Utica, NY - The Utica College volleyball team enters the midway point of its season with three games coming up this week. UC will host SUNY Cobleskill on Tuesday at 7 p.m. before hosting Houghton College on Friday, September 24 at 7 p.m. The Pioneers will then cap off the week with a trip to Keuka College on Saturday, September 25 for a 2 p.m. game. 
 
How to Watch: Live stats and stream on Tuesday and Friday will be provided through https://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/. Keuka will also provide a live stream on Saturday and can be found through https://portal.stretchinternet.com/keukaathletics/. 
 
Last Time Out: The Pioneers competed in the Oswego St. Tournament this past weekend and came home with a 1-2 record. The team defeated SUNY Canton on Friday in straight sets as Kurstan Martin (Owego, NY/Tioga) finished with a team high 11 kills in the match while Krystell Pappas (Owensboro, KY/Owensboro) led the team with 12 digs and five assists. On Saturday, UC was downed by St. Lawrence, 3-1, and SUNY Potsdam, 3-2. Against the Saints, Eleanor Cepiel (West Sand Lake, NY/Academy of Holy Names) finished with eight kills and Brooke Taverne (Westmoreland, NY/Westmoreland) had an impressive 15 service aces and 13 assists, both of which led UC. Against the Bears, Cepiel led the way once again with nine kills while Pappas added 20 digs and Hannah Johnson (Murfreesboro, TN/Blackman) ended the match with 16 assists. 
 
Where We Stand: Utica enters the week 3-8 overall while having gone 2-2 over its last four games. The team currently leads the conference with 127 service aces, second with 49 blocks, fourth with a .110 hitting percentage and 578 digs and sixth with 373 kills. Brianna Woods (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) has been a large part in Pioneers' effectiveness around the net as her 19 blocks are the fourth most in the E8 while her .327 hitting percentage ranks second. Madison Maggiore (Orangeburg, NY/Tappan Zee) and Brooke Taverne (Westmoreland, NY/Westmoreland) have been two of the most elite servers in the conference to this point. Maggiore far and away leads the E8 with 41 aces, 19 ahead of second, while Taverne has been hot as of late, climbing herself up to fifth in the conference with 16 aces. 
 
Into Conference Play: With 14 games remaining in the regular season, UC still has its full slate of eight Empire 8 opponents left to play. Six of its next eight games will be against E8 teams that would all love to jump out to early success in conference play. Of the six conference games coming up, Utica will split home and away evenly as they will play three at home and three on the road. 
 
Cepiel's Big Week: Eleanor Cepiel (West Sand Lake, NY/Academy of Holy Names) packed her stat line over five games this past week. Cepiel recorded 49 digs, 41 kills, four service aces, three assists and two blocks for UC, all while posting a .217 attack percentage. Her efforts for the Pioneers during the weekend helped name her to the Oswego St. All-Tournament Team.
 
Can't Stop, Won't Stop: Kurstan Martin (Owego, NY/Tioga) has been scorching hot since the start of the season. Not only does she serve as the emotional leader of the team, her play has undoubtedly been the leader on the court as well. The senior leads the team with 113 points, good enough for fifth in the conference, while her 96 kills also top the team and puts her in a tie for fourth in the E8. On defense, Martin plays just as big of a role as she does on offense as her 81 digs and nine blocks are third on UC while also sporting a respectable .719 reception percentage. 
 
Can You Dig It?: It's safe to say Krystell Pappas (Owensboro, KY/Owensboro) hasn't just had a lucky start to her UC career, she's the real deal. The 5-4 freshman from the Bluegrass State has placed her name amongst some of the top defenders in the Empire 8 as she's currently fourth in the conference with 155 digs. Pappas also has the best reception percentage amongst qualifiers on the team, .864, and is third on the team with 32 assists. 
 
Scouting Cobleskill: The Tigers come into Utica 3-8 (0-0 NAC) on the season while its three total wins have come in its last three matches. MacKenzie Larson leads the team with 147 points, 129 digs, 114 kills and 30 service aces. UC is 11-2 all-time against Cobleskill however, the Tigers claimed the last meeting between the two teams in 2019, 3-1 at Utica. 
 
A Look at Houghton: The Highlanders enter the week on a two-game winning streak and an overall 3-3 (0-0 Empire 8) record and will host Hilbert prior to traveling to Utica on Friday. Houghton is led by the trio of Julie Immel, Allison Morgan and Alyssa Lyon, all of which have over 40 kills through six matches. Rebekah Clark and Haley Unverdorben are the rocks defensively with both coming into the week with around 50 digs. The Highlanders have taken each of the 12 meetings played between the programs. 
 
Eyes Towards Keuka: The Wolves have struggled as of late, coming into the week with five straight losses and an overall mark of 3-7 (0-0 Empire 8). Keuka will play a pair of E8 games against Nazareth and Alfred before hosting Utica on Saturday. Tionna Moss and Lillian Mueller each have 85 or more kills while Lauren Kuipers has totaled 128 digs over nine matches played. UC is 2-8 all-time against Keuka. 

What's to Come: UC will have nearly a week off before it hosts Cazenovia College on Friday, October 1 at 7 p.m.