The College at Brockport women's volleyball team suffered its first loss of the season against Montclair State University on day two of the New York University Invitational Tournament in New York on Saturday morning. The Golden Eagles also dropped a 3-1 decision to Geneseo finishing fourth overall in the annual Labor Day Invitational Tournament in New York.
The Golden Eagles (3-2) captured the first set 30-28, but were unable to win another set in the match. The Red Hawks (3-0) won the final three with scores of 27-25, 25-23 and 26-24. In the consolation match, the Golden Eagles fell to Geneseo in four games, finishing the tournament in fourth place. The Blue Knights took the first two sets 25-15 and 25-18. Brockport battled back to win the third set 25-19, before the Blue Knights secured the match with a 25-22 triumph in the fourth set.
Senior Kelly Nowak (Orchard Park, NY/Sacred Heart) paced the Golden Ealges with 27 kills and 14 digs in the match. Junior Sarah Zelko (Elmira, NY/Horseheads) contributed 43 assists and nine digs, and junior Alex Stribing (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) and freshman Jaime Snyder (Elmira, NY/Thomas Edison) combined for 27 digs.
“We dug ourselves holes every single set,” coach Kelly Greapentrog said. “We had to fight back each time. I'm glad how hard we fought, but we need to play more consistently in the future.”
Sophomore Cassandra Inserillo (Stamfordville, NY/Stissing Mountain) was incredibly efficient on the day, registering a career-high nine kills with only one error on 22 attempts, a hitting percentage of .364. Junior Nicole Jones (West Charlton, NY/Galway) ended the match with seven kills and six blocks for the Golden Eagles.
Nowak was named to the All-Tournament team, as she tacked on 12 more kills in the Geneseo match. Zelko finished the contest with 29 assists and 11 digs. Junior Mary Cocking (Bergen NY, Byron-Bergen) totaled 19 digs, while Snyder added six kills and 17 digs.
“I was pleased with a 3-2 record. We struggled against Geneseo and Montclair St. in certain situations, and it cost us the matches. However, we're growing as a team, and we now know some of the things we need to continue to work on.”
The Golden Eagles return to the court on Wednesday when they face host St. John Fisher at 7 pm.
