OSWEGO, NY - The Utica University volleyball team fell in both matches today on day two of the Oswego Classic, hosted by Oswego State. The Pioneers fell 3-1 to SUNY Morrisville, and 3-0 to Oswego State.
Utica, 1 SUNY Morrisville, 3
Leading the Pioneer offense was Megan Wright (Clay Center, KS/Clay Center Community) who tallied 16 kills in the contest. Meghan Brennan (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug) recorded 13 kills and Trinity Bailey (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) tallied seven of her own. Lending a helping hand was Lauren Jones (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham), who tallied 23 assists on the afternoon. At the service line, Brennan recorded three service aces while Jones recorded two. On defense, Cassandra Wagemann (Diamond Point, NY/Lake George) tallied 20 digs, with Wright recording 14 and Jones recording 13. The trio of Jones, Bailey, and Jada Anthony (West Nyack, NY/Clarkstown South) each recorded three blocks in the contest.
The first set would prove to be highly contested, as the Pioneers would trade blows with the Mustangs before knotting at three a side. Morrisville would string together points to put it ahead in the set at 6-3. Utica would then be able to put together a six-point run highlighted by kills from Brennan and Anthony, a pair of aces from Brennan and a couple of attacking errors by the Mustangs to put the Pioneers up in the set at 10-7. Morrisville would put together a run of its own with a trio of kills and an attacking error by Utica to take back the lead at 13-12. Both teams would continue to trade blows before back to back kills from Wright would knot the score at 19. Either side would not be able to get a grasp on the lead in the set until knotting at 24. The Pioneers would go up 25-24 on a kill from Jones before Morrisville would tie and close out the set at 27-25.
The second set was similar to the first with neither team being able to jump out to an exorbitant lead, the largest of the set being a five point gap. Both teams would trade a trio of points before knotting at three and then again at eight. Morrisville would string together six points to go ahead in the set on a slew of Pioneer attacking errors at 13-8. The Pioneers would start to crawl back with two sets of back to back points to cut the deficit to two on kills from Anthony, Esposito and Wright at 14-12. The teams would trade blows before Utica would find its stride and put together a five-point run to take back the lead highlighted by a kill from Anthony and a slew of errors by Morrisville to take the lead at 22-21. Teams would trade trios of points to bring the set to 25-24 in favor of the Pioneers when a kill from Wright would close out the set at 27-25.
The third frame would see both teams trade blows to open the set and knot at five. Morrisville would go on to put the Pioneers on ice with a monster eight-point run to put the Mustangs ahead at 13-5. Utica would attempt to complete the comeback putting together trios of points before falling behind in the set 24-15 after back to back Mustang kills and a service ace. The Pioneers would be able to hold the Mustangs to 24 as they put together a five-point run to cut the deficit to four, but it was not enough as the Mustangs would close out set three 25-20.
The final set opened with both teams trading blows before the Pioneers would put together a four point run highlighted by kills from Bailey and Brennan to put Utica ahead at 5-3. Morrisville would then go on a run of its own to go ahead in the set 8-5. Both teams would trade back to back points before knotting at 15. Morrisville would then go on another multi-point run with back to back errors and kills to go ahead at 20-15, a lead they would hold onto before closing out the set 25-19.
Utica, 0 Oswego 3
Leading the Pioneer offense was Megan Wright (Clay Center, KS/Clay Center Community) who had recorded eight kills in the contest, followed by Jada Anthony (West Nyack, NY/Clarkstown South) who recorded seven and Meghan Brennan (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug) who recorded five. In the Pioneers effort, Lauren Jones (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) dished out 17 assists. At the service line, Anthony, Brennan, and Jones each recorded an ace. On defense, Wright tallied 20 digs while Cassandra Wagemann (Diamond Point, NY/Lake George) recorded 17. Anthony, Jones, and Mackenzi O'Brien each recorded a block in the contest.
The opening frame saw Utica jump out to an early lead at 3-1 before both teams traded blows and knotted at six apiece. Both teams would then trade trios of points with Utica's highlighted by a trio of errors by the Lakers to go up in the set at 11-9. The Lakers would then put together a four-point run to take back the lead and go up in the set at 14-12. Utica would then capitalize on two errors by Oswego to tie the set at 14 apiece. Oswego would then go on a five point run to once again go up in the set at 19-14. The Pioneers would then put together a four-point run of their own to bring the deficit to one on a kill from Brennan and errors by the Lakers. The teams would trade blows before Oswego would go on another multi-point run to end the set 25-20.
The second frame would open with both teams exchanging back to back points three times to knot the set at 4 a side. The teams would continue to trade blows before Oswego would go on a four-point run to go up in the set at 11-7, a lead which the Lakers would hold onto for the remainder of the set. Utica would attempt to cut the deficit, but the Lakers would capitalize on the opportunity at hand, with four sets of back to back points before closing out the set 25-20.
The final set was a back and forth battle for the Pioneers who would fall behind early with a deficit that could not be made up. Jumping out by two early was the Lakers, who would hold onto the lead for the entirety of the set. The Pioneers would give up back to back points twice to bring the deficit to three at 6-3. Oswego would then put together a three-point run to go ahead in the set at 11-5. The Pioneers would then string together sets of points to bring the deficit back to two at 12-10 and would trade trios of points with Oswego until the Lakers were up in the set at 18-13. The teams would trade blows once again one by one to bring the score to 24-19 in favor of the Lakers. Utica would then go on a four point run highlighted by two kills from Brennan and an ace from Wright, but were unable to close out the set as Oswego would take it 25-23.
Utica (3-6, 0-0 Empire 8) returns home next week to take on the SUNY Cobleskill Tigers before opening Empire 8 Conference play. Game time on Tuesday, September 24 is set for 7pm from Miga Court.
