ALBANY, N.Y. – Russell Sage College clinched its first appearance in the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament with this afternoon's home sweep of SUNY Geneseo (26-24, 25-13, 25-19).
Middle hitter Monalissa Carius (Hudson, NY/Hudson), a grad student, registered a career-high 11 kills on .450 hitting to help RSC(14-13/4-7 E8) secure the historic victory.
'I'm so thrilled for our team to make the E8 playoffs for the first time ever," said Head Coach Rosilyn Cummings. "We have been working so hard this year to earn our spot within the postseason. This win is a great confidence and momentum builder heading into our Quarterfinal match against Nazareth. We had career performances from several members of the team that helped us to show the real potential of this squad.'
Senior outside hitter Macey Salvione (Johnstown, NY/Gloversville), who started the week ranked in the top-45 nationally in kills, aces, points, aces per-set, kills per-set, and points per-set, added eight kills on .400 hitting, while junior middle hitter Aniyah Kelley (Newcastle, DE/William Penn) contributed five kills on .417 hitting.
Setter Emma Rainville (Castleton, NY/Columbia/Binghamton), a grad student, who started the week leading the Conference in assists, dished out 17 helpers, while senior libero Katelyn Atchinson (Alplaus, NY/Niskayuna/Saint Rose) elevated 12 SUNY Geneseo (9-15/6-5 E8) and tallied six assists.
The Gators, which will be eight seed in the E8 Tournament, added to their E8-leading ace total with 14 this afternoon. Salvione and freshman middle hitter Arianna Frey (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem Central) led the effort with four apiece. They closed the day with 252 aces, 2.77 per-set.
RSC faces top-seeded Nazareth on Tuesday, November 12 in the Quarterfinals.
Gator Bites: RSC began the week leading Empire 8 Conference with 231 aces and 2.75 aces per-set, good for 31st and 37th respectively in NCAA Division III…A dozen players returned to the court in 2024…Salvione, Carius, and Kelley headlined the group…Cummings added four newcomers including transfers Atchinson and Rainville to the squad…Cummings was inducted into the SUNY Plattsburgh Athletic Hall of Fame on September 27…Salvione was announced as the E8 Player of the Week for the periods ending Sunday, September 15 and Sunday, September 29…She commenced the week leading the Conference with 397.0 points, 323 kills, 71 aces, 4.73 points per-set, and 0.85 aces per-set…The stats all put the outside hitter in the top-45 nationally in all of those categories, including third in the country with 71 aces and sixth with 0.85 aces per-set…She has tallied double-digit kills 17 times and registered 11 double-doubles this fall…Rainville began this week atop the Conference with 638 assists.
