UTICA, NY – The Utica College volleyball team returns home on Thursday to face SUNY Poly in a non-conference game. This will be the first of four consecutive home games for the Pioneers. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
 
Last Time Out: The Pioneers are 4-17 (1-4 Empire 8) this season... They are coming off a 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-17) win over SUNY Delhi on Monday.. Senior Nicole Herringshaw (Syracuse, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) had 12 kills, two aces and six blocks… Marissa Faroni (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) led the team with 13 assists and Hannah Voss (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) had 14 digs as well.
 
Adirondack Chair Raffle: All season long, the Pioneers are selling raffle tickets for an Adirondack Chair, with proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation as well as the UC volleyball program… Tickets are $5 each, or 6 tickets for $20 and can be purchased from head coach Aris Bird (ambird@utica.edu)... The drawing will be held on Saturday just before the start of Utica's 4 p.m. game against Alfred. 
 
Movin on Up: The Pioneers are led by senior Nicole Herringshaw (Syracuse, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse), who has 188 kills on the season… Herringshaw ranks fourth all-time with 773 kills in her career… She needs 29 more kills to move into third place all-time… Herringshaw also has a team-high 53 blocks this season and recently moved into second place all-time with 298 career blocks at UC. 
 
Supporting Cast: Behind Herringshaw, sophomore Meaghan Romaguera (Stone Ridge, NY/Rondout) is the only other player to reach the 100-kill mark this season… Classmate Megan Rice (Leverett, MA/Amherst Regional) is third on the team with 64 kills… Senior Marissa Faroni (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) leads UC with 230 assists, while freshman Jenna Prewasnicak (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) has 92 assists in 37 sets played.   
 
Defensive Leaders: Senior Hannah Voss (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) leads the team and ranks sixth in the conference with 269 digs in just 57 sets played… She is second in the E8 with 4.72 digs per set… Voss also ranks third all-time with 1,187 digs in her career… She needs just 22 more to move into second place all-time… Marissa Faroni (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) is second on the squad with 158 digs, followed by Romaguera, who has 154. 
 
Scouting SUNY Poly: The Wildcats are 8-15 (4-4 NEAC) this season... They are coming off a 3-1 loss against Wells College last Friday... The Wildcats are led by sophomore Karlie King, who has a team-best 223 kills and she ranks second with 219 digs this season.
 
Against SUNY Poly: UC is 0-5 against SUNY Poly in the last three seasons… SUNY Poly won the previous meeting this year by a score of 3-1… After dropping the first two sets, the Pioneers battled back to win set three… But it was too little, too late as SUNY Poly held on for the win…
Herringshaw had 15 kills, Faroni had 22 assists and Voss had 15 digs in the game.
 
Looking Ahead: The Pioneers remain home on Saturday to host Hartwick College (11 a.m.) and Alfred University (4 p.m.) in an Empire 8 pod… The 4 p.m. game against Alfred will serve as Utica's senior game.