UTICA, NY - The Utica University volleyball team swept SUNY Poly 3-0 in its home opener on Wednesday night. The team also honored First Responders with a brief ceremony before the game.
 
The Pioneers spread the wealth with plenty of players appearing in the game and making their impact. Meghan Brennan (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug) led the way with six kills while Eleanor Cepiel (West Sand Lake, NY/Academy of Holy Names) and Peyton Migliaccio (Suffern, NY/Suffern) each recorded five. The team was phenomenal at serving with Hannah Johnson (Murfreesboro, TN/Blackman), Lauren Jones (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham), and Megan Wright (Clay Center, KS/Clay Center Community) each tallying three. Jones had nine assists while Johnson (seven), and Livya Leider (Homestead, FL/Felix Varela) (three) also set up the offense well. 
 
The trio of Cepiel, Migliaccio, and Caitlyn Esposito (Haddam, CT/Haddam-Killingworth) each had one block in the contest. Defensively, Jones, Cepiel, and Leider each recorded more than five digs in the match.
 
Utica's offense was tremendous with 30 kills to Poly's 10 and sported an incredible .338 attacking percentage while forcing 20 Wildcat errors.
 
The Pioneers wasted no timing jumping out to a 5-0 edge in set one. The team kept its offense cooking with an eight-point run to hold a 14-1 lead. Utica kept pouring it on to win the first set 25-6 and take a 1-0 lead.
 
It was much of the same in set two with the Pioneers grasping a 6-1 advantage. Utica's serving was fantastic in the set causing multiple tough plays for Poly and helped the team win the set 25-6 and gain a 2-0 lead.
 
The third set saw the teams exchanging points as the set was tied 4-4. Poly claimed a 14-13 edge before the Pioneers played well down the stretch to secure a 25-18 set win and complete the sweep.
 
Utica (4-5, 0-0 Empire 8) will travel to Clarks Summit, PA for the Clarks Summit Quad Match with the first match beginning at 11 a.m.