By DAVID MEISTER
Sports Editor
Fall semester sports are officially underway. The Saint Rose volleyball team kicked things off with a busy stretch consisting of three tournaments plus their home opener. It all got started back on August 24-25 with the Daemen Volleyball Classic in Amherst, NY. They lost three sets to one to the host Daemen Wildcats (25-20, 25-21, 17-25, 25-19). Despite the loss, senior Shayna Webber provided the Golden Knights with a positive performance with a team-high 12 kills. Junior Stevie Schweitzer, who led the Golden Knights last season with 291 kills, picked up where she left off last season with nine kills.
They played two games the next day. First up was the Gannon University Golden Knights in the morning but Saint Rose was swept (25-15, 25-17, 25-17). Senior Grace Campbell led the team with five kills. In the afternoon, they played the Lake Erie College Storm but fell once again three sets to one (24-26, 25-20, 25-21, 25-22). Saint Rose managed to take the first set from the Storm thanks to a set-winning block from senior Sam Kubik and sophomore Kyla Archie. Leading the offense was the duo of Webber and Schweitzer who had 12 and 11 kills respectively.
The team headed back to Albany on Wednesday for their home opener against the Mercy Mavericks and electrified the home crowd with a sweep of the Mavericks (25-18, 25-13, 25-21). Schweitzer continued her dominant run with a season-high 21 kills on route to the victory.
Tournament number two of the season was the Molloy Tournament in Rockville Centre, NY which kicked off on Saturday with a pair of matches for Saint Rose. First up were the host Molloy Lions who won their conference title last season but Saint Rose proved to be the dominant team on the day winning three sets to one (21-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-12). Webber led the team with 13 kills and one ace. Schweitzer wasn’t too far behind with 12 kills and two aces. They looked to stretch the win streak to three in game two of the day against the Post Eagles and did just that, sweeping them (25-19, 25-22, 25-22). Schweitzer again led the team with 15 kills.
The final tournament of this opening stretch took the team to Old Westbury, NY for the NYIT Tournament on Sunday. Game one was against the Bloomfield Bears which they swept and won (25-19, 25-12, 25-15). Game two was against the host NYIT Bears which they lost three sets to one (25-22, 25-23, 30-32, 25-23). Schweitzer registered 22 blocks combined between both games. Behind her was Archie with 18 kills combined.
After this busy opening stretch the Golden Knights start the season at 4-4 and will be off this week. They return to action on Saturday where they’ll begin a five-game homestand which starts against the Nyack Warriors at 2 p.m.
Women’s soccer began their season last Thursday on the road in Flushing, NY against the Queens College Knights and took the win 2-1. The Golden Knights outshot Queens by a margin of 20-8. Juniors Nina Predanic and Caitlyn Debagian each scored one goal and junior goalkeeper Marika Laurendeau recorded two saves. After starting the season 1-0 the team will look to carry the early momentum with matches against Roberts Wesleyan, Caldwell, and Stonehill.
Men’s soccer opened up their 2018 campaign at home under the lights against the Nyack Warriors and took the win 4-1. Leading the team in scoring on the day was the freshman from Italy, Filippo Bellu, who scored two goals. Also putting one in the back of the net were seniors Paulo Sdoia and Kyle Clemens. The Golden Knights also outshot the Warriors 16-9. Like the women’s team, the men look to get on a roll early with matches this week at home against the Dominican Chargers and on the road in Queens versus the Knights.
Finally the season is underway for both the men’s and women’s cross country teams as they competed in the Saint Rose Invitational on Saturday. Junior Christine Myers won the 5K race with a time of :18.42. The next best Golden Knight to finish was junior Shannen Kerin who finished sixth with a time of :20.12 . On the men’s side with the 8K race the top finisher for Saint Rose was Evan Ireland who finished eleventh in :27.17 and behind him in twelfth Rastafari Morgan in :27.29 . Next up for both teams is the Siena Invitational on Saturday in Loudonville.
