Troy, NY – The Sage Colleges' women's volleyball team hosted the quarterfinals of the 2013 Eastern College Athletic Conference Metro Tournament on Wednesday night in the Neff Center. Seeded No. 4, Sage posted at 3-0 win (25-23, 25-21, 25-21) to advance to the semifinals. Sage improves to 18-17, while Hunter's season ends at 19-15.
The Gators have advanced to face top seeded Kean University (Union, NJ) on Saturday, November 16 at 11:00 a.m. in the first semifinal match. The second semifinal match features No. 2 seeded Elmira College facing No. 3 seeded U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at 1 p.m. and the winners will advance to Saturday's Championship match at a time to be determined.
Juniors Jillian Schwab (Fayetteville, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) and Helen Putriment (Troy, NY/Cobleskill-Richmondville) each finished with nine kills to pace the Gators. Putriment added 11 digs with an ace, while Schwab also added an ace. Sophomore Morgan Robinson (Ballston Lake, NY/Shenendehowa) also connected for nine kills in the match, with an ace and four digs.
Rookie Michayla Berard (Binghamton, NY/Susquehanna Valley) added seven kills with four digs, while rookie setter Rachel Liebig (Hartford, NY/Hartford) posted 37 setting assists in the action with seven digs and an ace.
Junior libero Katelyn Drollette (Cadyville, NY/Saranac) had 18 digs, while rookie Sara Campolieta (Fulton, NY/G. Ray Bodley) picked up 10 digs. Putriment, who earned 2013 Skyline Conference Player of the Year honors last week, now has 1,037 career kills and ranks No. 5 on the Gators career list, while also racking up 1,320 career digs which is No. 4. Drollete has recorded 1,130 career digs and ranks No. 11 at Sage.
Hunter's freshman Karolina Gajda (Staten Island, NY/Susan E. Wagner) and junior Stephanie Taibe (Middle Village, NY/The Mary Louis Academy) each had nine kills for the Hawks. Taibe added six kills with three blocks, while junior Taylor Kordich (West Islip, NY/West Islip) added five kills with eight digs. Senior defensive specialist Christine Chen (Brooklyn, NY/New Utrecht) connected for nine digs in the action.
Saturday's match against the Cougars is a rematch for the Gators as they met on September 21 and Kean posted a 3-1 win.
