UTICA, NY- The Utica College volleyball team remains home this weekend as it opens up Empire 8 Conference play against St. John Fisher College and Nazareth College on Friday and Saturday, respectively.  Friday's match against Fisher will be at 6 p.m. while Saturday's matinee with Nazareth is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers are coming off a crushing 3-1 defeat at the hands of SUNY Cobleskill on Wednesday… After falling down 2-0, Utica bounced back to take the third set by the score of 25-17… Then in the fourth set, UC found itself down 23-13, but the Pioneers rallied to score eight of the next nine points to make it 24-22 before Cobleskill scored the clinching point. 
 
CAN YOU DIG IT?: Freshman Taylor Crowley (Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township) is currently third in the Empire 8 Conference with an average of 4.57 digs per set… Crowley and junior Meaghan Romaguera (Stone Ridge, NY/Rondout) are tied for the team-lead with 137 digs on the year. 
 
BLOCK BY BLOCK: Freshman Alicja Swiechowska (Carmel, NY/Carmel) is tied for seventh in the E8 with .56 blocks per set… Swiechowska leads the Pioneers with 29 blocks on the season, while Rosemarie Fesko (Goshen, NY/Central) is right behind her with 26 blocks.   
 
SHE CAN DO IT ALL: Not only is junior Meaghan Romaguera (Stone Ridge, NY/Rondout) tied for the team-lead in digs, but she also leads the squad with 87 kills so far… Romaguera has also chipped in with eight service aces. 
 
HOW MAY I ASSIST YOU?: Sophomore Jenna Prewasnicak (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) leads the team with 138 assists… She also ranks in the top five on the team with 67 digs to her credit… Prewasnicak needs just 40 more assists to match her output from last season.
 
SCOUTING FISHER: The Cardinals are 9-5 on the year and they have won their last six games, most recently downing D'Youville College 3-0… Fisher has two players with over 100 kills already, led by Alea Steigerwald, who has racked up 219 kills… On the defensive side, Emily Risch leads the team with 21 blocks while Alexis Mancha has 183 digs. 
 
AGAINST THE CARDINALS: The Pioneers are 1-4 against Fisher in the last four years… The last time Utica beat the Cardinals was a thrilling 3-2 win at Fisher on Oct. 10, 2015.
 
SCOUTING NAZ: The Golden Flyers enter the weekend with a 6-5 overall record… They will play Sage on Friday before making the trip to Utica for Saturday's game… Delaney Martin leads the team with 96 kills on the year, while McKenzie Hart has a team-high 208 digs.
 
AGAINST THE GOLDEN FLYERS: The Pioneers are still looking for their first win against Nazareth… Last year, UC fell 3-1 in their only meeting of the season… Meaghan Romaguera (Stone Ridge, NY/Rondout) had seven kills and 11 digs, while Jenna Prewasnicak (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) had 15 assists. 
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The Pioneers will hit the road on Wednesday to take on Sage in E8 action… Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.