UTICA, NY – The Utica College volleyball team is set to turn the Clark Athletic Center pink on Thursday night as it hosts SUNY Poly at 7 p.m.  The non-conference matchup will be the Pioneers' senior night as well as the annual "DIG PINK" match. All proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
 
Last Time Out: Utica is coming off of a 1-1 showing at the Empire 8 pod hosted by St. John Fisher College on Saturday… UC took the first game against Fisher in a thrilling 3-2 come-from-behind victory… The Cardinals won the first two sets 28-26 and 25-21 before dropping three straight sets 25-22, 25-14, and 15-9, giving UC it's first win over Fisher in over 15 years… The Pioneers dropped the next game 3-0 to Elmira College… Utica is now 4-19 overall with a 1-5 Empire 8 record.

Senior Night: on Thursday, the Pioneers will honor their three seniors, who are playing in their final home match of their careers… Laura Homer-Gunther (Sauquoit, NY/Sauquoit), Alexis Lyon (Prospect, NY/Holland Patent), and Lora Allen (Dolgeville, NY/Dolgeville) have made huge contributions to the UC volleyball program over the last three years… Homer-Gunther has compiled 494 kills and 199 blocks in three seasons at Utica… Lyon has collected 780 digs in her career, while Allen has compiled a program-record, 1,829 assists.
 
Dig Pink: Thursday night will mark the Pioneers' annual "Dig Pink" match...  Utica will raise awareness and join the fight against breast cancer by donning pink uniforms, holding a bake sale, raffles, and accepting donations… All proceeds will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. 

Killing It: Utica College's attack is led by freshman Hannah Voss (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) who has a team high 196 kills … Second on the team is junior Brandi Blaszak (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) who has 163 kills so far this season … Laura Homer-Gunther (Sauquoit, NY/Sauquoit) is third on the team with 143 kills and is second in the conference in hitting percentage (.298).

Voss Honored: Freshman Hannah Voss (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) was named the Empire 8 Rookie of the Week on Monday for her performance last week… In three matches, Voss led Utica with 29 kills and 27 digs as the Pioneers went 2-1 last week...  On Thursday, she recorded a career-best 17 kills and a .600 hitting percentage to help UC down SUNY Cobleskill…  She followed that up with seven kills and 10 digs as Utica defeated host St. John Fisher College in E8 play on Saturday…  She closed out the weekend with five kills and 10 digs in a loss to Elmira.
 
Block City: The Pioneers have three players with more than 35.0 blocks on the year … Blaszak leads the team and ranks fifth in the conference with 44.0 blocks … Homer-Gunther is second on the team and sixth in the conference with 42.0 blocks … Freshman Nicole Herringshaw (Syracuse, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) is third on the team with 37.0 blocks.
 
Can You Dig IT?: Senior Alexis Lyon (Prospect, NY/Holland Patent) leads the team and is second in the conference in digs (426), and digs per set (5.33)…Voss is second on the team with 232 digs followed by Lora Allen (Dolgeville, NY/Dolgeville) who has 213 digs.
 
Helping Hand: Allen has 587 assists on the year and has 7.34 assists per set… She is fifth in the conference in assists and sixth in assists per game… With 12 games left on the schedule, she is on pace to break her career-high of 752 assists in a single season.
 
Scouting SUNY Poly: The Wildcats are 16-2 overall with a 6-0 NEAC record … SUNY Poly has won 16 games straight after losing the first two contests of the season … The Wildcats attack is led by Morgan Eberley (223 kills) and Sydney Johnson (551 Assists) while Ryenn Smith has a team high 214 digs.
 
Recent Years Against SUNY Poly: UC lost the previous match this season 3-1 to the Wildcats… The Pioneers are 3-12 against SUNY Poly over the last five years… Last year Utica was 2-1 against the Wildcats winning 3-0 twice and losing 3-1.
 
Looking Ahead: The volleyball team travels to the Elmira Invitational where they will take on four opponents over two days… On Friday UC takes on SUNY Geneseo (2 p.m.) and SUNY Cortland (6 p.m.)… On Saturday Utica takes on The City College of New York (10 a.m.), and Hunter College (2 p.m.).