Ella Savoca

Going For Six: Women's Volleyball Hosts Hartwick In E8 Title Match On Saturday

By Mike Hogan, Athletics Communications Coordinator

11/14/2025 4:47:00 PM

No. 1 St. John Fisher (28-1 overall, 11-0 Empire 8 reg. season)

Head Coach: Kelly Greapentrog (17th season at Fisher, 19th overall)

Greapentrog's Career Record: 320-267 (299-216 at Fisher)

Statistical Leaders: Points (Kaylene Noble, 390.5), Kills (Noble, 362), Hitting % (Ana Gutman, .334), Assists (Reilly Morrow, 886), Service Aces (Lydia Fraser, 70), Digs (Kiera Hartpence, 324), Total Blocks (Gutman, 77)

No. 2 Hartwick (21-10, 10-1 Empire 8 reg. season)

Head Coach: Janet Donovan (3rd season at Hartwick, 28th overall)

Donovan's Career Record: 753-332 overall (55-23 at Hartwick)

Statistical Leaders: Points (Shelby Swartz, 406.5), Kills (Swartz, 348), Hitting % (Isabella Gracias, .274%), Service Aces (Mary Kinnane, 64), Digs (Malia Dake, 338), Total Blocks (Gracias, 75)

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How They Got Here

St. John Fisher: Senior setter Reilly Morrow and senior libero Kiera Hartpence produced double-doubles as the top-seeded Cardinals (25-20, 25-21, 25-17) earned a hard-fought sweep over No. 4-seeded SUNY Geneseo in the Empire 8 Conference semifinals on Wednesday night at Manning & Napier Varsity Gym.

Fisher pushed its winning streak to 28 matches, won its 20th straight match against a conference opponent and improved to 37-2 since a four-set loss to Nazareth last October with Wednesday's victory.

Morrow dished out 30 assists and amassed a career-high 20 digs as part of her eighth double-double of the season. Hartpence notched just the third double-double of her collegiate career, recording a season-high 10 assists with 13 digs.

Freshman outside hitter Kalyna Dannenberg had the hot hand for the Cardinals offensively, matching her season-high with 16 kills while hitting .361. She also had two blocks as part of an 18-point night.

Fisher began its E8 postseason journey last Saturday at Varsity Gym with a sweep (25-13, 25-15, 25-18) of No. 8-seeded Alfred. Dannenberg led the Cardinals in kills (12) and digs (11) as part of her ninth double-double of the season. She accounted for a team-high 14.5 points, averaging nearly five per set.

Hartwick: The No. 2-seeded Hawks swept No. 7-seeded Utica in the first round and outlasted No. 3-seeded SUNY Brockport in five sets in the semifnals.

With A Win…

St. John Fisher would… secure a spot in the NCAA DIII Tournament for the seventh time in program history… win its sixth total Empire 8 title… win its second consecutive E8 title… match now-Liberty League member Ithaca for the second-most E8 titles in conference history (Nazareth has the most with 8)… improve to 14-3 in Empire 8 Tournament matches since 2017… improve to 14-11 all-time in the conference tournament… extend its winning streak to 29 matches… win its 21st consecutive match against a conference team… improve to 38-2 in its last 40 contests.

St. John Fisher vs. Hartwick History

Series Snapshot: The Cardinals own a 21-1 record against Hartwick since 2005. They have beaten the Hawks 12 consecutive times.

Postseason Meetings: Saturday's match will mark just the second E8 Tournament meeting between the Cardinals and Hawks. Fisher beat the Hawks in four sets in the 2022 E8 title match behind 16 kills from Kiana Walker and 12 from Sydney French, who also tallied five total blocks. Katie Leaty dished out 50 assists.

Last Meeting: Dannenberg and junior outside hitter Kaylene Noble had double-doubles as the Cardinals swept Hartwick last month in Oneonta. Noble slammed 14 kills while hitting .364 to go along with 10 digs in the match, while Dannenberg had 11 kills while hitting .333 and totaled 10 digs.

Empire 8 Announces Awards, All-Conference Teams

The St. John Fisher women's volleyball team swept all four Empire 8 major awards and had a conference-high six players garner All-E8 honors for the 2025 season, the league office announced on Wednesday.

The E8 named senior setter Reilly Morrow Player of the Year, senior libero Kiera Hartpence Defensive Player of the Year and freshman outside hitter Kalyna Dannenberg Rookie of the Year. The Cardinals' coaching staff, led by Kelly Greapentrog, earned Coaching Staff of the Year honors.

Morrow, Hartpence, Dannenberg and junior outside hitter Kaylene Noble earned first-team All-Empire 8 recognition. Sophomore outside hitter Lydia Fraser and junior middle blocker Ana Gutman landed second-team spots.

Senior outside hitter Erika Edholm was selected as St. John Fisher's representative on the conference's "Tomorrow's Leaders Team." The Tomorrow's Leaders Team recognizes a student-athlete from each E8 team who has demonstrated leadership in competition, in the classroom and in their community.

Morrow is the first setter and the fourth different player in Fisher history to be named E8 Player of the Year.
Dannenberg is the 10th player in program history to earn E8 Rookie of the Year honors. The Cardinals have had the conference's Rookie of the Year in each of the last three seasons.
Hartpence has been named E8 Defensive Player of the Year twice in four collegiate seasons.
Greapentrog has led five E8 Coaching Staffs of the Year.

