Photo by Kelsey Rogers
By Kelsey Rogers, Editor-in-Chief
The energy amongst the Susquehanna women’s volleyball team as they practice for their upcoming matches this week is invigorating. The focus and determination shows on their face as they warm up: they are ready to make history with a Landmark Conference championship.
The River Hawks are coming off of some other notable history, defeating Juniata 3-2 on Nov. 2 for the first time. In the 13-year conference history, Juniata has always entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed. Susquehanna’s win allowed them to claim the top seed position, placing Juniata at a lower seed for the first time in the program’s history.
Juniata could also be faced with playing a championship match outside of their home gym for the first time in history. On Nov. 6, they will face off against Elizabethtown while Susquehanna faces Scranton. If Susquehanna defeats Scranton, the River Hawks will play Juniata at home in O.W. Houts Gymnasium on Nov. 9.
“It was electrifying,” Susquehanna head coach Kuuipo Tom said about the win over Juniata. “I felt it was a lot nicer for my alum and for these kids that worked so hard…I think for them it was validation that they are who they say they are. I think it’s not by accident. It’s by a lot of hard work.”
Susquehanna rebounded after falling to Juniata in the first two sets 25-18 and 26-24. The River Hawks came out firing in the third and fourth sets, winning 25-18 and 25-21. A tight fifth set resulted in a score of 15-10, ending with a kill by junior right-side hitter Sydney Portale, which was assisted by senior setter Lindsey Pugh.
Portale recorded 22 kills in the match against Juniata and was named Landmark Conference volleyball athlete of the week on Nov. 4. She is currently leading the conference with a .325 hitting percentage.
“The final points were indescribable,” Portale said. “I remember standing at the net with teammates Riley [O’Dowd] and Kody [Dillon] and just grabbing their hands saying, ‘Just one more.’”
“We are 22 of the most competitive people you will ever meet. Not a practice goes by that we are not competing against each other every moment,” Portale continued. “We are all great friends, but once the ball is served, we are competing hard across the net. We feed off the energy of competition, and we love bringing that same energy into every game, especially at this point in the season.”
Another top contributor in the match against Juniata was freshman outside hitter Rosina Esposito with 16 kills. Esposito has been a consistent standout for the River Hawks offense, recording 421 kills so far in her first collegiate season.
Junior libero Lizzie Herestofa secured the defense as she led with 12 digs. Pugh also contributed nine digs of her own while senior defensive specialist Caroline Beohm added two aces.
Susquehanna has made it to the championship match nine times. In 2017, they were defeated by Scranton in the semi-finals.
“We wanna control the ball and the tempo,” Tom said. “We wanna control our side of the net…our focus is to make sure we’re prepared to play whatever team is on the other side by taking care of our side of the net.”
He noted that the team often plays their games on the road and the impact of a possible championship match at home, encouraging students to attend.
“Pack the stands on Saturday should we make it there,” he said. “We need to have the energy that our fans give us, not to play well but to give us something to play for. We love to play for our fans.”
Portale said that one of the team mantras is to play with a ton of heart.
“We never want to leave anything left in us when we compete. We leave it all out on the court because then there’s nothing to regret later on,” she said.
Portale acknowledged that a hitter’s biggest fear is a hitting slump right as the team is peaking.
“It’s really important to stay the course at this point and just focus on one game at a time, one point at a time to stay grounded in the moment,” she said.
The River Hawks will play against Scranton at 7:30 p.m on Nov. 6 in O.W. Houts Gymnasium in Selinsgrove, Pa. The championship match will be played at the home of the highest remaining seed on Nov. 9. The time for the championship match is yet to be determined.
