Utica, NY – The Utica College volleyball team is on the road this weekend as they head to Rochester, NY for the RIT Tournament. With a record of 5-20 overall and 0-6 in conference, they start the tournament taking on host RIT on Friday at 3 p.m. Later that day the Pioneers will matchup against Trine University. For the second day of action on Saturday, Utica will play SUNY Brockport at 12 p.m. and then St. John Fisher at 2 p.m.
 
Last Time Out: In the last set of action for the team they hosted Nazareth (17-6 overall, 4-2 conference) and Alfred (9-12 overall, 3-3 conference) for the Empire 8 POD Tournament. They lost to Nazareth 3-0 in the first match of the day. Sophomore Hannah Voss (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) led the Pioneers as she recorded five kills, eight assists, five digs and one ace. Later in the day Utica fell to Alfred 3-1. Brandi Blaszak (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) stepped up as she tallied a team high of ten kills to go with her four blocks and one ace. Andreana Kroup (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) also played well as she racked up 17 digs.
 
Team Leaders: Senior Brandi Blaszak (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) leads the team in kills with a total of 188 and is second on the team with 40 total blocks. Hannah Voss (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) has a team high of 292 assists so far this season and also is first on the team with 37 service aces. Sophomore Leah Octave (New Windsor, NY/Cornwall) is tops on the team in the dig category as she has recorded 272 digs so far this year. Nicole Herringshaw (Syracuse, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) leads the team with 61 total blocks and also is second in total kills with 148.
 
Scouting RIT: With an overall record of 15-11 RIT is coming off of a loss in their most recent match against Union College. It was a highly competitive meeting as the final score was 3-2. Sarah Szybist leads the team with 539 kills on the season and is first on the team with 48 total blocks.
 
Scouting Trine: Trine currently sits at 2-18 on the season. Going into the RIT Tournament they are struggling to break their losing streak, which now sits at 11 games.  They fell to Kalamazoo 3-1 in their last outing. They are a young team with no seniors; only three juniors and the other 15 players are freshman or sophomores. Sophomore Janaya Wilder leads the team with a total of 149 kills on the season.
 
Scouting Brockport: SUNY Brockport has had a strong year with a record of 20-2 thus far. They have been on a tear lately as they look to extend their ten game win streak at the RIT Tournament. The last matchup for them was against Nazareth as Brockport was able to win 3-0. Senior Sam Holdredge leads the team with 195 kills and is second on the team with 201 digs.
 
Scouting St. John Fisher: At 9-11, St. John fisher has won its last two matches against Keuka and Hartwick. In the 3-1 victory over Hartwick, Amanda Miller led the way with team highs in kills (12), aces (4), and blocks (5). Junior Ana Marcy leads the team with a total of 252 kills and is second on the team with 188 digs this season.
 
Against RIT: The Pioneers have not matched up against RIT since being invited to the RIT Tournament in 2010. Utica lost to RIT 3-0 on the second day of the tournament. RIT dominated the first two sets by scores of 25-14 and 25-8. However the third set was much more competitive as Utica lost 25-20.
 
Against Trine: This will be the first meeting between Trine and Utica College in the history of the program.
 
Against Brockport: Utica has had the opportunity to face Brockport once already earlier this season. The Pioneers ended up losing 3-0. Utica finished the match with more total digs, but Brockport finished with higher totals in all other major categories. Utica College will look to defeat the Golden Eagles for the first time since 2009.
 
Against St. John Fisher: These two teams matched up earlier this season as Utica fell to St. John Fisher 3-0. In the previous matchup Hannah Voss (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) lead the team in both digs with 11 and assists with 12. Anna Marcy from St. John Fisher led all players for a game high of 19 kills while teammate Phoebe Kane had a game high of 44 assists. Utica did defeat St. John Fisher last year 3-2 and will look to do it again on Saturday.
 
Looking Ahead: The Pioneers will be back home on October 19^th. They will play host to SUNY Cobleskill at the Clark Athletic Center. This will be the final home contest for Utica this season. Senior Night will be held that night to honor the seniors who will be playing their last home game.