Women's Volleyball | 8/23/2017 10:00:00 AM

PITTSFORD N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team is set to begin its season on September 1 when it travels north for the North Country Season Opener at St. Lawrence. The Cardinals finished their 2016 campaign with a 12-20 record, after bowing out to Stevens Institute of Technology in the Empire 8 semi-final. Head coach Kelly Greapentrog enters her ninth season at the helm and is looking to push for another post season run.

Fisher returns a strong senior class, including First Team All-Conference selection Anna Marcy. Marcy, finished the season with team-highs in kills (367), kills per set (3.37), and total points (409.0). Her 367 kills also marked third in the Empire 8. She was selected to the Empire 8 All-Tournament team after her championship performance.

The Cardinals also return Fisher Invitational All-Tournament selection Katie Mazierski, who finished first on the team in digs with 348, while registering second in kills with 226, respectively. She also averaged 2.00 kills per set, good for second on the squad.

Additionally, Fisher returns seniors Amanda Miller and Madison Karwas, who are expected to play key roles in the team's success. Miller, finished 2016 with 173 kills, good for third best on the squad. Karwas added 15 assists as well as 14 aces on the year.

The Cardinals will look to sophomore ace Phoebe Kane, who registered team highs in assists (843) and service aces (67). Her aces ranked first among the Empire 8 and her assists ranked fourth.

Returning juniors Tori Laratonda, Elise Kreuz and Erica Pawlewicz are expected to play an integral part in the 2017 campaign. Sophomores Emily Risch, Kayla Prentki, Izzy Smith and Olivia Levulis round out the returners on the roster.  Fisher is also excited to welcome the future of its program as Mikhala Martens, Alex Buhrle, Molly Taylor, Rebecca Hay and Bernadette Nichols begin their freshman season.

Fisher will open up its season September 1st, as it travels north to compete in the North Country Season opener hosted by St. Lawrence University. Fisher opens up the tournament with a match against SUNY Poly, followed by a match against Buffalo State. Fisher takes on Cazenovia College on day two, followed by the final duel versus host St. Lawrence University.
The Cardinals make their home debut September 6th, squaring off in a single match against D'Youville College at 7 p.m.

The Cardinals continue their road trip on September 8th, traveling to Penn St.-Behrend to participate in two matches in the Northwest Pennsylvania Challenge. Fisher takes on host Penn St.-Behrend in game home, followed immediately by a contest against the College of Wooster. Fisher then travels over to neighboring Allegheny College the following day to take on the hosting Gators and Thiel College in the Allgheny Classic.

Fisher returns to New York September 12th, to take on Medaille in a single match at the Maverick's Sullivan Center. At the end of the long road trip, the Cardinals will travel to the Oswego State Invitational, beginning with a match against Bard College on September 15th. The following day, the team takes on SUNY Canton, followed by Hilbert College.

On September 19th, Fisher returns home to Bobby Wanzer Court for the next 11 days. The home stand begins with a battle against RIT at 6 p.m. Empire 8 conference play begins that Saturday with the St. John Fisher Empire 8 Crossover, including matches versus Alfred and then The Sage Colleges, which joined the conference in 2017.

Conference play continues September 26th at 7 p.m. as Fisher hosts the Highlanders from Houghton College.

September 30th, marks the start of the annual Fisher invite as the team welcomes Keuka College and Medaille College to Bobby Wanzer Court, beginning at 11 am.

The squad will travel down East Avenue to duke it out with rival Nazareth College on October 4th. The team then heads to its second Empire 8 Crossover taking place at Utica College. The tri match will include duels against the Pioneers as well as Elmira College.

The Cardinals head west to Buffalo State on October 11th for a single non-conference match, before heading to Fredonia for a tournament battling Bethany College and the hosting Blue Devils on October 14th.

The team closes out its regular home schedule on October 17th against Oswego State. Four days later, the Cardinals head back out on the road to a pair of conference matches at Hartwick College. Fisher will take on the Hawks followed by a battle against Stevens Institute of Technology, who Fisher fell to in the Empire 8 semi-final.

On October 25th, Fisher takes on the Red Dragons of SUNY Cortland on the road and rounds out their regular season schedule on October 28th against Wells and Bryn Athyn in the Wells College Invite.

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