UTICA, NY - The Utica University volleyball team is set for its final week of regular season play with a pair of home matchups. On Friday, October 31 the team will host the Keuka College Wolves, with a game time set for 7pm on Miga Court inside the Clark Athletic Center. On Saturday, November 1, the team will honor its seniors as they take on the Elmira Soaring Eagles with a game time set for 1pm from Miga Court inside the Clark Athletic Center. 
 
Follow Along: For those unable to attend, live video for both weekend matchups can be found here, and live stats here. 
 
Last Time Out: The team took down the Nazareth Golden Flyers in four sets on Saturday afternoon. Leading the way for the Pioneers was Kendall Turner (Huber Heights, OH/Wayne), who posted her second double digit kill outing this week with 18 kills, followed by Trinity Bailey (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) who recorded 15 and Charley Herrington (Colonie, NY/Colonie Central) with seven. At the service line, Lauren Jones (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) managed to chip in five service aces, while Herrington recorded three, and Megan Wright (Clay Center, KS/Clay Center Community) who recorded two. At the netfront, a trio of Pioneers recorded four total blocks in Jada Anthony (West Nyack, NY/Clarkstown South), Arianna Williams (North Chili, NY/Churchvile-Chili), and Jones. On defense, Wright anchored the back row with 22 digs, while Turner managed 19 and Jones with 17.
 
Senior Day: Prior to Saturday's contest, Utica Volleyball will honor its pair of seniors, Lauren Jones (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) and Jada Anthony (West Nyack, NY/Clarkstown South), who are competing in their final seasons with the team. 
 
Playoff Picture: Utica is still able to clinch a berth into the 2025 Empire 8 Women's Volleyball Conference Tournament. The tournament will follow an eight team championship format, with the top four seeds hosting quarterfinal matchups. As of this writing, Utica currently holds the eighth seed in the tournament. In order to clinch a playoff berth, the Pioneers would need to win both games this weekend, or if a game is dropped, have Nazareth lose a game this weekend. If the Pioneers win both weekend matchups and Alfred loses both of their remaining games, the Pioneers would move into the seven seed. Utica currently holds the head to head tiebreaker over Nazareth, but loses the head to head against Alfred. Nazareth and Alfred are set to square off against one another on Friday, with Nazareth's final game being against Houghton, and Alfred's against St. John Fisher. More information regarding the playoff will be released as it is available. 
 
Athlete of the Week: Freshman Kendall Turner (Huber Heights, OH/Wayne) turned in a pair of double digit kill outings last week, marking three times in the last four games with 10+ kills. On the week, the freshman managed to bring down 36 kills with a hitting percentage over .165, averaging 3.60 kills per set. Turner was also a key piece of the Pioneers' service rotation, posting five service aces. On defense, Turner managed a total of 40 digs, averaging just over four digs per set. Against Delhi, Turner's 14 kills and .306 hitting percentage with 12 digs propelled the Pioneers to a sweep over the Broncos. Against Nazareth, Turner slammed home a season high 18 kills with a .244 hitting percentage with 19 digs. 
 
Scouting Keuka: The Keuka College Wolves have posted a 2-21 record this season, and are 1-8 in Empire 8 play. The Wolves are in the mix as well for the final sport in the Empire 8 playoff, but are needing a lot of help. The Wolves would need to beat the Pioneers and win their final game against SUNY Poly, and have Nazareth lose out in order to clinch a playoff berth. As a team this season, the Wolves have averaged just over 8.5 kills per set, allowing an average of 11.3 kills per set to opponents, compared to the 9.9 kills per set average and 11.2 kills per set allowed to opponents of the Pioneers. Keuka has also allowed a hitting percentage of .178 to opponents this season, with the Pioneers hitting .107 as a team this season. Leading the Wolves offensive attack has been Nina Scott, who has registered just over 200 kills this season, averaging 2.90 kills per set. Alessandra Castaneda has also been a driving force of the Wolves attack with over 185 kills this season. Scott has been the key piece of the Wolves serving rotation, posting a total of 36 service aces on the season. On defense, Gabby Rodriguez leads the Keuka back row with 347 total digs this season, averaging over 4.3 digs per set. At the netfront, Rosslan Force has been the biggest blocking presence for Keuka, managing a team high 38 blocks with 14 solo and 24 assists. Last season's edition of this matchup ended in 3-1 favor of the Pioneers. The last time the Pioneers hosted the Wolves was back in 2022, where the Pioneers took that matchup by a score of 3-1. Since Keuka joined the Empire 8 in the fall of 2020, the Pioneers are 3-1 in conference matchups, and are 4-6 in the last 10 meetings between the two.  
 
A Look at Elmira: The Elmira College Soaring Eagles have posted a 3-23 record on the season, and are 1-8 in conference play. Elmira has found themselves in a similar situation to that of Keuka in order to secure a spot in the conference tournament. Elmira would need to win its contest against SUNY Poly on Friday, as well as defeat the Pioneers on Saturday, while Nazareth loses at least once in its final two games to secure a spot in the conference tournament. Elmira also holds the head to head tiebreaker against Nazareth. As a team this season, the Soaring Eagles have allowed a total of 946 kills to opponents this season, with a hitting percentage of .191 allowed to opponents this season. Leading the Elmira attack this season has been Morgan Sica, who has totalled 145 kills this season, averaging less than two kills per set. Aimee Bridges has also been a key piece of the Elmira attack, registering a total of 128 kills on the season. At the service line, Gabriela Rodriguez and Vicki Titus lead the Elmira serving rotation, each with a total of 30 service aces on the season. On the defensive side, Rodriguez leads the Soaring Eagles back row with a total of 329 digs, averaging 3.62 digs per set. At the netfront, Lilyanah Doolittle and Bridges are the biggest blocking presence for Elmira, each registering over 30 total blocks this season, each with over 15 solo blocks. In the last two meetings between these two teams, the Pioneers have had success, taking both matchups by a score of 3-1. 
 
Up Next: If the Pioneers clinch a playoff berth, the 2025 Empire 8 Tournament is slated to begin on Saturday, November 8. More information will be released as it is available.