UTICA, NY – The Utica University volleyball team is set to begin its Empire 8 postseason as the team faces off with Nazareth College on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The team beat the Golden Flyers on September 24 in five sets for the first time in program history and looks to keep the momentum heading into its first postseason in 20 years.
 
Follow Along: Nazareth will provide live video and/or stats via https://bit.ly/2MOZOjA. 
 
Last Time Out: The team won 3-1 against Cazenovia College on Thursday night. The win extends the program record for wins in a season with now its 16th of the year. The Pioneer offense looked unstoppable as the team registered 39 kills. Eleanor Cepiel (West Sand Lake, NY/Academy of Holy Names) led the way with 12 followed by Kurstan Martin (Owego, NY/Tioga) with 10 and Brianna Woods (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) with eight. Utica's serving was also on par as Hannah Johnson (Murfreesboro, TN/Blackman) tied a season-high four serving aces and Madison Maggiore (Orangeburg, NY/Tappan Zee) and Krystell Pappas (Owensboro, KY/Owensboro) each recorded two. Peyton Migliaccio (Suffern, NY/Suffern) tallied three blocks and was a force on defense while Lauren Jones recorded a career-high 20 assists in the match. The trio of Pappas, Cepiel, and McKenna LaPorte (Liverpool, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) continued their excellent defense as they each recorded nine or more digs in the contest.
 
Cepiel Watch: Cepiel polished off her historic regular season with a program-record 348 kills which are an outstanding 18 more than second place. The West Sand Lake, NY native is also first all-time in kills per set in a season with 3.48 and has a .29 advantage over second place. The senior is fifth all-time in career kills with 748 and her career kills per set of 2.58 ranks her just .02 behind fourth place. She has amassed 381 points this season which has her ranked fifth all-time for a single season and her 837 points over the course of her career have her ranked seventh all-time. The senior looks to keep her momentum going into the postseason.
 
Serving it Up: Madison Maggiore (Orangeburg, NY/Tappan Zee) is having an unbelievable season assisting her teammates and serving. The Orangeburg, NY native has 711 assists this season which is fifth best all-time for a single season. The junior is also fourth all-time in assists per set amongst any player with more than 24 sets played. Her excellent serving has her tied for third all-time in a season with 68 and she is just four behind the leader.
 
Empire 8 Leaders: Brianna Woods (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) continues her fantastic offensive attack as she ranks second in the Empire 8 in hitting percentage with .321. Eleanor Cepiel's (West Sand Lake, NY/Academy of Holy Names) dominant regular season concludes with her ranking first in kills per set averaging a whopping 3.48. Madison Maggiore (Orangeburg, NY/Tappan Zee) is fifth in the Empire 8 with 7.33 assists per set and finished with over 700 assists this season. Maggiore also led the Empire 8 in service aces with 68 and was also first as she averaged .70 service aces per set. The duo of Krystell Pappas (Owensboro, KY/Owensboro) and Cepeil both finished top eight in the E8 in digs per set as the tandem was fantastic all season. Lastly, Cepiel led the Empire 8 with 381 points and 3.81 points per set.
 
Standout Seasons: Kurstan Martin (Owego, NY/Tioga) and Brianna Woods (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) have been great attackers as both have recorded over 113 kills this season. Meanwhile, Maggiore, McKenna LaPorte (Liverpool, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse), Hannah Johnson (Murfreesboro, TN/Blackman) and Lauren Jones all have totaled more than 32 service aces this season and helped the Pioneer attack. Defensively, Abriana Wadley (Utica, NY/Proctor), Maggiore, and Peyton Migliaccio (Suffern, NY/Suffern) have all totaled 27 or more blocks this season and have been anchors for the team. 
 
Scouting Nazareth: The Golden Flyers concluded their regular season with a 10-18 record and were 6-3 in Empire 8 play to secure the three-seed in the E8 Tournament. Nazareth dropped its last match against Hunter College in four sets and is currently on a three-game losing streak. The Golden Flyer attack is led by Kaylee Kelly who amassed 267 kills this season. Kelly and Zoe Tylipakis lead the charge defensively as both have recorded over 225 digs and over a .902 receiving percentage.
 
Up Next: The winner of this match will head to face St. John Fisher on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the Empire 8 Semifinals.