ROCHESTER, NY – Rochester Institute of Technology will host the Empire 8 volleyball conference’s first of two weekends of play on Saturday and Sunday. All nine teams will play four matches this weekend and the second conference weekend to be hosted by Ithaca College Oct. 22-23.
This weekend features several key matches in determining which team will garner the top seed and earn the right to host the conference championship on Saturday, Nov. 6. The seeds will be determined by order of finish in the two conference weekends combined with the top four teams advancing to the championship tournament.
Three-time defending conference champion Stevens Institute of Technology enters the weekend with a 10-2 mark. The Ducks have never lost an Empire 8 match, totaling 24 regular season wins and a 6-0 mark in postseason conference play.
Stevens will face St. John Fisher College at 6 p.m. on Saturday in a rematch of a semifinal match in last year’s championship. Ithaca College, which advanced to last year’s championship match, faces the host Tigers on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Nazareth College, predicted to finish second in this year’s preseason poll, faces St. John Fisher and Ithaca on Sunday in two matchups of teams who advanced to the conference championship tournament in 2009.
Elmira College lost four of its five conference matches last year in five-setters, including taking Stevens to the fifth set. The Soaring Eagles play two of those teams they dropped five-set matches to last season, facing the Ducks on Saturday and Ithaca on Sunday.
There are several key players to watch for in conference play, including two-time Player of the Week Jessica Schaffer of RIT, who ranks 13th in Division III with 4.30 kills per set. Sophomore teammate Christina Worth is nationally ranked in assists per set (10.16).
Rookie Chrissy Dickinson and reigning Empire 8 Rookie of the Year and first-team all-conference selection Maggie Kowalska of Stevens are each ranked in the top-30 in Division III in blocks per set.