Women’s volleyball
A disappointing nine win season could turn around in a hurry with upperclass players in key positions and a solid recruiting class.
Senior setter Elisabeth Rivera and classmate Courtney Taylor hitting outside with junior Kristina Button will anchor the squad.
“We have a top level recruit class of seven freshmen coming in,” head coach Doug Porterfield said. “Add that to our two returning seniors, four juniors and three sophomores.
“We will be on the young side in age but we will be in the thick of the competition. The team chemistry is incredible already.
“Looking at this strong freshman class providing internal competition for playing time, our returning players will be pushed to achieve more than they did last year.
“I see Kristina Button moving into a bigger leadership role, joining Elisabeth Rivera as agents of focus and encouragement for the team. We will be focusing on getting positive set distribution across the front row and using our talented back row plays as tools in the offense as well. Riley Moll from the Buffalo area will concentrate on right side. Shelby Strausbaugh and Samantha Ess will be keeping watch over the defensive end of things. Rachel Holmes had a great freshman year and will continue to grow. Kortney Schaum is still recuperating from surgery in the spring and we are hoping that she will see play time in October.
Among the esteemed recruiting class, Nikki Simmonds, a 5’1” lefty setter from San Diego and 6’2” setter/MH Emily Rowlinson from Yuma, AZ are expected to be impact players from the first day.
Add six footers Anna Vorderbrueggen (middle hitter), Grace Detwiler (MH), Kathryn Krchniak (OH), Amanda Greenwood and Tori Westfall plus former basketball players Anastasia Smith to a deep class.
“Our schedule is very heavy in preseason competition playing six regionally ranked and one nationally ranked team(s) in three out of state tournaments for the first three weeks of the season.”
The schedule opens on the road before the Redhawks host Brockport September 5 and Bridgeport in their conference opener September 22.
Women’s soccer
The team lost three-time All-American and leading scorer Bella Mitrevski to graduation, but the depth is there for the Redhawks to exceed their ten-win campaign from last fall.
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“This will be a very exciting season and because we have a very young roster, I expect us to improve dramatically throughout the course of the season,” second year head coach Sarah McLellan said.
“Preseason will be a critical timeframe for us to mesh as a team and develop our style of play. It’s thrilling to think about how good we can be in November. We have a great group of seniors and really want to make this a special season.”
“Our sophomore class has grown leaps and bounds; many of them were able to get significant time on the field as freshmen and all showed well last spring. Kendall grads Taylor and Maya Rutland finished tied for second on the squad in goals. Starting goalkeeper Kelsey Brinkel and midfielder Izzy Groves, who scored three goals despite starting only four games, are expected to help lead the locker room.
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Senior Orla Martin will get a chance to help more offensively.
Senior Taylor Fletcher (Churchville-Chili) anchors the defense along with sophomore Sarah Giancursio.
Ten freshmen dot the roster with Ava Harrington, Dejah Cooper and Melanie Critzer on defense, goalkeeper Madison Lamarche, midfielders Allison Parsels, Lillian Schultz, Genevieve Palmer and Selena Beller plus forwards Malissa Temple and Emily Romig (Hilton/Northstar).
“I expect several of our new guys to be able to jump right in and play. They are a competitive group and very talented; it will be exciting to see how much they improve this season.”
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The team opens August 31 at home against LeMoyne and plays just two of their final East Coast Conference games at home.
Women’s tennis
“I am excited to get started competing this year,” head coach Becky Bonner said. “We have four new faces with great talent joining our already talented team; this will make us very “deep”.
“We are definitely looking for a top ten ranking in the East. Our international team is varied with student-athletes from Botswana, Netherlands, France, Spain, Denmark and Canada, as well as from the U.S.
“(Junior) Nthabi Mogopodi joined us in the spring semester and was invited to play in the World University Games in Taiwan. She will be representing Botswana. We are very proud of her and looking forward to her return and a successful season.”
Sophomore Marousia Bosch was playing top singles late last fall with more expected of sophomore Salome Darsalia and senior Marine Kennel, who were lower seed singles players last season. All three played doubles last season as well, but will need to adjust to new partners.
In addition to Mogopodi, Churchville-Chili grad Laura Freeman and Brockport’s Charity Hinman are among the freshmen head coach Becky Bonner added to the roster.
Freeman went 12-4 in the 2016 season and went on to win the Section V Class A Singles Championship where she was the tournament’s No. 1 seed. The five-year team captain was an All-League First Team selection in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 and was a Second Team selection in 2012 as well as the team’s Most Valuable Player in 2015 and 2016.
The team kicks off its schedule with Brockport visiting September 5 and their first East Coast Conference match three days later. Their final two conference dates come October 20-21 on their home court.
Men’s tennis
Playing the reverse schedule of the women with all of their conference matches in the spring, the Redhawks won their first eight against non-conference foes before struggling to a 1-4 conference record in the spring.
Losing just one senior and having four new players will help add depth and competition.
“Senior Hugo Ball-Greene from France will continue at the number one singles spot,” head coach Tom Linhart said. “He is currently ranked #6 in singles in the East Region. Senior Jose Maria Carrillo from Spain was our most improved player last year and we are looking to him to continue that progression.
“Sophomores Dennis Barlotta and Matthew Cruz, both from New Jersey, performed well last year and with a year’s experience should step up and contribute even more. Senior Dustin Eshleman provides us with an experience doubles player and, along with Ball-Greene and Carrillo, will captain the team. We continue to see excellent growth in junior Joshua Moore’s game. Our experience should help us this year.”
Newcomers competing for playing time include Harmeet Luthra from India, Guido Janssen from Netherlands and Timothy Nacca from Garden City, New York.
“All are talented freshmen with international and tournament experience. We look for them to push our retuning players for spots in the lineup.”
Junior transfer Andrew Freeman also arrives via Churchville-Chili and Monroe Community College. Freeman holds the record for singles victories for the Saints and was an all Monroe County Selection.
The squad will play five non-conference opponents this fall with only LeMoyne at home October 10.
Men’s soccer
Goals were already at a premium during the Redhawks disappointing 2016 campaign and now they embark on the 2017 slate minus leading scorer Malcolm Shaw who finished his eligibility.
Seniors Sam Moody, John Stewart and Logan Wood combined for seven goals and 23 points, but no other player scored more than one goal last season leaving plenty of room for a returning player to step into a higher-profile role or one of the many newcomers to have an impact.
“I’m excited about the upcoming season,” head coach Scott Reber said. “We competed well last year but felt that we left a lot on the table. We had a good Spring season and I think the guys are hungry to get back at it. We have a great incoming class that should add significant depth to our roster with many that will be competing for a starting role.
“I’m expecting many players to step-up this year; specifically our captains (senior goalkeeper) John Ciavaglia, (sophomore midfielder) Terrell Spencer, Stewart and Wood.”
Fans will definitely need to pick up a roster sheet from the mailbox with many new faces in the lineup including red-shirts in forward Barrington Smith via Toronto and Jeremiah Ochepo of Nigeria and junior varsity promote Ashton Colaire (Toronto) on defense.
The coaching staff also went heavy with transfers in midfielders Shaq Rouse, Daniel Maxwell and Juan Camilo Ospina-Betancurt (Columbia).
Freshmen include Marko Mitrevski (Churchville-Chili), Johanz Tusiime (Uganda), Mateo Alexander, goalkeeper Joe McNulty (Brockport) and Holley grad Jake Adams on defense.
The first look at the revamped roster is August 31 at home with the ECC schedule lid-lifter September 16 at Bridgeport.
