SUNY Geneseo

GENESEO, N.Y. - The SUNY Geneseo women's volleyball team swept SUNY Poly 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at Carl Schrader Gymnasium, improving to 13-7 overall and 7-1 in Empire 8 play. Before the match, the Knights celebrated their six seniors, Zooey Gagnier, Ellie McLennan, Cory Elder, Peyton Cole, Sydney Leigh-Manuell and Gianna Lucchi, in a pre-game ceremony.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• SUNY Poly scored the first point of the match, but Geneseo answered with seven straight points to lead 7-1. Jessica Macken served most of the run, which included two aces and a kill from Kate Barba. A McKenna Callari ace made it 9-2, and after SUNY Poly cut it to 10-4, kills from Barba and Elder pushed the lead to 13-5. Geneseo later scored three straight, from 14-7 to 17-7, on a Sophie Hunter kill and a kill from Ayla Pas'cal. Barba served an ace for a 23-13 lead, and Elder finished the set with a kill off a Molly McKinney set to win it 25-14. Geneseo hit .667 in the set, with nine kills and one error.
• The second set was tied at 3-3 before Geneseo took control with a 6-0 run, from 6-6 to 12-6. Barba served the last five points of the run, which started with a kill from Leigh-Manuell off a Lucchi set and included three SUNY Poly errors and a Barba ace. Elder then served an ace and added two more SUNY Poly errors to make it 16-7. Geneseo pushed the lead to 24-10 with another 6-0 run, with Callari serving five of the six points. Leigh-Manuell, Pas'cal, Cole and Barba each put down kills, and Callari finished the run with an ace. Cole closed the set with a kill off a Gagnier set, 25-11. Geneseo hit .417 and SUNY Poly hit -.211 in the set.
• SUNY Poly led 5-2 early in the third set, but Geneseo answered with a 6-0 run to lead 8-5. Cole started it with a kill, and Lucchi served the rest of the points, which included a Barba kill, two aces, a kill by Emily Lupini and a block by Barba and Elder. SUNY Poly rallied to lead 12-11, but Lupini's kill, a block by Cole and Dyllan Thomas, and a Macken ace put Geneseo back in front 14-12. After a tie at 16-16, Geneseo scored the next three points, two on SUNY Poly errors and one on an Elder kill, and Barba and a Lucchi ace made it 21-17. Elder added a kill for a 23-19 lead, and Leigh-Manuell closed out the match with a kill off a Lucchi set, 25-21.

QUICK FACTS:

• Kate Barba led the Knights with nine kills and hit .368.
• Cory Elder and Peyton Cole each had seven kills, and Elder hit .600.
• Jessica Macken dished out 15 assists and served four aces, with Gianna Lucchi adding 11 assists and three aces.
• McKenna Callari led the defense with 10 digs, and Zooey Gagnier added seven.
• Geneseo hit .329 as a team, compared to SUNY Poly's .000, and had a 12-3 edge in aces.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Knights stay at Schrader Gym on Tuesday, October 27th at 6 p.m. to host Brockport.