UTICA, NY - The Utica University volleyball team took down the SUNY Geneseo Knights in reverse sweeping fashion on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Knights by a score of 3-2. 

Leading the way for the Pioneers was Trinity Bailey (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) who brought down a team high 16 kills while hitting .212. Kendall Turner (Huber Heights, OH/Wayne) managed 12 kills on the afternoon, while Arianna Williams (North Chili, NY/Churchvile-Chili) registered seven. Lauren Jones (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) lent a helping hand with a season high 31 assists. At the service line, Jones, Turner, and Megan Wright (Clay Center, KS/Clay Center Community) each tallied a pair of service aces. At the netfront, Jada Anthony (West Nyack, NY/Clarkstown South) and Charley Herrington (Colonie, NY/Colonie Central) led the Pioneers with Anthony registering a solo block and an assist, while Herrington registered a pair of assists. On defense, Turner paced the back row with a team high 22 digs, while Wright managed 21 and Jones followed not far behind with 16. 

The opening frame would see the Pioneers take an early 3-1 lead before the Knights would swing the momentum back in their favor with a four point run to take the lead back at 5-3. Utica would respond with a four point run of their own, taking back the lead at 8-6. Geneseo would completely take over from there in the set, posting a 17-4 run to close out the opening from 25-15 in favor of the Knights. 

The second set would see the Pioneers and the Knights swap points before the Knights would make a four and six point run to make it 12-4 Geneseo. Utica would find back to back points to cut the lead in half, however the Knights would continue to score bringing the score to 20-9. The Pioneers would start a comeback with a five point streak to make it a six point game. After some back and fourth both teams went on three point runs with Geneseo ending up on top, winning the set 25-18.

Set three would open with the Knights coming out scoring three points, starting the set 3-1. Immediately the Pioneers would answer back with a five point run giving them a 5-3 lead over the Knights. Both teams would proceed to exchange blows with each other and tie the set at  20-20. The Pioneers would begin to pull away after scoring four points in a row. The Knights would come back and tie the set at 24 a piece. Utica would end the thrilling set on top 27-25.

With Utica down 2-1 the fourth set would start similarly to the third as the Geneseo Knights put three points on the board. Utica would fight back and forth, clawing back to make it a two point game down 5-7. The Pioneers continue to show resilience by running up four points to go up by one 9-8. After swapping leads the Knights would find three straight to knot it up at 18. Utica would start pulling away with a five point run before closing it out with a 25-21 win.

The fifth and final set would see Utica start the scoring first with Geneseo answering with two points of their own. The Pioneers would pull off an five point run and add back to back points before swapping sides up 8-3. The Knights would mount another five point run tying up the final set at 9 a side. Both teams would continue to exchange blows, with Utica taking the lead at 13-12. The Pioneers would finish the match strong by scoring the final two points of the set to come out victorious over the Knights 15-12, completing the reverse sweep.

Utica (9-15, 2-5 Empire 8) finishes up their three game homestead on Tuesday October 21st, against the SUNY Delhi Broncos. Game time from Miga Court inside the Clark Athletic Center is scheduled for 7:00pm.