Thunderwolves fall to Monroe in WNYAC semifinals, Cliffe & Gaudy receive honors
SUNY Niagara lost to Monroe Community College in four sets, 19-25, 20-25, 27-25, 18-25, in a Western New York Athletic Conference (WNYAC) semifinal Saturday in Sanborn. This was the third meeting the Thunderwolves had with the Tribunes this season (3-0 loss on Sept. 4 in Sanborn and 3-1 loss on Sept. 20 in a NJCAA Region III pod at Finger Lakes CC).
Cait Cliffe was three digs shy of recording a fourth consecutive double-double but recorded team-highs of 16 kills, seven digs and four service aces. Ava Gaudy recorded a team-high 28 of SUNY Niagara's 31 assists.
Nevaeh Hall posted six kills, three digs and two serving aces. Sariah Tindal added five kills and six digs. Alexis Majka finished with five kills. Samantha Knobloch had two kills and two serving aces and Jordan Smith added one kill and one dig.
Monroe then defeated Erie CC, 3-2, for the 2025 WNYAC championship.
Before the tournament began, the All-WNYAC All-Conference Team and postseason awards were announced.
After earning the award outright last season, SUNY Niagara's Cait Cliffe was named the WNYAC's Co-Player of the Year with Erie CC's Samantha Padilla.
SUNY Niagara's Ava Gaudy received first-team All-WNYAC for the second time in her career.
Erie CC head coach Craig Starzynski was named WNYAC Coach of the Year.
The WNYAC All-Conference Team featured the following honorees:
SUNY Niagara: Cait Cliffe, Ava Gaudy
Monroe: Jenna Tracy, Angelika Lopez, Lily Stalica, Madalyn Robinson
Erie: Erin Parker, Morgan Nixon, Kadie Benzel, Samantha Padilla
Jamestown: Brittany Colon, Payton Lewis
NOTES:
With the 16 against Monroe CC, Cliffe now has 16 contests with double-digit kills this season and 23 times in her career. Dating back to a 16-kill outing versus SUNY Broome on Oct. 12, 2024, Cliffe has now posted double-digit kills in 20 of her last 26 matches. Named the NJCAA Region III Player of the Week on Sept. 30, Cliffe is the team leader in kills (270) and digs (145) and has 591 kills and 425 digs in 40 matches.
With 28 versus Monroe CC, Gaudy has recorded double-digit assists in 11 consecutive matches, extending the longest streak in her SUNY Niagara career. The NJCAA Region III Player of the Week on Sept. 23, Gaudy now has 927 assists (496 this season) in 40 career matches, the most by a Thunderwolf in the last 10 seasons (since 2016).
With the five against the Tribunes, Majka now has 126 kills (86 this season), 25 digs (19 this season) and 51 blocks (team-high 32 this season) in 40 career matches.
Hall recorded her 20th service ace of the season with her two against Monroe. Hall is the fifth Thunderwolf with at least 20 service aces this season and joins Ava Gaudy (41), Cait Cliffe (39), Sariah Tindal (29), Samantha Knobloch (23). Hall also recorded a third consecutive match with at least six kills and the fifth time overall this season.
SUNY Niagara (6-14) now prepares for its NJCAA Region III subregional contest at Onondaga at 5 p.m. Tuesday.