Lady Spikers advance to ECAC Final Four

The Alfred State volleyball team defeated Rutgers Camden 25-23, 29-27, 28-30, 25-9 in a highly competitive ECAC Upstate/Metro Championship 1st round contest on Wednesday evening. The Lady Pioneers, 28-10, advance to Saturday's Final Four at Ramapo College.

The first three sets went back and forth with the Lady Pioneers coming out on top in the first two and the Scarlet Raptors coming back to win set three and extend the match. Alfred State dominated the final set to clinch the victory.

Bryanna Godfrey (Tioga) had a big game finishing with 17 kills and 16 digs while Lera Braun (Waterloo) passed out 49 assists and registered eight digs. The trio of Ellicottville grads, Janae Hamilton, Grace Hall, and Madison Szpaicher were key contributors. Hamilton finished with 10 kills and four blocks, Hall had nine kills and three aces, and Szpaicher chipped in seven kills and 18 digs.

The Lady Pioneers were credited with 11 service aces and nine solo blocks in the contest. They finished with a .172 hitting percentage.

Olivia Rowland and Courtnee Wilkerson both finished with 11 kills while Melanie Kaiser had 10 for Rutgers. Brooke Hassan passed out 34 assists and Erin Thompson finished with 30 digs.

The victory advances the Lady Pioneers to the Final Four where they will take on #1 seed and host Ramapo. The RoadRunners are 19-8 on the season. First serve is slated for Noon in Mahwah, NJ. The championship match would be at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The victory was also the first for any Alfred State team in ECAC competition.