BROOKLYN, N.Y.— The Long Island University volleyball team welcome's the Northeast Conference's Pennsylvania contingent in Saint Francis U and Robert Morris to the Steinberg Wellness Center this weekend. The Sharks will host senior night prior to the 6:00 p.m. first serve against the Red Flash on Friday, November 15 before ending the regular season against Robert Morris at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 16.
LIU will honor its graduating senior class,
Amanda Hubbard,
Natalia Rivera and
Kora Schaberl on Friday evening.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Robert Morris locked up the NEC regular season title and the right to host the NEC Tournament next weekend. Sacred Heart punched its ticket to the NEC Tournament with a win over CCSU on Wednesday evening. Two spots remain for the tournament next weekend between Bryant, LIU and CCSU. One win this weekend over Saint Francis U or Robert Morris for the Sharks can clinch a berth, or a CCSU loss to Bryant on Friday.
NOTES ON THE SHARKS
LIU is coming off a pair of wins in New England this past weekend. The Sharks battled back to to beat Bryant in five sets last Friday and then earned a sweep over Merrimack to end the weekend.
Freshman
Miranda Strongman was named Molten/NEC Rookie of the Week after averaging 2.75 kills per set on a .526 hitting percentage and added eight total blocks. Schaberl registered 4.00 kills per set for LIU on a .304 hitting percentage and contributed 2.00 digs per set, five service aces and six total blocks. Freshman
Barbora Hoskova added 2.50 kills per set and 3.00 digs per set for LIU.
Hubbard dished out 9.12 assists per set for the Sharks. Defensively, sophomore
Anastasia Scott registered 3.75 digs per set and Rivera added 3.00 digs per set.
SCOUTING THE RED FLASH
Saint Francis U comes in to the final weekend 3-23 on the season, earning the three victories in NEC play.
Sophomore outside hitter Madi Tyus ranks second in the NEC with a team-leading 3.73 kills per set. She has also added a team-high 2.98 digs per set on the season. Sophomore outside hitter Nicole Adams has added 2.64 kills per set for the Red Flash. Sophomore Shannon Thomas has dished out a team-high 8.10 assists per set. At the net, senior middle blocker Cecilia Esposito has tallied a team-leading 58 total blocks.
SCOUTING THE COLONIALS
Robert Morris enters the final weekend of the regular season 24-3 overall and 14-0 in Northeast Conference play, earning their first regular season title since 2008. The Colonials will take on FDU on Friday night before traveling to Brooklyn to take on the Sharks.
RMU leads the conference in seven team categories on the year, notably ranking eighth nationally with 2.86 blocks per set and 11th in opposing hitting percentage at a .149 clip in 2019.
Five-time NEC Player of the Week, junior middle blocker Emma Granger leads the team with 3.42 kills per set. She also paces the league circuit in service aces (53), blocks per set (1.51), hitting percentage (.377) and points per set (4.83). junior middle blocker Maria Alfano ranks second in the NEC with 1.19 blocks per set and is second on the team with 2.75 kills per set. Sophomore libero Nikolette Zanolli ranks second in the conference with 4.68 digs per set.
