Utica, NY (9/20/12)- The Utica College volleyball team opens up league play this weekend as it travels to Alfred, NY for the Empire 8 crossover tournament, hosted by Alfred University.  UC faces Houghton College, Friday at 7 p.m.  On Saturday, The Pioneers face Elmira at 10 a.m. and Alfred at 3 p.m.

Last Time Out: The Pioneers are coming off a 3-1 loss at Oswego on Wednesday… Sophomore Madison Bayer (Islip Terrace, NY/East Islip) had 10 digs, eight kills, and one assist, while classmates Cassandra Manzer (Portcrane, NY/Chenango Valley) (eight kills, eight digs) and Briona Enny (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury) (28 digs, one kill, one ace, one assist) also had impressive showings.

Tournament Info: For more information about the tournament, or to get score updates, fans can visit Alfred's tournament website here.  Live video for Saturday's match up between Utica and Alfred will also be available at empire8.tv

Leading the Way: Bayer currently leads the squad with 88 kills and is second on the team in aces (11) and digs (68)… Manzer has 79 kills, eight aces, and 68 digs; while Enny has a team-high 101 digs… Sophomore Chelsea Lauria (Erieville, NY/Cazenovia) also leads the team with 187 assists.

Scouting Houghton: The Highlanders are currently 5-5 overall and are coming off a 3-0 win over D'Youville… They are led by seniors Lindsay Burgher and Rebecca Dennee who have 77 and 74 kills, respectively… Burgher also has 59 blocks, while Dennee has 44 blocks.

Scouting Elmira: The Soaring Eagles are 5-4 overall… Their four losses came at the Carnegie Mellon Tournament last weekend… They are led by Sasha Zavadska and Taryn Rumsey… Zavadska has a team-best 160 kills to go along with her seven aces, while Rumsey has 109 kills and a team-high 17 aces.

Scouting Alfred:  The Saxons are 1-8 on the season… They are coming off a 3-1 loss to Hilbert Tuesday… The Pioneers defeated Alfred 3-1 at the Hilbert invitational on Sept. 8.

Looking Ahead:  Following this, Utica returns to action Wednesday as it travels to Rochester, NY for a conference match against St. john Fisher College… Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.