OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Utica University women's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on Saturday, falling to Clarkson University, 3-0, before dropping a 3-0 decision to host Oswego State at Laker Hall.
Clarkson, 3 Utica, 0
Utica opened the day against Clarkson and jumped out to an early 5-2 lead in the opening set behind a service ace from Alicia Ancewicz (Greenlawn, NY/John Glenn) and an attack error by Clarkson. The Golden Knights answered with a run to take an 8-5 lead before the Pioneers battled back to tie the set at 8-8. Utica continued to keep the set close, with Charley Herrington (Colonie, NY/Colonie Central) and Trinity Bailey (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) recording kills during a stretch that brought the Pioneers even at 10-10. Clarkson eventually pulled ahead and built a 19-13 advantage before closing out the first set, 25-17.
The Pioneers again kept pace early in the second set, with the teams trading points before Clarkson took a 14-9 lead. Utica answered with a 7-1 run to take the lead back from the Golden Knights with kills from Layla Rice (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) and a slew of Clarkson attacking errors at 16-15. Clarkson regained control in the late stages of the set and took a 2-0 match lead with a 25-17 win.
Utica stayed within one point at 3-2 early in the third set before Clarkson pushed ahead, taking a 7-3 lead. Utica later took a 9-8 lead and held a 12-12 tie before Clarkson began to pull away. Golden Knights closed the match with a 25-18 third-set victory.
Rice led the Pioneers with seven kills, while Bailey added six. Elizabeth Hanba (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) registered five, while Arianna Williams (North Chili, NY/Churchville-Chili), Mackenzie O'Brien (Troy, NY/Lansingburgh), and Herrington each recorded three kills. Addison Jones (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) paced the Utica offense with 14 assists, while Ancewicz added 11. Megan Wright (Clay Center, KS/Clay Center Community) led the defensive effort with a match-high 25 digs, while Bailey and Rice each recorded six.
Oswego, 3 Utica 0
The Pioneers closed out the day against host Oswego State, falling 25-19, 25-21 and 25-21. Utica started the opening set by trading points with the Lakers before Oswego opened up a 7-4 lead. The Pioneers continued to battle and used kills from Bailey and Rice to stay within two points at 9-7. Oswego later extended its lead to 15-9, but Utica answered with four straight kills from Rice to cut the deficit to 15-13. The Lakers maintained the advantage through the middle portion of the set before taking a 20-15 lead. Utica cut the deficit to 22-19 following a kill from Bailey and Herrington, but Oswego scored the final three points to take the opening set, 25-19.
The second set remained close early, with Utica trailing 3-1 before kills from Hanba and Bailey helped the Pioneers pull even at 4-4. The Lakers answered with a 4-1 stretch to take an 8-5 lead, but Utica continued to hang around. Bailey recorded a pair of kills during the middle portion of the set, while Rice and Hanba also added kills as Oswego held a 16-10 advantage. The Pioneers responded with another push, scoring three straight points to make it 18-13 before Bailey and Rice helped Utica cut the lead to 20-16. Oswego moved ahead, but Utica refused to go away. Arianna Williams (North Chili, NY/Churchville-Chili) then added a kill, and Utica used an attack error and another Rice kill to cut the deficit to 22-21. The Lakers answered with the next three points, however, to take the second set, 25-21.
Utica came out strong in the third set, opening with a 3-1 lead before Oswego answered to tie the set at 3-3. The teams continued to trade points, with Herrington recording a kill and Utica eventually taking a 7-5 lead following a Bailey service ace. Oswego tied the set at 7-7 and later took an 8-7 lead, but Utica stayed within reach. Rice recorded a pair of kills as the Pioneers pulled even at 8-8, and Utica remained within two points through the middle portion of the set. Oswego built an 11-8 lead before Utica responded with a Williams kill and an Oswego attack error to make it 13-11. The Lakers extended the lead to 16-11, but Utica answered with a four-point run. Hanba and Bailey combined for four straight kills as the Pioneers cut the deficit to 16-15. Hanba then added another kill to tie the set at 17 a side. Oswego regained the lead at 20-17, but Utica continued to battle. Rice and Herrington recorded kills to keep the Pioneers within 22-21 before Oswego scored the final three points to close out the match, 25-21.
Rice led all Pioneers with 14 kills while hitting .300, adding two digs, one ace and a team-high 15 points. Bailey added 12 kills on a .242 hitting percentage and finished with 12 digs, two aces and 14 points. Wright recorded 22 digs to lead the Pioneers, while Ancewicz and Jones combined for 35 assists.
Trinity Bailey (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) was named to the All-Tournament Team following the weekend. The senior finished the three-match tournament with 30 kills, 28 digs, four service aces and 34 points across nine sets. She averaged 3.33 kills and 3.11 digs per set while hitting .150. Bailey opened the tournament with 12 kills and 10 digs in Utica's 3-0 win over Bard before adding six kills and six digs against Clarkson and 12 kills and 12 digs against Oswego State.
Utica moves to 3-10 on the season, and returns to action on Saturday, September 26 as the team travels to take on the Delhi Tri, hosted by SUNY Delhi. Game one against Marywood is set for 1pm, with game two against the hosts set for 3pm.
