Spikers Ready for Opening Serve of 2018 Campaign
The Alfred State volleyball team is wrapping up the preseason and is ready for the start of the 2018 season. The Pioneers hope to make a repeat trip to the ACAA Championship match with a roster that features six players that advanced to the conference finals last year.
Madison Webster (Corning Painted Post), Kiara Perkins (Coudersport, PA), and Sarah Raichlin (Binghmaton/Chenango Valley) will be counted on for leadership as returners from last year's team that finished 12-17. Both Webster and Perkins were named All-ACAA last season.
- Webster enters her senior season with 1,141 digs in her career. She averaged 4.01 digs per set last year to go along with 39 service aces. 20 kills, and 16 assists from her libero position in 81 sets played.
- Perkins returns after a solid freshmen season. She accumulated 229 kills (2.46/set) and finished with a .216 hitting percentage. She also collected 120 digs, 28 service aces, and 13 total blocks.
- Raichlin passed out 516 assists last year and the complete offense will run through her hands.
Junior Mya VanDuyne (Newark), senior Nicole Donnelly (Livonia), and sophomore Alyssa Martin (Portville) will have bigger roles on the the team this season as well.
Transfer Isabella Slocum (Hornell) and freshmen Jordan Stauffeneker (Lansing) will be in the mix and asked to be contributors right away. Freshmen Grace Jacobs (Dansville) and Stephanie Donlon (Greece Athena) are also newcomers to to the team.
Head Coach Gene Doorley enters his 16th season (345-177 overall record at Alfred State 107-60 NCAA DIII) and knows his team needs to continue to grow with each practice and game. "Our team has bonded quickly and has improved each and every practice this preseason. They are giving a solid effort and we know that we need to continuously improve as the season moves along for our team to qualify for the ACAA Tournament."
The Pioneers open up the 2018 campaign with a pair of weekend matches. They travel to Cazenovia on Friday evening before hosting Maine Fort Kent on Sunday afternoon. The blue & gold's schedule features contests all across NY and PA and features match-ups with teams from the Empire 8, the NEAC, and the AMCC. The top four teams in the ACAA will qualify for the postseason tournament to be held at SUNY Delhi the first weekend of November.