ROCHESTER, NY – The Alfred University women's volleyball team clinched a spot in the Empire 8 Athletic Conference Playoffs for the first time since the year 2000 on Saturday afternoon as they split in the E8 crossover at Nazareth College.
 
The Saxons (7-20, 4-4 Empire 8) started the day off with a four-set loss to Nazareth, 25-23, 21-25, 22-25, 19-25. They rebounded with a three-set sweep of Utica College, 25-22, 25-21, 25-16. Alfred University needed Hartwick College to fall to St. John Fisher College in the split scenario and also needed Houghton College to get swept on their day. Fisher defeated Hartwick in three sets whereas the Highlanders were upset by Elmira College in five sets, clearing the path for the Saxons to claim the No. 4 seed in the playoffs.
 
The Saxons had two outstanding performances in their first match from senior Maddison VanEtten (Harpursville, NY/Harpursville Central) and first-year Sarah Raeman (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua). VanEtten hit a .438 off of 10 kills on 16 attempts with only three errors. Raeman was also in the .400's with a .435 hitting percentage as she claimed 11 kills on 23 attempts with one error. Both Raeman and VanEtten were in the top three Saxon scorers for the match.
 
"Even though we lost, I am extremely proud of our Nazareth match," Head Coach Dakota "Dak" Pruiss said. "We tapped into that will to win that we have been trying to cultivate for an entire season. I was thoroughly impressed with what Sarah [Raeman] and Maddison [VanEtten] did for us offensively. As a whole, we utilized our strengths in that match."
 
Sophomore Amber Smith (Penfield, NY/Webster Schroeder) had 14.0 points on 14 kills. She also tallied 12 digs and one set assist. Senior Heather D'Andrea (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst Prep) led the Saxons with 15 digs while junior Elisabeth Estep (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) followed with 13. Senior Aubrey Totsline (Fairport, NY/Fairport) had 44 set assists against Naz.
 
In the later match, senior Jacquelynn Hicks (Greenville, NY/Greenville) led the Saxons with 16.0 points off of 13 kills, two aces and one block solo. Smith followed with 13.0 points on 13 kills and D'Andrea posted 11.0 points with eight kills and three aces.
 
"I am just happy that we had a clean match against a conference opponent," Dak said. "To finish the regular conference season with a 3-0 win, that we needed to stay in the running for our post-season dreams, was huge."
 
Smith had 15 digs while D'Andrea and Estep had 14 each. Totsline posted 38 set assists.
 
The Saxons will next play in a non-conference tri-match with SUNY Poly and Oswego State at Oswego. The first match will be at 1 pm and the second at 3 pm.