Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Volleyball team will travel to Riverdale, N.Y. on Saturday evening to take on the College of Mount Saint Vincent in its fifth appearance in the conference championship match in the last six seasons. The Knights look to avenge a 3-0 regular season home loss against the Dolphins and claim the program's second conference tournament title and berth into the NCAA Tournament.
 
At A Glance: Mount Saint Mary moved to within a match of the .500 mark on Thursday with a 3-1 semifinal win over Sage, improving to 17-18 overall on the season. Since starting a challenging schedule 0-14, Mount Saint Mary has won 17 of its last 21 matches, including each of the last six.
 
The Knights feature five players with better than 100 kills on the season heading into Saturday's final, including senior Kayla Kurka (Islip, N.Y.) and junior Rachel Sabatini (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) who share the team lead with 197 winners each. Megan Williams (Glenmont, N.Y.) has registered 132 kills for the Knights, with Jennifer Hanley (Sayville, N.Y.) and Angelia Cirigliano (Newburgh, N.Y.) adding 131 and 126, respectively.
 
Senior Jennifer Gries (Hicksville, N.Y.) leads the team and the Skyline Conference in digs with 586, good for a per set average of 5.43. She has also chipped in with 47 service aces on the season, good for third on the team.
 
Kristen Maddock (Medford, N.Y.) holds the team lead in service aces with 65 and is second on the team with 412 assists. Senior Kaitlin O'Brien (Staten Island, N.Y.) follows Maddock in aces with 63 and has lifted 219 digs for the Knights heading into Saturday's contest.
 
Williams holds the team lead in total blocks through Thursday's semifinal match with 63, with Kurka and Hanley contributing 48 and 41 total blocks, respectively.
Head Coach: In his 13^th season as the head coach at Mount Saint Mary, Mike Strano has amassed 207 victories, with his 200^th victory coming early this season in a 3-2 road victory at Rutgers-Newark. Strano has guided the Knights to the Skyline Conference Tournament nine times, claiming the tournament championship and berth into the NCAA Tournament in 2012.
 
Under Strano, Mount Saint Mary has won the conference regular season crown three times and posted four 20 win seasons, including a program record 23 in 2012. Strano was named the Skyline Conference Coach of the Year in 2011 after posting a second straight unbeaten year in conference play.
 
A Look At Mount Saint Vincent: The Dolphins stand at 16-13 overall in 2015 after posting a 3-1 semifinal win over St. Joseph's-L.I. on Thursday night. Senior Ashleigh Scozzari led Mount Saint Vincent with 18 kills and six blocks on Thursday with Maria Leineweber contributing 10 kills and eight digs. Nicole Henderson rounded out the match with 37 assists, while Chrissy Sewell lifted 13 digs.
 
Overall on the season, Scozzari leads the team with 479 kills, 83 total blocks and a .345 attack percentage. Leineweber paces the team with 292 digs heading into Saturday and has added 272 kills and 45 service aces. Zana Daluz rounds out a trio of Dolphins with more than 200 kills on the season with 212 winners.
 
Jennifer Roman has registered a team-high 49 service aces for Mount Saint Vincent and Henderson has handed out 889 assists, averaging better than nine assists per set for the Dolphins.
 
As a team, Mount Saint Vincent is hitting .201 and has recorded 225 more kills than its opponents. The Dolphins has also totaled 260 service aces, 60 more than their opponents through 29 matches.
 
The 2015 Regular Season Matchup: Mount Saint Vincent scored a 3-0 victory on October 24 in Newburgh, handing the Knights just their second conference loss of the season. The Knights were led by eight kills from Kurka and received six winners from Sabatini. Maddock led the team with 14 assists and 10 digs, as the Knights were held to a .039 attack percentage as a team.
 
The Dolphins hit .260 as a unit and were led by 14 kills and a .429 attack percentage from Scozzari. Leineweber added 10 kills and 14 digs for Mount Saint Vincent with Sewell contributing seven digs and four service aces.
 
The Series: Mount Saint Mary and Mount Saint Vincent have met at least once a season since the start of the 1993 campaign. The Knights have won 20 of the previous 25 meetings heading into Saturday's tilt, including a string of 12 straight matches from 2002-12. The two teams have split the last four meetings, with the Knights winning an opening round conference tournament match in 2013 and taking the 2014 regular season contest, while the Dolphins won regular season matches in 2013 and 2015.
 
How They Got Here: The Knights advanced to the championship match by defeating Maritime in the Opening Round and then traveling to Sage and eliminating the second seed Gators in four sets. The Dolphins earned the top seed in the tournament and following an Opening Round bye topped St. Joseph's-L.I. in four sets.
 
The Knights are looking for their second title since 2012, while the Dolphins are in search of their first conference championship in program history. 

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