20 Things About Fisher

1 - The Cardinals own the second-longest active winning streak in all of the NCAA behind fellow DIII member East Texas Baptist (29 matches).

2 - The Cardinals’ 28-match winning streak is the longest in program history during the rally scoring era (2001-present).

3 - The Cardinals' 28 wins are their most in a season during the rally scoring era.

4 - The Cardinals have 23 wins by via three-set sweep this season, the most in program history during the rally scoring era.

5 - The Cardinals set a program record for consecutive sweeps (17) during the rally scoring era earlier this season.

6 - Head coach Kelly Greapentrog surpassed 300 career victories earlier this season. She has recorded 299 of her 320 wins at St. John Fisher.

7 - The Cardinals wrapped up their sixth unbeaten E8 regular season two weeks ago with their win over Alfred.

8 - A three-time All-Empire 8 selection, twice as a first-team pick, Noble has been nothing short of dominant all season, as she leads the conference in kills (362) and ranks second in hitting percentage (.326) and points accounted for (390.5). She averages 4.39 points (41st nationally) and 4.07 kills (29th nationally) per set.

9 - Noble also has 236 digs on the season. She's produced nine double-doubles and has hit .300 or better in 19 of the Cardinals' 29 contests.

10 - Gutman leads the Empire 8 and ranks 45th nationally with a .334 hitting percentage, as she's slammed 147 kills on 317 attacking attempts while committing just 41 errors. The three-time all-conference selection stands second in the league with 77 total blocks.

11 - Dannenberg ranks fourth in the conference in points (368.5) and kills (316) and fifth in hitting percentage (.257). She's also amassed 232 digs, the third most on the team, and nine double-doubles.

12 - Morrow paces the Empire 8 with a career-high 886 assists, averaging 10.42 per set, 10th in NCAA Division III. She ranks fifth in Fisher history with 2,705 career assists.

13 - Morrow, a three-time All-Empire 8 honoree, also has 194 digs, 42 service aces, 39 kills and 36 total blocks over 28 matches. She's produced eight double-doubles this season.

14 - Hartpence, now a two-time winner of the E8 Defensive Player of the Year award, leads the Cardinals with 324 digs (3.48 per set) and has committed just 15 service reception errors on a team-high 407 attempts. A three-time All-E8 selection, including twice as a first-teamer, Hartpence also has 99 assists and 22 service aces this season.

15 - Hartpence has 1,537 career digs, good for eighth in Fisher history.

16 - Fraser, who's earned All-E8 honors in each of her first two collegiate seasons, has slammed 227 kills and amassed 70 service aces, tied for the most in the conference. The 2024 E8 Rookie of the Year winner is the first Fisher player to reach 70 or more service aces in a season since Amy Street tallied 76 in 2009.

17 - The Cardinals are seventh in the country in team hitting percentage (.260).

18 - Fisher has won 20 consecutive matches against conference teams.

19 - Fisher has won five Empire 8 titles since 2019.

20 - Fisher has been to the NCAA Tournament in three of the last four seasons and six times overall.

Empire 8 Tournament Central

The 2025 Empire 8 Conference Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament will feature the conference's top eight teams from regular season play. First round/quarterfinal action will feature the No. 1 seed hosting the No. 8 seed, No. 2 seed hosting the No. 7 seed, No. 3 seed hosting the No. 6 seed and No. 4 seed hosting the No. 5 seed on Saturday, Nov. 8.

The winner of the No. 1 and No. 8 match will take on the winner of the No. 4 and No. 5 game in one semifinal and the winner of the No. 2 and No. 7 match will take on the winner of the No. 3 and No. 6 seeds in the second semifinal on Wednesday, Nov. 12, with both games played at the higher seed.

The two semifinal winners will meet on Saturday, Nov. 15 at the highest remaining seed in the E8 Championship. The Empire 8 Champion will earn an automatic berth into the 2025 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament.

2025 Empire 8 Women’s Volleyball Championship Participants
No. 1 – St. John Fisher University (11-0 E8, 26-1 Overall)
No. 2 – Hartwick College (10-1 E8, 19-10 Overall)
No. 3 – SUNY Brockport (9-2 E8, 16-8 Overall)
No. 4 – SUNY Geneseo (7-4 E8, 14-11 Overall)
No. 5 – Houghton University (7-4 E8, 13-11 Overall)
No. 6 – Russell Sage College (6-5 E8, 11-13 Overall)
No. 7 – Utica University (5-6 E8, 13-16 Overall)
No. 8 – Alfred University (4-7 E8, 12-17 Overall)

2025 Empire 8 Women’s Volleyball Championship Schedule

Saturday, November 8 – First Round
No. 1 St. John Fisher defeats No. 8 Alfred – 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-18) – BOX SCORE

No. 2 Hartwick defeats No. 7 Utica – 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-15) – BOX SCORE

No. 3 SUNY Brockport defeats No. 6 Russell Sage – 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-15) – BOX SCORE

No. 4 SUNY Geneseo defeats No. 5 Houghton – 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-7) – BOX SCORE

Wednesday, November 12 – Semifinals (at Higher Seed)
No. 1 St. John Fisher defeated No. 4 SUNY Geneseo, 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-17) – BOX SCORE
No. 2 Hartwick defeated No. 3 SUNY Brockport, 3-2 (22-25, 18-25, 25-21, 25-19, 15-6) – BOX SCORE

Saturday, November 15 - Championship Final
No. 2 Hartwick at No. 1 St. John Fisher – 1 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS