UTICA, NY - The Utica College volleyball team prepares for its final two Empire 8 matches this week when the team travels to Rochester, NY on Friday, October 22 for a 7 p.m. battle against the Nazareth Golden Flyers. On Saturday, October 23, the Pioneers will play its final game at Miga Court this season when St. John Fisher comes to town for a 5 p.m. start. 
 
Follow Along: Nazareth will provide live video and stats on Friday through https://portal.stretchinternet.com/nazareth/ while fans can follow https://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/ on Saturday when UC hosts Fisher. 
 
Last Time Out: UC hosted a tri-match on Saturday, October 16 where they took on SUNY Poly and King's College. The Pioneers swept Poly 25-19, 25-17 and 25-22. 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. Against King's, UC jumped out of the gates taking the first two sets 25-17, 25-18. 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 raised 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. 
 
Where We Stand: Utica (7-14, 2-4) Will play its final four games of the season over the course of the next nine days. The team has the fourth best hitting percentage in the conference at .130 and has continued to be one of the best blocking teams in the E8 averaging 1.30 per set while leading the conference in holding opponents to 0.97 blocks per set. Eleanor Cepiel (West Sand Lake, NY/Academy of Holy Names) and Kurstan Martin (Owego, NY/Tioga) lead the team in kills with Cepiel atop with 217 and Martin following suit with 194. Krystell Pappas (Owensboro, KY/Owensboro) currently has 343 digs in her first season at Utica while her 3.99 digs per set nets her fifth in the conference as a freshman. Hannah Johnson (Murfreesboro, TN/Blackman) and Madison Maggiore (Orangeburg, NY/Tappan Zee) have been coming on strong as of later two as the team leaders in assists have both recorded double figures in each of their last two outings. 
 
Cepiel's Big Week: Over three games last week, junior Eleanor Cepiel (West Sand Lake, NY/Academy of Holy Names) recorded 36 kills, 34 digs, three aces, as well as a pair of assists and blocks. Cepiel recorded a season-high 17 kills on a .233 hitting percentage against King's College on October 16. She has also set career highs this season with 237 digs, 236.5 points, 217 kills and 23 aces. 
 
Hey Now, Hayden: Lainey Hayden (Owensboro, KY/Owensboro) has continued to impress over the course of her first season at UC. The freshman has collected 71.5 points over 48 sets this season while totaling 53 kills, 31 blocks and 22 digs. Her 31 blocks rank second on the team while her point and kills total nets her within the top-5 on the Pioneers. Over her last six games, Hayden has recorded 34 kills and 12 blocks, helping her climb to sixth in the conference averaging 0.65 per set. 
 
Scouting Naz: The Golden Flyers (11-9, 4-2 E8) are third in the conference standings and coming off of a 3-1 loss to St. John Fisher on Tuesday. Nazareth ranks third in the Empire 8 with a team hitting percentage of .139 and fourth averaging just over 10 kills per set. Kaylee Kelly, the team leader with 217 kills, is third in the conference averaging 3.14 per set and 3.55 points per set. 
 
A Look at Fisher: The Cardinals (19-4, 6-0 E8) sit atop of the Empire 8 standings while also having already clinched an Empire 8 Postseason Tournament berth. The team leads the E8 with a .226 hitting percentage and 2.88 aces per set while its 12.18 kills per set ranks second behind Hartwick. Alea Steigerwald leads the conference averaging 3.27 kills per set as well as 3.90 points per set. She's also the team leader with 240 digs and 3.08 per set. 

The Road Ahead: UC will conclude its regular season with two road non-conference matches. The Pioneers will take on SUNY Delhi for the second time this season when they travel to Delhi for a 7 p.m. match on October 27. Then on October 29, Utica will have round two with Cazenovia at 7 p.m. from Cazenovia, NY.