BROCKPORT N.Y. – The College at Brockport volleyball team swept the first day of the Golden Eagle Invitational Friday evening, beating both Allegheny College (11-15) and Keuka College (7-19) in straight sets. Prior to the game against Keuka, the Golden Eagles honored five seniors in Noelle Poloncarz, Rachel Fiser, Kathleen Irwin, Brianna Richardson, and Aimee Spilman for their hard work and dedication to the volleyball program throughout their time at Brockport. The Green and Gold moved to 22-8 on the 2017 season with the pair of wins.
Game One vs Allegheny: W, 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-19)
Brockport started the first set of the day red hot jumping out to a 5-2 advantage over the Gators. Allegheny fought back to tie to the game up 7-7 before the Golden Eagles rallied off seven points to take a 14-7 edge, with points coming from DeAnna Ortiz-Whittemore, Meaghan Mastro, and Jamie Schlesinger. The lead was extended to 18-8 after a four-point run with kills from Mastro and Laiken Fox. Brockport cruised through the rest of set one to win by a final score of 25-13.
The second game was controlled early by the Golden Eagles as they led 7-2. Brockport found some trouble midway through the second set as the Gators pulled ahead 13-10. Both teams traded points, before the Green and Gold strung together five straight points to reclaim the lead, 19-17. Brockport was able to hold onto the lead to win set two by a final score of 25-20.
The Golden Eagles offense jumped out to an early lead with a a three and four-point streak to take a 10-4 lead. Rachel Millington lead the charge with three kills, with Schlesinger adding a kill, and Elena Grossman and Poloncarz earning a block. The Brockport defense stumbled as the gators fought back to cut the lead to trail 16-15, but they buckled down and strung together back-to-back three points runs to pull ahead 24-18. Brockport ended the third set and the match 25-19 on a kill from Kelly Waters.
Schlesinger lead offense for the Golden Eagles finishing the day with 10 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Cassie Birth, Mastro, and Richardson all finished with six kills apiece. Poloncarz paced the offense handing out 41 assists. Maddy Taylor finished the match with a game-high 20 digs, where Poloncarz and Birth both accounted for 10.
Game Two vs Keuka: W, 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-10)
Brockport breezed by the Wolves in set one winning by a final score of 25-13. The Golden Eagles started the game off earning the first four points of the match. The lead was extended to 7-3 after back-to-back kills from Richardson. The Green and Gold controlled the set after they pulled ahead 17-6 with a five-point streak and points from Ortiz-Whittemore and Mastro. Brockport closed out the first set of game two earning the last two points with a kill from Fox and a block from Richardson and Poloncarz.
The Golden Eagles fell behind early 4-3 after a three-point run from the Wolves in the second set. Brockport answered as they claimed the next six points to take a 9-4 advantage. The Green and Gold pushed with a seven-point rally to take a 16-5 advantage, and closed out the set by a final score of 25-13.
Both teams went toe-to-toe in the third set as each team battled it out early. Brockport strung together four straight points to take a 7-5 advantage. The Golden Eagles dominated the rest of set three as they pieced together a eight points to push ahead 17-8. Irwin ignited the run with two aces, where Waters and Lindsey Luce added a few kills. The third set and the match was closed out of a six-point streak to win by a final score of 25-10.
Richardson, Ortiz-Whittemore, and Luce led the way accounting for five kills on the match. Fiser and Poloncarz finished the match dishing out 14 assists each. Taylor and Poloncarz both tallied for eight digs.
The Brockport volleyball team will be back in action this Friday as they host the State University of New York Athletic Conference playoffs for the third straight year, and will face the winner of the New Paltz vs Oneonta game at 7 p.m.