Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 CANTON, N.Y. – The Brockport volleyball opened their season on Friday by splitting their matches against Ithaca College and No. 3 Juniata.

Game 1 vs. Ithaca: W (3-0):
The defending SUNYAC champion Golden Eagles showed no signs of slowing down in their first outing of the 2016 season, defeating Ithaca College in straight sets (25-17, 25-16, 25-16). Brockport improves to 1-0 on the season while the Bombers drop to 0-1.

Defense led the way in this matchup, as the squad combined for 53 digs in the match, led by junior Kathleen Irwin who accounted for 20. Sam Holdredge and Maddy Taylor were also big parts of the passing game, combining for 19 digs. Brianna Richardson was a leading blocker for the Eagles last season, and kept it up in this outing, recording both a solo and block assist.

"Our block looked great today," said head coach Steve Pike. "I thought Bri played a tremendous game, and our middle blockers will only continue to improve."

The offense showed some rust in the first set of the season, as they combined for 11 kills while making six hitting errors. They picked it up quickly however, as the next two sets saw a 26-4 kills to errors ratio, and a hitting percentage of .355. Holdredge led the way in that category, racking up 11 kills in the match.

Setter Noelle Poloncarz filled up the stat column in this outing, recording two kills, eight digs, and a block assist to add to her 33 assists.
 
Game 2 vs. Juniata: L (1-3)
In their second outing of the day, Brockport dropped a tough four set matchup against the third ranked team in the nation, Juniata College (31-29, 20-25, 22-25, 15-25). The loss puts Brockport at 1-1 in the early going, while Juniata improves to 2-0.

The team battled hard against Juniata, coming up victorious in the opening set before falling in the next two by just eight points combined.

"We were in each of the first three sets," noted Pike. "Going swing for swing with the number three team in the country was impressive, especially this early in the season."

The defense once again thrived, as they combined for 56 digs. Taylor and Poloncarz led the way this time, each digging up 13 balls. Poloncarz led the team in the assist category once again, dishing out 31 in the four sets.

Jamie Schlesinger recorded one of the teams three solo blocks in the match, and also had two ace serves, which tied for the team lead with Irwin.

The pin hitters provided most of the Golden Eagle offense during this outing, as Holdredge added another eleven kills to bring her total to 22. DeAnna Ortiz-Whittemore and Schlesinger backed her up, combining for fifteen kills.

The Golden Eagles will be back in action at the North Country Season Opener tomorrow, when they face Central College at 10 a.m. before a matchup with St. Lawrence at 4 p.m.

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.