ALFRED, NY – The Alfred State women's volleyball team delivered a dominant performance Friday evening, sweeping SUNY Canton 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-18) in SUNYAC action inside the Orvis Activities Center. The victory improves the Pioneers to 14-9 overall and 4-2 in conference play.
Head Coach
Gene Doorley stated,
This was not our best volleyball, by any means, but anytime you show up with not your best volleyball, your best game, and walk away with a conference win, it's a good day. I think we learned and moved on as the match went on. I think our main goal is to keep pushing ourselves into positions so we can get into the playoffs for the SUNYAC conference and hopefully stay on the roll we are on.
Alfred State controlled the match from the service line and on defense, piling up 14 service aces and 57 digs while holding SUNY Canton to a .106 hitting percentage. The Pioneers never dropped a set and closed out the match in just 80 minutes in front of a home crowd of 200.
A balanced Alfred State attack featured three players in double figures.
Alayna Tomlinson led the way with 12 kills and a team-high 18 digs for a double-double, while
Gloria Stem added 11 kills and nine digs.
Rebecca Jackson chipped in six kills while hitting .333.
The Pioneers' offense flowed through setter
Isabel Carew, who recorded 33 assists and matched the team lead with five service aces.
Ava Wickes was equally disruptive from behind the service line, collecting six aces to go along with eight digs and three assists.
Defensively, Alfred State received strong contributions throughout the lineup. Tomlinson's 18 digs paced the back row, while Wickes added eight digs and
Caley Larsen contributed seven digs and an ace. At the net,
Erin Gregoire posted four kills and two solo blocks, while
Brianny Rodriguez added four kills and a block.
The opening set was all Alfred State after an early 6-1 run fueled by back-to-back aces from Carew. The Pioneers later extended their lead to 18-10 and closed the frame with three straight points to take a 25-17 victory.
The second set proved to be the most competitive of the match. After SUNY Canton erased an early deficit and eventually took a 13-11 lead, Alfred State responded with key kills from Stem, Jackson, and Tomlinson. The Pioneers regained control late and scored four of the final five points to secure the set 25-21.
In the third set, Alfred State recovered from an early 2-0 deficit and used a 7-0 run highlighted by consecutive aces from Carew and Wickes to build momentum. The Roos closed within one point midway through the set, but the Pioneers answered behind clutch kills from Tomlinson, Stem, Gregoire, and
Alli Hillyard before Tomlinson slammed home the match-winning kill for a 25-18 victory.
The Pioneers will be back in action tomorrow as they host SUNY Potsdam for senior day. First serve for that match is set for 1 pm.
