AMCC Women's Volleyball Game of the Week: Medaille College @ D'Youville College
Tuesday, October 6 at 7:00 p.m.
Live Video
This week's AMCC women's volleyball Game of the Week takes us to Buffalo, NY, for a backyard brawl between the Mavericks of Medaille College and the Spartans of D'Youville College. With just five miles separating the two campuses, and rosters loaded with local athletes, a large crowd is expected at the College Center Gymnasium on the D'Youville campus.
The Medaille College Lady Mavericks have had an impressive start to the 2015 season, especially considering that 15 of their first 18 games have been away from the friendly confines of the Kevin I. Sullivan Center. The Lady Mavs already have a handful of thrilling victories, including a five set thriller against traditional power Nazareth College in Rochester. Medaille has had a knack for the dramatic this season, winning five separate five-set games. Most recently, the Lady Mavs overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat defending AMCC champion Franciscan University 3-2 in an instant classic. Senior outside hitter Susan Muldoon leads the Lady Mavs and the AMCC with 181 kills (3.23 kills per set) on the season, while fellow senior, setter Simmone Talford is pacing Medaille and the conference with 8.84 assists per set (513 total assists). Both are one and two on the team in blocks as well, with Muldoon slightly edging Talford 43 to 35.
The D’Youville women’s volleyball team has battled injuries in their last several games but have fought hard to continue to improve their overall level of play. After two players went down in their 3-0 defeat of Alfred University, players have been thrusted into different roles and haven’t skipped a beat. Normally one of the team’s leader in kills, sophomore outside hitter Megan Schneider set a personal season-high in assists last match against Houghton with 12, becoming a more versatile player for the team. Freshman outside hitter Megan Gawrys has led the team in kills with 31 in the last three games, stepping up in the absence of others. Junior outside hitters Megan McCarthy and Kaylee Stewart are one and three on the team in kills, with Schneider in-between the two. Freshman middle hitter Julie Fleming is fourth on the team in kills but also leads the team in total blocks. The women have a mix of young talent with veterans leaders that have overcome adversity and grown together as a team.