Coming off one of its best seasons, the Hartwick College volleyball team will open its 2008 schedule with three returners at 3 p.m. Friday against Utica during the Red Dragon Invitational at Oneonta State.
Hartwick, which finished 18-15 last fall, follows with a 5 p.m. match against Clarkson in the two-day tournament.
Captains Kerry Sisson and Darcy Dolge _ both outside hitters _ are back after helping the Hawks to postseason berths in the New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament and the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament in 2007.
The lone senior this year, Sisson ranked fourth in the Empire 8 Conference in service aces and digs last season. Dolge, a junior who received an E8 honorable mention in 2006, finished with 210 kills in 2007. Newcomers Cassie Dresser, a junior, and freshman Laura Barone will complement the duo as outside hitters on the 10-woman team, which will be led by 15th-year head coach Lou Lansing.
Freshmen Courtney Desmond and Lauren Mausert are expected to start at middle blocker. Desmond is the team's tallest player, at 6-foot-1, and helped Montrose-based Hendrick Hudson to the Class A state title last season.
Sophomore Colleen Moran is slated as the Hawks' setter. Classmate Amelia Bruderlin, who also returns for Hartwick, will compete for playing time with freshmen Nicole Cacciapagglia and Alyssa Stewart.
Women's Soccer
Hartwick will begin its women's soccer season by hosting the fifth annual Erinn K. Brozman Memorial Cup at Elmore Field.
The Hawks, who went 7-12 in Matt Verni's first season as head coach last fall, open the tournament at 1 p.m. Saturday against Cazenovia. Johnson & Wales and defending champion Marywood all join the Hawks for a shot at this season's Cup title. Johnson & Wales follows at 4 p.m. against Marywood.
Cazenovia finished 4-11-2 last year and advanced to the North Eastern Athletic Conference semifinals. The team features seven returning starters, including Bainbridge native Erin Clinton.
Johnson & Wales went 4-16 last season, when Marywood finished 11-3-4. Marywood is the defending Brozman champion.
The Hawks return 13 players from 2007, when senior midfielder Alesha Wright and sophomore forward Briana Crow scored three goals apiece. Hartwick also features junior defender Marissa Mackay, a conference honorable mention last fall, and senior goalkeeper Ashley Taylor, who earned first-team honors from the E8 in 2007.
The tournament continues at 1 p.m. Sunday with Cazenovia against Johnson & Wales. Hartwick and Marywood close the event at 4 p.m. Marywood beat Hartwick, 1-0, in last season's tournament.
Women's Tennis
The Empire 8 selected Hartwick to finish seventh in its nine-team conference, the college announced Thursday. The Hawks received 23 points in the preseason coaches poll to finish ahead of Elmira (15) and Utica (eight).
Four-time defending conference champion Ithaca earned the top spot with 64 points. Stevens Tech followed with 55 points and Rochester Institute of Technology rounded out the top three at 48. Nazareth (42), St. John Fisher (37) and Alfred University (34) also finished ahead of Hartwick.
The Hawks open their 2008 schedule Saturday and Sunday at the Rensselaer Tournament in Troy. They will compete against the host Engineers and St. John Fisher.
Led by 10th-year coach Andrea Pontius, the Hawks return four of their top singles players from last season's roster, including all-conference honorees Betsy Breaznell, a junior, and sophomore Jennifer Lin.
Breaznell, an E8 first-teamer in 2006, went 8-5 as the Hawks' No. 1 singles player last fall, when Lin went 9-4 in the No. 2 spot en route to a second-team honor from the E8. The two will again form Hartwick's top doubles tandem. Last season, they went 6-4.
Senior Anna Neely moves from No. 4 to No. 3 in singles. She won five matches last season. Freshman Calie McAloon will start at fourth singles and join Neely at second doubles.
Sophomore Kimberly Post also returns for the Hawks and will move up from No. 6 to No. 5 in singles. She finished 9-4 last season.
Newcomer Carly Jesset is slated for the No. 6 spot in singles play and will join senior Joanna Rudy at third doubles.
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