ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University women's volleyball team closed out its home portion of its 2015 schedule with a 3-1 win over Hilbert College Wednesday evening in the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena.
 

The Saxons (4-24, 0-8 Empire 8) defeated the Hawks in four sets, 22-25, 25-14, 25-23, 25-22.  Not only was the win special it gave the Saxons a 2-0 record against the Hawks, having beat them in five sets during the College at Brockport Tournament on October 16, but it was a special way to send out the three seniors on the Alfred University team, Kristen Julian (Henrietta, NY/Rush-Henrietta), Chelsea Pietrzykowski (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua), and Brianna Dudick (Somers, NY/Somers).
 
Dudick led the senior group with 8.0 points from seven kills and one ace. She also added six digs and two assists. Pietrzykowski had 7.0 points from her seven kills and Julian had five digs on the evening.
 
Despite falling in the first set, Alfred University responded in the second set with a series of demoralizing plays to silence the Hilbert offensive. Sophomore Heather D'Andrea (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst Prep) went on a tear that began a Saxon 14-2 run. She first gained service rights with the second set tied 9-9 with a kill off a set assist from sophomore Aubrey Totsline (Fairport, NY/Fairport).
 
Junior Mary Lou Patnaude (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) earned a point right after with a kill of her own from junior Valerie Cardillo (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) for an 11-9 Saxon lead. Patnaude then had back-to-back aces that were earned by her singling out Hilbert's Morgan Ott.
 
Patnaude had a six-serve streak to round out the set-changing run that saw an ace from her, multiple attack errors from Hilbert and an assisted block between Totsline and sophomore Jacquelynn Hicks (Greenville, NY/Greenville), giving the Saxons a commanding 23-11 lead over the visitors.
 
Alfred University went on to close out the set off a kill from Hicks and an attack error by Hilbert's Chelsea Adamski.
 
Hicks finished the evening with a strong performance of 14.0 points from 12 kills (.250 attack percentage), most of them coming off of poorly placed digs by the Hawks that resulted in Hicks burying her attacks under the floorboards, two assisted blocks and one ace. She also added three digs and one set assist.
 
D'Andrea had 10.5 points on the night from eight kills, two aces and one block assist. She donated 18 digs to the Saxon total of 81 on the evening. Patnaude led AU with 20 digs that went along with her 8.0 points from six kills and two aces.
 
Totsline led the match in assists with 29 and tied Hilbert's Ott with three service aces on her way to a 3.5 point outing.
 
Freshman Elisabeth Estep (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) was second on the team with 14 digs and added two assists.
 
The Saxons will next make two trips this weekend to round out their 2015 schedule. The first journey will be to Oswego State for a 6:00 pm match start on Friday, October 30. Then it's off to Utica, NY for the SUNYIT Tournament on Halloween afternoon with the Saxons taking on the host Wildcats at 2:00 pm and the New Rochelle Blue Angels at 4:00 pm on Saturday.