Houghton and Utica Advance in 2022 Empire 8 Women's Volleyball Championship First Round Action

Women's Volleyball | 11/1/2022 10:26:20 PM

No. 4 seed Houghton University and No. 6 seed Utica University made history, advancing in the 2022 Empire 8 Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament after earning victories in first round action on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Houghton knocked off No. 5 seed Medaille University in three sets, while Utica rallied to defeat No. 3 seed Nazareth College in five sets. Both teams picked up their first Empire 8 postseason wins in program history.

Semifinal action will take place at top-seed St. John Fisher on Friday, Nov. 4. The hosts will take on Houghton in the first semifinal at 5 p.m., while Utica will face No. 2 seed Hartwick College in the second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. The two winners will meet for the championship on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. Earlier this season, St. John Fisher defeated Houghton in three sets on Oct. 7, while Hartwick earned a four-set win over Utica on Oct. 22.

NO. 4 HOUGHTON 3, NO. 5 MEDAILLE 0
Houghton (10-13) picked up its first Empire 8 conference tournament victory in front of the largest home crowd of the season, defeating Medaille (6-23) in straight sets, 25-23, 25-10, 25-22.
 
Seven service errors put the Highlanders in a hole in the first set, and the Mavericks held a 22-18 before Houghton found their footing. A pair of kills by Emma Cole, coupled with a Medaille setting error, pulled Houghton within one before an ace from Haley Unverdorben tied the game, 22-22.   The Highlanders would win three of the next four points, all on kills by Ella Smith, to take the crucial first set.
 
Houghton would dominate the second set, thanks in large part to 13 service points from sophomore Marra Hovey, six of which came on aces.  When Hovey toed the line on her first serve, the game stood tied, 5-5.  When she finished, the Highlanders led, 18-5.  They would eventually win the set, 25-10.
 
While the Mavericks continued to scrap, the Highlanders opened up a sizable lead in the third set, eventually leading 22-14.  Medaille refused to quit, reeling off five straight points, and eventually pulling within two, 24-22, but a well-timed timeout by Houghton coach, Judy Fox, iced the server, who served the ball into the net for the final point of the match.
 
Houghton standout Haley Unverdorben surpassed 2,800 career assists, collecting 31 on the day. Julie Immel led the Highlanders with 12 kills, the eighth time she has reached double-digits this season, and sixth time she has accomplished the feat in the past eight games. Her second kill of the night gave her 400 for her career. Katie Naprawa, Cole and Smith all added eight kills apiece for the Highlanders.
 
Defensively, Rebekah Clark posted 11 digs, while Hannah Catalino added 10, the second time this season she has posted double-digit digs. Senior Alyssa Lyon, in her last game on the Nielsen Center hardwood, picked up three kills, giving her 98 on the season and exactly 300 for her Houghton career. 

NO. 6 UTICA 3, NO. 3 NAZARETH 2
Utica (17-11) continued its best season in program history, rallying to take the final two sets and earn an 11-25, 25-20, 19-25, 25-19, 15-13 win over Nazareth (10-19). The thrilling win sends the Pioneers to the Empire 8 Semifinals for the first time in program history.
 
Nazareth started out the first set hot and led 12-2 in the blink of an eye. The Golden Flyers offense was superb and was cruising during the first set and led 23-8. The Pioneers cut into the deficit a bit, yet Nazareth won the first set 25-11 and took a 1-0 edge in the match. 
 
The Pioneers' offense came alive during the second set as the teams were exchanging blows. Utica finally held an 8-5 advantage before the match was tied at 9-9. Kills by Kurstan Martin (Owego, NY/Tioga) and Abriana Wadley (Utica, NY/Proctor) helped the Pioneers regain a lead and put the team up 13-10 in the set. Utica led 17-16 before Nazareth came back to cut the lead to just 17-16. The Pioneers held onto a 20-19 edge before a four-point scoring run fueled by McKenna LaPorte's (Liverpool, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) terrific serving. Utica held on and won the set 25-20 to even the match at 1-1. 
 
The Utica offense continued to stay hot as the team quickly opened a 4-1 lead in the third set. Martin tacked on another kill to help the Pioneer lead increase to 10-5, yet Nazareth would cut the lead to 10-9. The Golden Flyers' offense started to find its rhythm and held a 19-15 edge as its serving was on par. Nazareth continued to generate offense and won the set 25–19 and held a 2-1 advantage in the match.
 
Utica began a crucial fourth set down 2-0 before evening the score on a Madison Maggiore (Orangeburg, NY/Tappan Zee) attack. Nazareth's serving continued to produce and gave the team an 11-5 edge. Utica would not give up as the team kept themselves in it the entire set and trailed just 16-14. The Golden Flyers held an 18-16 edge before Utica went on an incredible 10-0 scoring run to lead the set 24-18. The run saw Eleanor Cepiel (West Sand Lake, NY/Academy of Holy Names) and Kurstan Martin (Owego, NY/Tioga) pave the way with kills and Peyton Migliaccio (Suffern, NY/Suffern) held it down defensively with a block during the burst. The Pioneers held on to win the crucial set 25-19 and tied the match at 2-2 to keep its season alive.
 
The fifth set was one for the ages and the biggest single set in program history to this point as the teams continued to exchange points. Utica led 3-1 before Nazareth gained a 4-3 edge. Then the Pioneers held a 7-6 advantage before the Golden Flyers went up 8-7 in the set. A block by Wadley and Caitlyn Esposito (Haddam, CT/Haddam-Killingworth) gave Utica a 12-10 edge before Nazareth tied the set yet again. The set was knotted at 13-13 before a Wadley kill and Lauren Jones (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) attack won the Pioneers the set 15-13 and the match 3-2.
 
The Pioneers' offense started to get rolling, yet the defense was superb. The offense was led by Martin with 12 kills and followed by Cepiel with nine and Wadley who tied her season high of eight kills. The Utica defense was magnificent as the team totaled 11 blocks as Migliaccio had five followed by Wadley with four and Esposito with three. The trio of Pappas, Cepiel, and LaPorte continued its dominant run as each member totaled more than nine digs for the fifth consecutive game.