BUFFALO, N.Y – The College at Brockport volleyball team wrapped up the 2017 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) regular season on Saturday, running the table to take their third straight SUNYAC Regular Season crown, defeating Buffalo State and SUNY Cortland.
The wins secure the number one seed in the SUNYAC Conference tournament, giving the Green and Gold the right to host the league championship on Nov. 3-4. Brockport improves to 19-8 on the year and boast an unblemished 9-0 mark in league play following the pair of wins.
Game One vs Buffalo State: W, 25-18, 25-14, 25-15
In the first set of the day, the Golden Eagles wasted no time claiming the lead, and after a pair of kills from
Cassie Birth and
Brianna Richardson, posted a 6-3 edge. The set remained close, but Brockport was in complete control throughout. Three straight Green and Gold kills, two from
Laiken Fox and a dump from
Noelle Poloncarz gave the Golden Eagles a little breathing room at 17-14, forcing a Buff State timeout. The Green and Gold came out of the break even stronger, closing the door on the opening frame behind a 6-1 run, to claim set one, 25-18.
Brockport continued their strong play in the second frame, working out to a 14-8 lead behind two service aces from
Maddy Taylor and kills from
Jamie Schlesinger and a pair of kills from
Elena Grossman. The Green and Gold didn't let up, taking advantage of Bengal errors and capitalizing on their own strong play to put set two out of reach of their counterparts. Four straight Golden Eagle points closed the set, cementing the 25-13 win.
In the final set of the match Brockport wasted no time, making quick work of the Bengals. Following a 12-1 Green and Gold run, with kills from
Meaghan Mastro and Fox, the Golden Eagles enjoyed a 21-7 lead. Brockport didn't let off the gas, racing to a 25-15 win, to take the match in decisive 3-0 fashion.
Fox led the Brockport offense, posting a game-high 11 kills in the match. Mastro, Birth and Schlesinger added to the balanced offensive attack, each chipping in seven kills while Richardson added five. Poloncarz directed the offensive unit, handing out 34 assists on the day, while also picking up a contest-high 13 digs.
Taylor chipped in eight digs, while
Kathleen Irwin and
Christa Mickol added six apiece in the same category. Mastro stepped up her defensive effort, notching five blocks on the day while
Lindsey Luce picked up three stoppers.
Game Two vs SUNY Cortland: W, 25-19, 25-8, 25-18
The Golden Eagles didn't skip a beat heading into their second match of the day, looking to make quick work of the Red Dragons. Brockport rushed out to a 10-3 lead, using an Irwin ace to cap the run. The Green and Gold capitalized on Cortland errors, and closed out the set with three Fox kills and a Birth kill to take the opening frame 25-19.
In the second set, the Green and Gold took no prisoners, posting a quick 25-8 win. Brockport racked up 18 team kills in the set, hitting a hot .533 hitting percentage in the second set.
In a closer final set, the Golden Eagles still worked to take care of business against their counterparts. Brockport posted a six-point run behind kills from Schlesinger and Mastro and a Mickol service ace to post a 10-4 lead. Head coach
Steve Pike's squad didn't let up, using a 5-0 run, sparked by a Richardson kill, to push to a 23-16 advantage. Fox helped the Green and Gold close out the match, putting away a Luce set up to clinch the set 25-18 and the match, 3-0.
Three Golden Eagles found themselves with double-digit kills, with Birth leading the way with 13, and Fox and Mastro adding 11 and 10 respectively. Mastro boasted a .600 percent hitting clip, going 10-for-15 in the set, while Fox wasn't far off pace with a .429 hitting percentage.
Poloncarz paced the offense, dishing out 32 assists in the contest. Taylor led the defensive efforts, sprawling for 17 digs, while Poloncarz added 10 pickups.
The Golden Eagles will take a break from league play, hosting Rochester Institute of Technology on Oct. 24 at 6 p.m.
Be sure to stay up to date on all of your Golden Eagle scores and awards by following @BportAthletics on Twitter and by liking the "Brockport Golden Eagles" Facebook page.
