Lady Pioneers Topple Giants

The Alfred State volleyball team closed out the 2015 regular season with a 25-15, 26-24, 25-21 sweep of Keystone College. The Lady Pioneers improve to 25-5 on the season and a perfect 10-0 at the Orvis Activities Center.

Grace Hall (Ellicottville) had a big day lead the Lady Pioneers with 12 kills. Bryanna Godfrey (Tioga) finished with 21 digs and nine kills, Lera Braun (Waterloo) passed out 40 assists and six digs, and Jessica Padley (Sweet Home) chipped in eight kills and nine digs. Janae Hamilton (Ellicottville) finished with eight kills and six digs, Madison Webster (Corning) added 17 digs, and Madison Szpaicher (Ellicottville) had 14 digs.

The Lady Pioneers connected on 43 kills and hit .267 on the day. They collected 81 digs and four service aces.

Hannah Zuchowski led the Giants with 13 kills, Sydney Binkley passed out 16 assists, and Pamela Heitman had a team high 21 digs. Keystone hit .208 on the day.

Prior to the game the coaching staff honored the lone senior on the team Lera Braun. Braun has played in 134 thus far in her career and has accumulated 3,531 assists, 948 digs, 494 kills, and 277 aces . 

The Pioneers now shift their focus to the USCAA Championships. Alfred State is the #4 seed and will open up play in Canton, NY vs. Maine Fort Kent (10 a.m.) and Penn State Brandywine (2:30 p.m.) on Thursday. They continue pool play with matches vs. St. Mary of the Woods (10 a.m.) and Florida College (2:30 p.m.) on Friday. This will be the second straight trip to Nationals for the blue & gold.