Women's Volleyball | 8/31/2016 9:34:00 AM

ROCHESTER, NY – With a strong returning nucleus and talented mix of newcomers, the RIT volleyball team is poised for a deep postseason run as they prepare for the 2016 season.
 
RIT enters the season just 14 wins shy of 1,000 in program history. Last year, RIT recorded 21 victories and advanced to the Liberty League Championship Tournament Semifinal. The squad was regionally ranked for most of the year.
 
The Tigers are picked to finish third in the 2016 Liberty League preseason poll. RIT tallied 28 points in the poll, but led the way with three first place votes. Five-time defending champion Clarkson is first with 30 points, while Union is right behind with 29 points. Both teams have two first place votes.
 
"Our expectations for the season are, as usual, compete for a Liberty League Championship, try to contend and get to the NCAA Tournament and to get better each week," said RIT head coach Jim Lodes, who begins his 12th season at RIT and is the university's all-time leader with 292 victories.
 
Senior Sarah Szybist (Colorado Springs, CO/Ramstein) will be expected to lead the way for the Tigers in 2016, as she wraps up a tremendous career. A three-time American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American, AVCA All-New York Region, First Team All-Liberty League and All-ECAC selection, Szybist enters her final season with 1,793 career kills, just 184 away from the all-time school record. In addition, Szybist is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America selection. The outside hitter slammed 704 kills in 2014, second most in one season at the university and will look to surpass that mark in her final year.
 
Junior outside hitter Anna Valentine (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon) will serve alongside Szybist as RIT's captains in 2016. Valentine, who missed all of 2014 due to injury, served in more of a defensive role last season, recording 160 digs.
 
Sophomore setter Erin Parkinson (Carrollton, TX/W.T. White) returns after earning Liberty League honorable mention accolades in 2015. Parkinson led the squad and was third in the Liberty League with 1,201 assists. She will be pushed for playing time by junior Montana Vescovi (Le Roy, NY/Le Roy), who transferred in from Monroe Community College. Vescovi recorded 2,702 over the last two seasons with the Tribunes.
 
In the middle, sophomore Liz Wunder (Penn Yan, NY/Penn Yan Academy) showed flashes of brilliance in the middle in 2015, and will look to take on a greater role in 2016. Last season, she hit .243 with 26 blocks in just 48 sets, leading the team in blocks per set. She will be joined by junior Lauren Gotsch (Derby, NY/Lake Shore), and freshmen Sarah DelVecchio (Galway, NY/Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons) and Shelby Doheny (Moreau, NY/South Glens Falls).
 
Sophomore Sara Taylor (Tonawanda, NY/Kenmore East), senior Arielle Pariente (Twinsburg, OH/Twinsburg), junior Meritt Rogers (Boxborough, MA/Acton-Boxborough), and freshmen Kirstie Wehler (Saint Marys, PA/Elk County Catholic), Joelle Marston (Roxbury, NJ/Roxbury), and Alana Smith (Riverside, CA/CA School for the Deaf) will look for playing time on the outside in 2016.
 
Defensively, junior Rebeca Bennett returns after emerging as the libero late in 2015. Bennett was second on the team with 329 digs and was one of three Tigers to play in all 40 matches. Freshman Maria Simonetti (Rochester, NY/Our Lady of Mercy) will push for playing time, while Wehler, Pariente, and Smith can all chip in defensively.
 
"This current group really is in it together, which is kind of fun," said Lodes. "They have the same vision, fight no matter what side of the net they're on and they try to be the best that they can be. I think we're deep positionally, but I also think our mental makeup is more like we're trying to do it as a group."

RIT will head to weekend tournaments at Springfield College, Case Western Reserve, Baldwin Wallace College, SUNY Fredonia, Carnegie Mellon University, and the New York State Regional Challenge hosted by Hunter College. The Tigers host three single matches, along with the first Liberty League crossover weekend on Sept. 16-17 and the 28th annual RIT Invitational during Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend on Oct. 14-15.
 
The Tigers will be tested right away at the aforementioned Springfield Invitational on Sept. 2-3, where they will open against the hosts, who were a NCAA Tournament team in 2015. In addition, RIT will take on Westfield State University, Gordon College, and Framingham State University. The latter was also a NCAA Tournament qualifier a year ago.
 
RIT will play its first home match against Keuka College on Sept. 6 before competing at the Marcia French Tournament hosted by 2015 NCAA Tournament Participant Case Western and Baldwin Wallace on Sept. 9-10.
 
The Tigers return home the following weekend for the first Liberty League crossover matches to face St. Lawrence University, Clarkson, Bard and Vassar. RIT will head to Bard and Vassar on Sept. 23-24, as well as Clarkson and St. Lawrence on Oct. 7-8 to wrap up league play.
 
"We should be ready for Liberty League play," said Lodes. "I like that we've stepped up the challenge of our schedule and I do think that this group is ready for that challenge.
 
The RIT Invitational will also be a highlight, taking place on Oct. 14-15 as part of homecoming weekend. RIT will take on Utica College, Trine University, St. John Fisher College, and DeSales University in what should be a packed Clark Gym.
 
RIT will play a single dual match at the University of Rochester on Sept. 28 and host Nazareth College on Oct. 5 and 2015 NCAA qualifier The College at Brockport on Oct. 25.
 
In addition to the five contests against NCAA Tournament opponents, RIT will also play regionally-ranked opponents Carnegie Mellon, DeSales, SUNY Fredonia, Messiah College, NYU, Stevens, and Union this season. Lodes believes that a tough schedule will prepare the Tigers well for postseason play.
 
 "What I really like is that especially at the end of the year — last part of Liberty League and then into Liberty League Championships — we'll be battle-tested and hopefully be ready to play and fight and see if we can win our league," said Lodes.