SUNY Niagara swept in Finger Lakes pod

After recording its first win of the season Wednesday, SUNY Niagara women's volleyball lost to Monroe Community and Finger Lakes Community College in a Region III pod Saturday in Canandaigua. This marked the third of seven regional pods on the Thunderwolves' schedule this season.

Monroe Community College 3, SUNY Niagara 1

In their first meeting since the season opener on Sept. 4, the Wolfpack lost to the Tribunes in four sets, 25-19, 17-25, 24-26, 14-25, to begin the regional pod.

Sophomore Cait Cliffe recorded a team-high 16 kills along with nine digs. Freshman Sariah Tindal led all Thunderwolf players with a new season-high of 13 digs plus five kills.

Sophomore Ava Gaudy recorded 30 of SUNY Niagara's 34 assists along with three kills and three digs.

Freshman Nevaeh Hall had six kills and sophomore Alexis Majka and freshman Samantha Knobloch had two each.

Finger Lakes Community College 3, SUNY Niagara 0

The Thunderwolves concluded their day at the regional with a three-set loss to the host Lakers, 8-25, 8-25, 12-25.

Cliffe, Hall and Tindal tied the team-high with three kills each. Tindal posted a team-best nine digs, while Cliffe had six.

Knobloch had four of SUNY Niagara's seven assists plus five digs. Hall and freshman Jordan Smith had three digs each in the loss.

Gaudy recorded two assists and one dig. Majka had one assist and one dig.

NOTES:

With the 16 kills against Monroe, Cliffe recorded double-digits in the category for a fifth time this season and 12^th in her career. Cliffe has posted the feat in nine of her last 15 contests, dating back to a 16-kill outing against SUNY Broome on Oct. 12, 2024. This is also the second time this season Cliffe has tallied double-digit kills in consecutive contests since SUNY Niagara's regional pod on Sept. 6 (13 against Fulton-Montgomery and 23 against Jefferson). Cliffe is the team leader this season in kills (109) and digs (60).

Gaudy recorded her third contest with at least 30 assists this season and the eighth time in her career after tallying 30 against the Tribunes. Including her 35 against Roberts Wesleyan JV on Wednesday, Gaudy contributed consecutive 30-assist matches for a third time in her career and her first since Sept. 28-Oct. 1, 2024 (38 against Onondaga and 32 against Genesee). Gaudy has 584 assists in 29 career matches.

With the 13 digs against Monroe, Tindal established her new season-high. Tindal previously recorded 10 against Jefferson on Sept. 6. Tindal is second on the team with 52 digs.

In the match against Finger Lakes, Knobloch had her best stat-line to date. The freshman recorded season-highs in assists (4) and digs (5) in the loss to the Lakers.

SUNY Niagara (1-8, 0-1 WNYAC) returns to action when it host Jamestown CC at 7 p.m. Thursday in Sanborn, followed by hosting its regional pod against Erie CC (10 a.m.) and SUNY Broome (2 p.m.) on Saturday.