Games #18 & 19 at Stonehill College (NEC)
Info: Friday, Oct. 17 / Saturday, Oct. 18
North Easton, Mass. | Merkert Gymnasium | 6:00 P.M. / 1:00 P.M.
Watch: NEC Front Row (Friday) / NEC Front Row (Saturday)
Live Stats: https://stonehillskyhawks.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary

North Easton, Mass. – The Le Moyne College volleyball team will travel to take on Stonehill College in a pair of NEC matches this coming Friday, Oct. 17 at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 18 at 1:00 p.m.

Matchup History:
Le Moyne currently holds a 21-12 overall record against Stonehill dating back to 1996 when the Dolphins joined the Skyhawks in the NE10 conference. From '96-2021 the teams competed 1-3 times per season before both programs found themselves as conference rivals once again in the NEC for the 2023 season. Since then, the series is tied 2-2 with both squads taking one match apiece in each of the last two seasons. 

Over two matches at home in 2024, current junior opposite hitter Branwyn Lupton (Napanee, O.N. / Napanee District Secondary School) led the 'Phins offense with 24.5 points and 21 kills while sophomore setter Skylar Jehlen (Rochester, N.Y. / Churchville Chili) and senior setter/DS Haley Gerken (Buffalo, N.Y. / Frontier) sat atop the team in assists with 34 and 33, respectively. Gerken and sophomore libero/DS Brooke Menke (St. Louis, M.O. / Visitation Academy) tied while rounding out the offense with a team-leading six service aces against the Skyhawks.

Defensively, Gerken led with 20 digs while Menke added another 19 for the 'Phins as Lupton recorded five block assists for Le Moyne. 

Dolphins' Season:
Le Moyne will head to Massachusetts with a 3-14 record overall through 12 non-conference matches while going 2-3 in conference play this season.

Le Moyne opened the year in the Salt City Classic from Aug. 29-31 where they suffered losses at the hands of both Rider (1-3) and Syracuse (0-3) while downing Niagara (3-2) in their lone victory of the season this far. The team then traveled to Delaware to take part in a three-match set at the Blue Hen Invitational from Sept. 6-7. Le Moyne fell in their three matchups to Hampton (2-3), Virginia Tech (0-3), and host Delaware (0-3) before traveling to Maryland for the Navy invitational on Sept. 12-13. 

The Dolphins dropped their first match to Gardner-Webb (0-3) before rounding out the weekend with a loss at the hands of Navy in similar three-set fashion. The squad then returned home for a mid-week home match with Canisius on Sept. 17 where they fell in three sets before dropping both legs of the Syracuse Invitational against St. John's (0-3) and Siena (0-3) from Sept. 19-20. The Dolphins then dropped their non-conference finale on the road against Holy Cross, 3-0, on Tuesday, Sept. 30.

Le Moyne dropped the opening series of their conference slate against LIU at home in three sets from Oct. 3-4 before dropping a midweek matchup on the road against FDU (3-0) on Oct. 8. Most recently, the squad swept their season series against Chicago State (3-1and 3-0) this past weekend at home for their first NEC wins of 2025

Lupton sits atop Le Moyne's squad with 167.5 points and 148 kills while sitting second on the squad on the defensive end with 38.0 blocks this year, as well. Sophomore outside hitter Nina Salas (Austin, T.X. / McNeil) ranks second with 109.0 points and 97 kills for the Dolphins. Gerken has added a team-high 337 assists through 17 matches played, adding 14 kills, 14 service aces and 101 digs. 

On defense, Menke leads the Dolphins with 160 digs to go along with a .903 reception percentage through 14 matches played. Freshman middle hitter Eiley Schneider (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey) sits ranked first with 47.0 while senior middle hitter Nil Ezgi Tasdelen (Izmir, Turkey/Ugur Okullari) has added another 31.0 blocks, as well.

A Look at the Skyhawks:
Stonehill has worked to a 2-19 overall record including a 1-6 mark in early NEC action this season. Head Coach Craig Martin has been at the helm of the Skyhawks program for six seasons dating back to 2019.

The Skyhawks opened the season 1-12 through invitational play at the Iona Invitational (Aug. 29-30), Towson/Morgan State Invitational (Sept. 5-6), Siena Invitational (Sept. 12-13), and Boston College Invitational (Sept. 19-20) with a one-off loss to Holy Cross (0-3) also coming on Sept. 17. Stonehill's lone victory in that period came on Sept. 12 in a 3-2 win over Columbia. 

The team opened NEC play with a 3-2 victory at home against conference newcomer New Haven on Sept. 26 before falling the next day in five sets, as well. Since then, the team has gone 0-5 with pairs of losses against Saint Francis (0-3 and 2-3) and FDU (0-3 and 1-3) while falling to Central Connecticut State in a five set midweek clash on Oct. 8.

On offense, senior outside hitter Mia Berardino leads with 260.0 points and 233 kills while adding 20 service aces for Stonehill, as well. Freshman setter Kendra Sawyer has recorded a team-high 563 assists while sophomore outside hitter has added 32 assists to lead the squad this season. 

Defensively, freshman libero/DS Suzie Ponce has tallied 155 assists, just 10 ahead of Sawyer while freshman middle blocker Cat Detweiler (41.0) and junior middle blocker Abby Farrell (35.0) have led the way in blocks thus far. 

What's Next:
The Dolphins will host Central Connecticut State University in a pair of matches next weekend, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 24-25.