Centerville, MA – The Sage Colleges' women's volleyball team has earned the teams' second straight Eastern College Athletic Conference berth with the selection of the 2013 ECAC Metro Division III Tournament field. Seeded fourth, the Gators will host the No. 5 seeded Hawks of Hunter College (19-14) on Wednesday, November 13 at 7 p.m. in the Neff Athletic Center (Troy, NY). The winner advances to the semifinals and finals that will take place on the campus of top seeded Kean University (Union, NJ) on Saturday, November 16.
Sage owns a 17-17 record and finished as the Skyline Conference runner-up on Saturday.
The Kean University women's volleyball team has earned the top seed in the ECAC Upstate/Metro Tournament and will host the semi-finals and finals of the event on Saturday in Harwood Arena.
The Cougars earned the No. 1 seed after a 21-13 regular season campaign and a trip to the NJAC semifinals. The five-team tournament will kick off on Wednesday, with a play-in game between Hunter College and the Sage Colleges. The winner of that match plus the other two schools will travel to Union on Saturday. The semifinals will be played on Saturday with the winners then meeting for the title later in the day. Kean will play the winner of the Sage-Hunter match in the semifinals.
Saturday's times will be announced once ECAC selections across all sports have been revealed.
2013 ECAC Division III Upstate/Metro Women's Volleyball Championship Seeds
- Kean
- Elmira
- Merchant Marine Academy
- Sage
- Hunter
Over the weekend, in the Skyline Conference semifinals, Sage defeated Mt. St. Mary College, 3-1 as junior Helen Putriment (Troy, NY/Cobleskill-Richmondville) exploded for a season-best 30 digs, while adding 14 kills in the action. Rookie Michayla Berard (Binghamton, NY/Susquehanna Valley) added 15 kills as well for the Gators while rookie setter Rachel Liebig (Hartford, NY/Hartford) posted 44 setting assists in the action with five digs and an ace.
Junior libero Katelyn Drollette (Cadyville, NY/Saranac) had 26 digs, while rookie Sara Campolieta (Fulton, NY/G. Ray Bodley) picked up 12 digs. Sophomore Morgan Robinson (Ballston Lake, NY/Shenendehowa) connected for 10 digs with seven kills, while sophomore Mickey Mango (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Springs) collected seven kills, two digs and four total blocks.
Putriment, who earned 2013 Skyline Conference Player of the Year honors earlier on the week, exceeded her semifinal performance in the championship match as she racked up 33 digs with 14 kills. Over the course of the season, she had 14 double-doubles for Sage in 2013. The junior outside hitter, now has 1,028 career kills, ranking her No. 5 on the Gator career list. She also has 1,309 career digs and stands No. 4, while being in the company of just four Sage women's volleyball player to achieve over 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs.
Berard also had a double-double as she had 11 kills with 13 digs and two block assists. Robinson connected for 11 kills with five digs for the Gators. Liebig, last week's Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week, tallied 44 setting assists with 12 digs. Drollette posted 25 digs in the finals and now has a personal-best 508 digs this fall. She has 1,112 career digs and ranked No. 11 on the Gators career list. Mango posted 11 digs with four digs and a pair of blocks. She has a team-best 81 total blocks in 2013, while elevating her resume to include 141 total blocks which is No. 7 on the career list as she moved ahead of Lauren LaRoque (140, 1996-1999) on Saturday.
Junior Jillian Schwab (Fayetteville, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) also had seven kills with an ace and four total blocks for Sage in the finals.
Drollette joined Putriment on the Skyline Conference First Team with her outstanding play this fall. Berard is second on the team with her 234 kills and has 15 aces with 73 digs and is second in blocks with 61 and was named the Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week on November 11 for her play at the Skyline Conference Tournament. Campolieta has played in 113 sets this fall and has 88 kills with 254 digs for the Gators. Liebig adjusted to her new role as the starting setter for Sage and has 393 setting assists with 23 aces and 95 digs. Schwab has 102 kills with 40 digs and 22 blocks this fall, while Mango has 164 kills with 23 digs and leads Gators with her 81 total blocks, elevating her career resume to include 190 career blocks. She starts the week ranked No. 4 on the career block list. Robinson has added 134 kills with 83 digs, while junior Ciera Holt (Delanson, NY/Duanesburg) has played in 31 sets this fall with 12 kills and 20 digs.
At the helm of the Gator volleyball program in Sandy Augstein-Collins, who is in her fifth season at Sage and has twice helped Sage to the ECAC Tournament, while garnering three Skyline Conference tournament appearances in her tenure.
