Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Volleyball team closes out the 2017 regular season with four road matches this week. The Knights travel to Yeshiva on Tuesday, Bard on Wednesday and play the final two regular season matches on Saturday at Sarah Lawrence against the host Gryphons and St. Joseph's-L.I.
At A Glance: The Knights are coming off a pair of Skyline Conference wins on Saturday and stand at 11-17 overall on the season and 4-3 against league rivals. The Knights posted 3-0 conference wins over Purchase and St. Joseph's-Brooklyn to finish the home regular season schedule at 3-4.
Sophomore
Morgan Burke (Ringwood, N.J.) leads the Mount with 148 kills entering Tuesday's match with Yeshiva and is three total blocks away from the team lead with 35 on the season. Junior
Nicole Spinelli (Wantagh, N.Y.) paces the Knights in blocks with 38 and service aces with 53 and ranks second on the team behind Burke with 138 kills.
Julimar Figueroa (Dorado, Puerto Rico) leads the Knights in digs with 336, good for a per set average of 3.6, and is second on the team in service aces with 47.
Kim Gries (Hicksville, N.Y.) is the team leader in assists with 594 and is handing out 7.5 helpers per set. Gries is second in the conference in assists per set, while Figueroa is second on the league leader board in digs per set.
Weekly Honors: For the second straight week,
Danielle Kralik (Bedford Hills, N.Y.) earned Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week honors it was announced on Monday. She averaged nearly three kills per set and hit .354 over eight sets.
A Look At Yeshiva: The Maccabees enter Tuesday's match at 1-11 overall on the season and 1-6 in Skyline Conference action. Yeshiva has dropped its last seven outings, including 3-0 losses to St. Joseph's-L.I. and the College of Mount Saint Vincent on Saturday.
Gavriella Colton leads Yeshiva with 46 kills and 14 total blocks, while Yael Ghelman has handed out a team-high 89 assists. Ilana Leggiere is the team leader in service aces with 14 and Dalia Sieger has lifted a team best 149 digs.
Scouting Bard: The Raptors enter Wednesday's match at 5-22 overall on the season and are coming off a pair of 3-0 Liberty League losses to Clarkson and St. Lawrence over the weekend. The Raptors have dropped nine of their last 10 outings overall, with their last win coming in a four set decision over SUNY Delhi on October 17.
Philippine Alba leads the offensive attack for Bard with 209 kills on the season, with Victoria Chou handing out a team-high 282 assists and Jewel Smith adding 260 helpers. Chou leads the way in service aces with 41, while Emily Anastasi has lifted a team-high 398 digs and Alexis Akingbade has posted a team best 44 total blocks.
Gauging The Gryphons: Sarah Lawrence enters a Thursday match with the City College of New York having lost four straight and stands at 9-13 overall and an even 4-4 against Skyline Conference rivals. The Gryphons are coming off non-conference losses to the College of Staten Island and Lehman on Saturday afternoon.
Melanie Coleman leads the way for Sarah Lawrence in three categories, holding the team-high in kills with 228, service aces with 45 and total blocks with 19. Lauren Kilroy has handed out a team best 414 assists and Camryn Sanchez is tops on the squad with 182 digs.
Previewing St. Joseph's-L.I.: The Golden Eagles have won five of their last six outings, including a straight set win over Mount Saint Vincent on Saturday, handing the Dolphins their first conference loss of the season. St. Joseph's begins the week at 11-13 overall on the year and 6-2 in conference play.
Morgan Tiska is one of three players with better than 100 kills for St. Joseph's, leading the team with 176 winners entering a Tuesday non-conference match with Albertus Magnus. Jessica Monteserrato leads the way with 342 assists, while Jessica Young has amassed 41 total blocks. Danielle Senecal is the team leader in digs with 383 and service aces with 31 and paces the Skyline Conference in digs per set with 5.3.
What's Next: The Skyline Conference Championship commences on October 31 with seeds, locations and times announced at the conclusion of play on Saturday.
