UTICA, NY - The Utica College volleyball team hosted a tri-match against SUNY Poly and King's College on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers walked away with a sweep over Poly and a heartbreaking 3-2 loss against King's. 
 
Utica 3, SUNY Poly 0 
The SUNY Poly Wildcats took the first two points of the set however, Utica took control from that moment on. The Pioneers took the next five points featuring a pair of aces by Eleanor Cepiel (West Sand Lake, NY/Academy of Holy Names). Poly would make things interesting for a moment after making a 15-10 deficit a 15-13 hole however, the Pioneers responded by taking the next four points to go up 19-13. Up 24-19, Cepiel finished the set with a kill to give UC the 1-0 advantage. 
 
In the second set, Cepiel and Madison Maggiore (Orangeburg, NY/Tappan Zee) and Lainey Hayden (Owensboro, KY/Owensboro) got the Pioneers out of the gates early with five of the first six points. UC led by as many as 11 points (18-7) in the set before finding themselves up 23-17 on the verge of a two set lead. Peyton Migliaccio (Suffern, NY/Suffern) and Caitlyn Esposito (Haddam, CT/Haddam-Killingworth) ensured that would be the case by recording the final two kills of the set. 
 
Set three was close throughout as Poly came back to even the set at 13. After a Capiel kill put Utica up 14-13, the Wildcats took the next five points to take its latest lead of the match at 18-13. However, the resilience shown by the Pioneers throughout the season came out again as they managed to come within one point at 19-18 in favor of Poly. The Wildcats took the next three points before UC responded with two, leading to a Poly timeout with the score 22-20 in favor of Poly. 
 
Out of the timeout, Hannah Johnson (Murfreesboro, TN/Blackman) recorded two aces before a Martin kill gave Utica a 23-22 lead. The next two points also came from a Johnson ace and a Martin kill, giving UC the 25-22 set win and the sweep over Poly. 
 
UC outhit Poly .292 percent to .187 percent including 40 kills to the Wildcats' 30. Eleanor Cepiel (West Sand Lake, NY/Academy of Holy Names) led Utica with 12 kills and 10 digs while Madison Maggiore (Orangeburg, NY/Tappan Zee) finished as the team leader with 18 assists. Hannah Johnson (Murfreesboro, TN/Blackman) finished with a team high five aces as well as recording 17 assists. Kurstan Martin (Owego, NY/Tioga) also totaled eight kills and Lainey Hayden (Owensboro, KY/Owensboro) finished with seven. 
 
King's 3, Utica 2
The Pioneers rolled in the first two sets, taking down the 16-2 King's College Monarchs 25-17 and 25-18. In the first set, Utica outhit King's .324 percent to .308 percent and in the second set, .382 percent to .083 percent. UC also combined to total 29 kills to King's 24 over the first two sets while the Monarchs committed 12 errors between the two sets to the Pioneers' four (all in the first set). 
 
However, the tables turned in the third and fourth sets as King's downed Utica 25-16 in both sets to even the match at 2-2. UC hit .139 in both sets while committing 11 errors and King's hit .297 and .382 percent with just five errors. 
 
The intensity rised in the fifth set with King's off to a convincing 12-4 lead. The Pioneers scored to make it 12-5 however, the Monarchs recorded the next two to reach match point and lead to a UC timeout. Out of the timeout, the Pioneers pulled off a remarkable 7-0 run to even the set at 14. Jillian Hare (Adams Center, NY/South Jefferson), Cepiel and Migliaccio recorded kills in the run while King's committed four errors. After swapping the next two points, King's eventually finished off the comeback with an 18-16 set five win. 
 
Eleanor Cepiel (West Sand Lake, NY/Academy of Holy Names) once again led the team with 17 kills, followed by Lainey Hayden (Owensboro, KY/Owensboro) with 10 and Kurstan Martin (Owego, NY/Tioga) with nine. Madison Maggiore (Orangeburg, NY/Tappan Zee) added 26 assists for UC while Krystell Pappas (Owensboro, KY/Owensboro) and Cepiel finished tied for the team lead with 16 digs. Hannah Johnson (Murfreesboro, TN/Blackman) finished with five aces yet again while around the net, Martin (six) and Brooke Taverne (Westmoreland, NY/Westmoreland) (four) led the team in blocks. 
 
UC (7-14, 2-4 Empire 8) returns to action on Friday, October 22 when the team travels to Rochester, NY for a 7 p.m. match against Nazareth.