive threats. The sophomore from Towanda, Pennsylvania, paces the team in kills (197) and hitting percentage (.311), the latter of which is the eighth-highest clip in the MAC. On defense, Welliver has been the Cougars' best blocker, as she leads the team with 59.0 total blocks. Junior libero Kaitlin Wheeler has also made her mark on defense this season with a team-leading 316 digs.
SERIES HISTORY
The all-time series between the Cougars and the Soaring Eagles has featured four previous matches. The most recent meeting in the series saw Misericordia defeat Elmira by a 3-0 final score on September 28, 2013 in a neutral site tilt. Before that setback, EC had won the first three bouts against the Cougars and take a 3-1 series lead into today's match.
REACHING 1,000 KILLS
In just three seasons donning the Purple and Gold, Schieder has already started to etch her name in some of the program's record books. The Alden, New York, native's next milestone will be reaching 1,000 career kills, a mark that she currently sits just 12 kills shy of achieving. Once Schieder records 1,000 kills, she will be just the 11th Soaring Eagle to accomplish the feat and the first since Taryn Rumsey '14 did so in her junior campaign of 2012.
KATZENBERGER SHINES AT CANTON
Katzenberger was fantastic at this past weekend's Roos Classic, as she recorded at least 16 digs in all three matches. The highlight of the event was Katzenberger's career-best 25-dig performance in EC's 3-2 win over the host Kangaroos. With her noteworthy play over the weekend, the product of High Bridge, New Jersey, climbed to third on Elmira's digs leaderboard with 222, trailing just Schieder (305) and Kasey Campbell '19 (258).
LOOKING AHEAD
The Soaring Eagles return to action on Saturday, October 21, when they head to Albany, New York, to take part in an Empire 8 Crossover at The Sage Colleges. Elmira begins the event with an 11:00 a.m. match against the host Gators of Sage, before it concludes the invite with a neutral-site bout against Houghton College at 1:30 p.m.
