ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University women's volleyball opened its Empire 8 schedule with a pair of losses against Stevens Institute of Technology and Nazareth College on Saturday during its E8 Crossover in the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena.
 
The Saxons (0-14, 0-2 Empire 8) fell in three sets to Stevens and four to Nazareth. They lost to the Ducks with set scores of 17-25, 18-25 and 14-25. In the nightcap, Alfred University battled to extremely close set scores of 25-23, 21-25, 15-25 and 23-25.
 
Junior outside hitter Amber Smith (Penfield, NY/Webster Schroeder) led both matches and all three teams in kills with 14 against Stevens and 21 against Nazareth. First-year Karina Morling (Canisteo, NY/Canisteo-Greenwood) followed in her first collegiate appearance after coming off an injury as she totaled 17 kills with a day-high of nine against Stevens. She hit a .271 against both powerhouse opponents in the Empire 8 with a .300 against the Ducks and a .250 versus the Golden Flyers. She also recorded two solo blocks and an assisted block against Naz and one assisted block and a dig against Stevens.
 
Defensively, junior Sarah Huzyk (North Chili, NY/Churchville-Chili) led AU with 34 digs with a best of 20 against Nazareth. Senior Elisabeth Estep (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) followed with 29 (17 against Naz).
 
Against the Golden Flyers, both sophomore Amanda Burns (Pine Bush, NY/Pine Bush) and first-year Rachael Moravansky (Mount Airy, MD/Linganore) had three aces while Huzyk posted two and Estep had one. Burns had 32 set assists in the nightcap while recording 26 in the morning match. Sophomore Julia Fanning (Wallkill, NY/Wallkill Senior) followed with four assists but focused more on defense in the second match, tallying seven digs.
 
"What we saw on the day is that we are a lot better than we were last year within our conference," Head Coach Dakota Pruiss said. "I know that this team, being so young, will have late season success in conference. Karina [Morling] came back after an injury that delayed her collegiate career and absolutely dominated. I also have to give props to Julia [Fanning], Amber [Smith] and Amanda [Burns] who had very steady performances all day."
 
The last match of the day for the Saxons obviously featured a first set win but it was the second and fourth sets that, if a couple of volleys went in favor of the home team, the 'L' would have changed to a 'W'.
 
In the second set, Alfred University held a 19-17 lead before Nazareth went on an 8-2 run to close it out. AU got things rolling in the fourth set with a quick six points before Naz could find the scoreboard. Neither team managed to get more than a three-point lead for the remainder of the match. Smith tied the match at 23-23 with a kill (Burns assist) before a Golden Flyer kill and a Saxon attack error ended the hopes of a fifth set.
 
Stevens defeated Nazareth in the middle match, 3-0.
 
The Saxons will next continue their Empire 8 campaign as they host Houghton College on Wednesday, September 26 at 7PM in the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena. The solo match is also the Saxons' Saxon-for-Saxon match in which Student-Athletes from all of the other Alfred University teams are invited to attend to earn participation points to the Saxon Pride Board.