T'Wolves split Genesee pod Sunday

In the program's first Sunday outing since 2022, SUNY Niagara women's volleyball won over Jamestown CC in three sets and lost to host Genesee in five sets in a NJCAA Region III pod. This marked the fifth of seven regional pods on the Thunderwolves' schedule this season.

SUNY Niagara 3, Jamestown CC 0

For a second time this season, the Thunderwolves swept the Jayhawks in consecutive sets, 25-14, 25-17, 25-14.

Cait Cliffe recorded a double-double of 10 kills and a season-high 11 digs. Ava Gaudy recorded 17 of the blue-and-gold's 19 assists plus three digs.

Sariah Tindal recorded five kills and three digs. Nevaeh Hall added three kills and five digs. Alexis Majka had two kills, one dig and one block. Samantha Knobloch had a team-high five serving aces along with one kill and two digs. Jordan Smith had one dig.

SUNY Niagara received plenty of contribution in serving aces in the win. Cliffe added four, Hall had three and Gaudy and Tindal had two apiece. 

Genesee 3, SUNY Niagara 2

After taking the first two sets, the Thunderwolves lost to the host Cougars, 25-21,26-24, 21-25, 14-25, 12-15.

Cliffe recorded a team-high 20 kills and Smith led in digs (12). Majka posted a team-high seven blocks along with seven kills. Tindal posted a double-double of 11 kills and 11 digs.

Hall had four kills and seven digs. Gaudy had a team-high 39 assists and three serving aces. Knobloch had two digs. 

NOTES:

The five-set match against Genesee was the first of this season and only the fifth in the last two years. (1-4). 

With 10 kills and 11 digs against Jamestown, Cliffe recorded her seventh double-double of the season and ninth in her SUNY Niagara career. Cliffe also recorded double-digit kills for the 10th and 11th times this season during the pod and has done so 18 times in her career. Dating back to a 16-kill outing versus SUNY Broom on Oct. 12, 2024, Cliffe has reached double-digit kills in 15 of her last 21 matches. Named the NJCAA Region III Player of the Week on Sept. 30, Cliffe is the team leader this season in kills (194) and digs (92). Cliffe now has 525 kills plus 374 digs in 35 matches.

With 17 against Jamestown and 39 against Genesee, Gaudy recorded double-digit assists for a sixth consecutive match, extending the longest streak in her SUNY Niagara career. The 56 assists combined were the second-highest Gaudy had in a pod since she posted 64 againt Erie CC and SUNY Broome on Sept. 27. The NJCAA Region III Player of the Week on Sept. 23, Gaudy now has 750 assists in 35 career matches and needs 21 to pass 2020 graduate McKenna Collignon's total of 770 for the most by a Thunderwolf in the last 10 seasons (2016).

Majka recorded a career-high seven blocks in the five-set loss versus Genesee, surpassing her previous high of four, which she reached three times in her career. Majka is SUNY Niagara's team leader in blocks with 24 this season and has 43 in her two-year career. Majka needs one more kill to record the 100th of her career. Through 35 career matches, Majka has totaled 99 career kills (59 this season) with an average of 2.8 kills per set.

Smith posted a season-high 12 digs in the loss to Genesee, breaking her previous high of seven against Roberts Wesleyan JV on Sept. 17. 

Tindal recorded double-figures in digs for a third time this season with 11 against Genesee and two shy of her season-high of 13 (Monroe on Sept. 20). 

SUNY Niagara (3-12) continues its season against Roberts Wesleyan JV at 7 p.m. Thursday in Rochester. The Thunderwolves previously defeated the Redhawks, 3-1, on Sept. 17 in Sanborn.