ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University women's volleyball team split a pair of non-conference matches to open up its 2026 schedule at the SUNY Morrisville Tournament on Friday evening.
The Saxons (1-1, 0-0 Empire 8) started the evening with a three-set victory over St. Francis University (PA), winning, 28-26, 25-13 and 25-22. They then dropped a three-set decision to the hosts.
Match One
Alfred University – 3 (28, 25, 25) | St. Francis University (PA) – 0 (26, 13, 22)
The Saxons were led by
Carleigh Santavy (Commerce, MI/Walled Lake Northern) and
Meeghan Peterson (Amherst, NY/Williamsville South) who each recorded 8.0 points. Santavy had seven kills and one solo block. Peterson recorded seven aces and one kill. Peterson tied the Alfred University school record for most service aces in a three-set match, matching
Ashley Denio and her 2008 record against York. Peterson, in her rookie season, broke the AU school record for service aces in a single season with 65, surpassing Hall of Fame member,
Beth Sanger '06 and her mark of 53 in 2005.
Abigail Omelan (Tomball, TX/Tomball Memorial) chipped in 7.0 points, all from kills.
Whitney Kilton (Pearl City, HI/Pearl City) and
Cara Bratthauar (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg Area) each had three block assists, while Kilton had three kills and Bratthauar added two.
Peterson led AU in set assists as well, recording 12.
Madalynn McGowan (Corona, CA/Norco) had eight digs, followed by
Jenesys Del Mar Moctezuma-Gonzalez (Bayamón, Puerto Rico/North Cobb) and her seven. Santavy tacked on six digs.
The Saxons started the first set with a 7-0 run before SFU battled back to take a 14-12 lead, starting a back-and-forth battle between the two teams. St. Francis eventually took a three-point lead, 20-17, until the Saxons put together a 6-2 run to take a 23-22 lead. St. Francis was the first to reach the 25
th point, 25-24. An attack error tied it up before St. Francis took a 26-25 lead off an assisted block.
An SFU service error tied the set at 26-all.
Gillian Dickerson (Frisco, TX/Wakeland) recorded an ace to take a 27-26 lead. Santavy put the set away with her solo block.
After a second set victory, Alfred University started the third set with an 8-2 opening run. AU kept the throttle down until they had a 21-15 lead. St. Francis tried to fight back with a 6-2 run to make it a 24-22 Saxon lead, but Bratthauar and Kilton connected on a shared blocked attack to end the set and secure the season-opening win.
Match Two
Alfred University – 0 (18, 19, 15) | SUNY Morrisville – 3 (25, 25, 25)
The Saxons were led by Santavy and her 8.0 points off of seven kills and another solo block. Omelan, Peterson and
Julia Abbott (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton) each had 3.0 points. Peterson and Dickerson had six assists. McGowan had eight digs.
The Saxons will close out the weekend with a non-conference match against Empire 8 opponents, SUNY Poly on Saturday, September 5 at 10:00am and then another non-conference match with neighbors, Alfred State College at noon.
-- Swords Forward Saxons --
