Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Volleyball team returns to action on Friday, playing the first of four matches over the two-day Roadrunner Invitational hosted by Ramapo. The Knights will tussle with Scranton and SUNY Potsdam Friday before taking on FDU-Florham and the hosts on Saturday. Live Stats will be available for all matches and video will be available for the 2:00 p.m. match on Saturday against Ramapo.
At A Glance: The Knights enter the weekend at 2-7 overall after going 1-3 last weekend at the New Paltz Hawks Invitational. The Mount dropped decisions to the host Hawks, Stockton and Montclair State and picked up its second win of the season in a sweep of Southern Vermont.
In the victory over Southern Vermont,
Nicole Spinelli (Wantagh, N.Y.) put away a career-high 12 kills and hit a blistering .688 in 16 attempts for the Knights. She added four of the team's 16 service aces in the match, joining freshman
Danielle Kralik (Bedford Hills, N.Y.) with a team-high in the category.
Kim Gries (Hicksville, N.Y.) led the Mount with 28 assists with
Chelsea Barberan (Fishkill, N.Y.) lifting a team best nine digs.
Overall, Mount Saint Mary hit .348 in the win to go along with 16 service aces, 39 digs and a pair of total team blocks.
Sophomore
Morgan Burke (Ringwood, N.J.) leads the Mount with 60 kills heading into the weekend, while Spinelli paces the Knights with 11 total blocks and is tied for the team lead in service aces at 19 with
Julimar Figueroa (Dorado, Puerto Rico). Barberan is averaging nearly four digs per set and Gries is handing out better than seven assists per set.
Scouting Scranton: The Royals enter play Friday at a perfect 10-0 on the season and receiving votes in the latest AVCA national poll. Scranton has dropped just seven sets over its first 10 contests, including a 3-2 win over Cortland in its last outing.
Kristen Kirwan is hitting .309 for Scranton and paces the team with 135 winners with Kindler Norman and Kyra Bevenour each averaging better than 10 assists per set. Victoria Capogna leads the Royals in both total blocks with 27 and service aces with 21.
Preview Potsdam: Potsdam begins the weekend at 4-3 overall and is coming off a straight set loss to Clarkson as part of the Clarkson/Potsdam Tournament. Kelsea Healis finished off a strong contest with seven kills and 10 digs for the Bears.
Through the season's first seven matches, Kelsey Tomkins leads the way in kills with 55 and total blocks with 19. Brianna Rodda has handed out 203 assists for the Bears with Healis leading the way with 14 service aces to go along with 54 kills.
FDU-Florham Forecast: The Devils stand at 3-2 overall heading into Friday and are coming off a 3-0 loss to DeSales in their MAC Freedom opener on Wednesday. Melissa Gaffney rounded out the tilt with nine kills and 10 digs, while Courtney Conte handed out a team-high 25 assists.
Gaffney sits atop the team leaderboard in kills with 48, while Meliisa Lehnert paces the squad in service aces with 10 and total blocks with five. Conte has handed out a team-high 142 assists, averaging 9.47 helpers per set.
Researching Ramapo: The hosts enter their home invitational with a 3-2 overall record and is coming off a 3-0 home loss to Hunter on Tuesday. Larysa Iwaskiw put away 19 kills and lifted 10 digs in the loss with Kate Shirkey finishing off a double-double effort with a team-high 17 assists to go along with 11 digs.
Through five contests in 2017, Iwaskiw paces the Roadrunners in kills with 121 and digs with 82. She is good for nearly seven kills per set for Ramapo and is lifting just under five digs per frame. Shirkey leads the way with 118 assists, averaging nearly seven helpers per set.
What's Next: Following a busy weekend in Mahwah, N.J., the Knights will travel to Jamaica, N.Y. to take on York on September 19. The midweek, non-conference clash is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
