Brockport, NY – The No. 3 seeded SUNY Brockport volleyball team will take on No. 2 seeded Geneseo on Friday night in the SUNYAC Tournament Semifinals, hosted by Cortland. Fighting for a chance to return to the conference finals, the match with Geneseo is scheduled to begin at 4 pm.
 
Follow Along This Weekend: The No. 1 seeded Cortland Red Dragons earned hosting rights for this weekend's SUNYAC Tournament action and will be providing live video and statistical options. Check out the links below to keep up with what happens on the court this weekend.
 
Live  Video: https://www.cortlandreddragons.com/sports/2019/8/15/BlueFramePage.aspx?bfplayvid=318047
Live Stats: https://www.cortlandreddragons.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
 
Round One Victory: The Golden Eagles hosted the No. 6 seeded Buffalo State Bengals earlier this week for a first-round matchup. They swept the visiting Bengals, 3-0, for the second time this year to earn a spot in the SUNYAC Semifinals. Andrea Coyle had 10 kills, Shelby Budnick tallied 10 digs, Kerri McHale racked up 25 assists, and Meaghan Mastro registered six total blocks.
 
Perfect at Home: The Green and Gold has been perfect at home all season, owning an undefeated mark of 12-0 playing in the Jim and John Vlogianitis Gymnasium. September 14^th, 2019 was the last loss at home for the team. With the win over Buffalo State in the opening round of the SUNYAC Tournament, Brockport has now won 20 consecutive matches on its home floor.
 
Pike's Postseason Performances: Since taking the reins of the program and missing the postseason back in 2013, Head Coach Steve Pike has brought tremendous success to the team. Brockport has not missed the SUNYAC Tournament since that first season and has won four conference titles in the last five seasons (2019, 2017, 2016, 2015). A first round exit in 2018 is the only time Pike has not led the program to at least the semifinal round of the tournament. Most recently the team won the 2019 SUNYAC Championship and continues on the road to defending its title this weekend. Going into his sixth conference semifinals appearance with Brockport, Pike holds a 4-1 record in the SUNYAC Semifinals round.
 
SUNYAC Bracket: At 9-0 in conference play this season, Cortland earned the top seed while Geneseo at 8-1 is the second seed. Both secured a first-round bye and will play their first postseason contests on Friday night. Brockport defeated Buffalo State to set up a matchup with Geneseo in the semifinals, while New Paltz beat Fredonia to earn a chance to play Cortland. The semifinal and final rounds will be hosted by Cortland this weekend. The winners of each match Friday night will determine which squads will face-off on Saturday for the SUNYAC Championship match.
 
2019 Title Run: The Golden Eagles entered the last SUNYAC Tournament as the second seed as they finished the regular season with a 7-2 mark in the conference. With a first round-bye they drew Cortland in the semifinals after the Red Dragons swept Oswego in the first round. The final four was held at Geneseo, which secured the number one seed going in. Brockport took care of Cortland with a 3-1 victory and its next opponent, Geneseo, did the same against Oneonta. The squad would earn the same triumphant score of 3-1 against the top seeded Geneseo Knights in the finals to claim the trophy.
 
Regional Rankings: Brockport volleyball team is ranked fifth in the most recent release of the NCAA Division III New York Regional Rankings. The national committee sent out this set of rankings on Sunday. The regional rankings are released to the public and are used to help determine both NCAA Tournament bids and seeding. The final rankings are released after conference championship play is concluded across the country and have a direct impact on who makes the national tournament on selection day. RIT sits atop the regional rankings at No. 1 with a record of 24-3 overall. Cortland is right behind RIT as the No. 2 team in the region, also holding a 24-3 mark. At 24-4 St. John Fisher is third, while Ithaca is fourth at 16-12 overall. The Golden Eagles at 17-9 are in the fifth spot and have strong leverage against two of the four teams ahead of them in the rankings. They have wins over RIT and Ithaca already this year.
 
2019 SUNYAC Finals Rematch: Brockport and Geneseo face-off Friday night for a rematch of the 2019 SUNYAC Championship. The Golden Eagles defeated the Knights, 3-1, to claim the trophy in 2019. Earlier this season Geneseo got the win in the regular season, defeating Brockport, 3-2, in five sets at Geneseo. The teams were incredibly, evenly matched as the team comparison in the box score showed that the Brockport-Geneseo stats read 69-66 in points, 54-47 in kills, 22-20 in attacking errors, 11-12 in aces, 4-7 in blocks, 44-44 in assists, and 62-63 in digs. Brockport took sets one and three by scores of 25-12 and 25-13. Geneseo took sets two, four, and five by scores of 25-15, 25-23, and 15-13.
 
Title Shot on the Line: It's a win or go home situation at the highest stakes at this point in the year. The Golden Eagles can make it to the SUNYAC Championship match on Saturday with a win over Geneseo to play the winner of Cortland vs New Paltz. However, a loss would eliminate the reigning conference champions and possibly put an end to the season. Winning the conference tournament will earn Brockport an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, but a loss will put the squad in a spot where it can only hope for an at-large bid.