The College at Brockport Volleyball team was united with a single goal in mind over the weekend when it traveled to New Paltz for State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) pool play. It wanted to win the top seed of SUNYACs and host the tournament. The mission was accomplished with Saturday's win against previously undefeated New Paltz. The Green and Gold proved resilient, clawing their way back from a 0-2 deficit to win three straight sets handing the Hawks their first regular season conference loss since 2012. The Golden Eagles also picked up another conference victory over Plattsburgh to remain undefeated in conference play during the regular season.
Brockport (28-1 Overall, 9-0 SUNYAC) was in a constant battle with the reigning conference champions and trailed 0-2 after two sets losing by scores 25-22 and 28-26. However the Golden Eagles' refused to submit to the Hawks will and rallied with three straight set victories by scores of 25-23, 25-20 and 15-12. The Green and Gold swept Plattsburgh by scores of 25-19, 25-14 and 30-28.
Match 1: 3-2 win against SUNY New Paltz
Kathleen Irwin had ice water running through her veins late in the third set, unable to feel the heat from the pressure. The Golden Eagles trailed 22-21, before Noelle Poloncarz set up a kill by Emily Flohr to tie the score. Irwin proceeded to serve the ball for Brockport, pushing the team closer to a fourth set. Sam Holdredge earned the Golden Eagles 23rd point before Ashley Capone and Jamie Schlesinger's combined block put Brockport a single point away from winning its first set. The Hawks scored the next point before Poloncarz and Holdredge teamed up on the clinching point for the third set.
Poloncarz led a key run for Brockport during the fourth set, serving the team to four consecutive points and a 10-7 lead. The sophomore setter assisted on the first three points successful attacks from Schlesinger and Kayla Barber. She then cleverly dropped an unexpected attack between the Hawk defenders for her own kill and a 10-7 advantage.
The two teams traded points until multiple kills from Barber and a service ace from Holdredge separated the two even more, giving Brockport the 17-11 lead. The crowd was quite vocal at this point trying to will the home team back for the victory but Poloncarz and Barber sent the game to the conclusive fifth set with the 25th Green and Gold point.
Barber put Brockport ahead in the fifth set with a kill for the first point. She went to the service line and helped the Golden Eagles earn its second point. New Paltz rallied for a 2-2 tie, but Irwin once again proved to have the clutch touch. Holdredge got Brockport the ball back with a kill assisted by Maddy Taylor. Irwin followed with an ace. Capone scored the next point on an assist from Schlesinger after Poloncarz made a dig and Holdredge put the team ahead 6-2 with a kill.
Brockport possessed an undeniable flow, in which the New Paltz coach made a wise choice of calling a timeout. The Hawks rallied after the timeout to even things at 6-6. Holdredge showed grit following an attack that narrowly missed the opponent's line. She put Brockport back ahead with a kill on the following series of plays.
Aimee Spilman subbed in to serve after Brockport's seventh point. Capone and Holdredge blocked New Paltz's attack for the 8-6 advantage. Spilman aced for the ninth point. New Paltz scored the next two points making the score 9-8. Holdredge crushed a ball off New Paltz's wall for a kill on a Spilman pass.
The Hawks rallied back to even things up at 11-11. Barber's big swing gave Brockport the advantage again. Rachel Fiser subbed in to the game to serve, and responded with an ace. Head coach Steve Pike called a timeout following a momentum swinging Hawks point.
Barber responded with two more kills to close off the Hawks, seal the victory and clinch the top seed for the SUNYAC playoffs. With the victory Brockport will host the SUNYAC tournament on Nov. 6th-7th with times yet to be determined.
Overall on the match, Barber led the roster with 25 kills. Capone possessed the top hitting percentage at a .400 clip while adding 15 kills. Also topping double digit kill totals were Holdredge with 19 and Schlesinger with 10. Poloncarz led the Green and Gold offense with 59 assists while also chipping in 11 digs.
Defensively Holdredge led the team with 26 digs while also successful handling all 22 serves sent in her direction. Libero Kathleen Irwin finished the match with 17 digs, including several impressive diving ones to keep Brockport in the action. Not only was Irwin impressive defensively, she was a force from the line totaling four aces. Capone also helped defense into offense as she posted four blocks.
Match 2: 3-0 win against SUNY Plattsburgh
Brockport won its 18th straight match after defeating Plattsburgh. Capone had a brilliant game for the Golden Eagles totaling 11 kills compared to only two errors for a hitting percentage of .529. Mallory Sullivan played all three sets with not a single error while adding seven kills.
Poloncarz was once again the assist machine with 37 total dished out. DeAnna Ortiz-Whittemore also contributed seven kills for Brockport's attack.
The defensive effort was distributed amongst several Golden Eagles. Taylor and Poloncarz were the only two that topped 10 digs during the match but Spilman, Sullivan, Hannah Sawicki, Fiser, Holdredge, Barber, Jes Marini and Irwin also contributed.
Brockport hosts RIT on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for senior night before a tournament in Keuka next weekend. The weekend of Nov. 6-8, Brockport will host the SUNYAC tournament. Be sure to stay up to date on all your Golden Eagle scores and awards by following @BportAthletics on Twitter and by liking the "Brockport Golden Eagles" Facebook page.
