Photo Courtesy of SUNY Geneseo
The Geneseo Knights women’s volleyball team finished the regular season with a 13-7 overall record, amassing new career and program milestones along the way. The Knights will be competing in the Empire 8 quarterfinals on Nov. 7.
If you have ever watched a Geneseo women’s volleyball game, you know there is unmatched energy. From the second they step out onto the court, they are cheering and hyping up their team. This kind of energy and attitude is what has been driving the team’s clean sweeps as of recently.
The women’s team have been experiencing an amazing season with their current record being 13-7 overall and their only loss in the regular season being to St. John Fisher on Oct. 16. Throughout their Empire 8 conference schedule, which started on Oct. 3, the team has been keeping the energy and the score up while they dominate the games. Last Saturday, they had a 3-0 sweep against SUNY Polytechnic Institute on their senior night.
The team currently includes five seniors, defensive specialist/libero Zooey Gagnier, defensive specialist/libero Ellie McLennan, middle blocker Cory Elder, opposite/right side hitter Peyton Cole, and outside hitter Sydney Leigh-Manuell. These women have worked very hard and have unbelievable stats. Gagnier has the highest number of digs with a current count of 250. She also reached her 1,000 career dig milestone on Sept. 18 according to the Geneseo Knights Website. This brought her into fourteenth place of all time in program history for career digs. Besides digs, Gagnier also has 41 service aces under her belt.
Some notable statistics from the leaderboard include second place junior outside hitter Kate Barba, with 159 digs. While she does not hold the most digs, Barba holds the highest number of kills at 229. Seeing her kills at a match are unreal, so if you have not attended a game yet, take this as your sign to attend. Lastly, Elder has 31 blocks total with junior middle blocker Ayla Pas’cal close behind with 27 total.
The team’s energy and ambition can be credited to their coaches as well. Head coach Kate Flamholtz-Isaksen and assistant coach Myah Frostclapp have been the heart of the team this season. Prior to Geneseo volleyball, Flamholtz-Isaksen served as assistant coach at Cortland for two seasons, head coach at SUNY Cobleskill in 2023, and as interim head coach at SUNY Brockport according to the Geneseo Knights Website. Being appointed only in February of 2026 as head coach for Geneseo, she has already led the team amazingly through this season.
The women’s team have a few upcoming games to look forward to as their season comes to an end. There will be a game on Oct. 30 against Houghton University at 6 p.m. in the Schrader Gym as well as a game on Oct. 31 against Alfred University at 1 p.m. away at Alfred. After that, the team faces the Empire 8 quarterfinals on Nov. 7. Support them if you can while they finish up the season. The games are fast paced and exciting; the games I have attended have never been boring as the girls use skill and technique to dominate their opponents. The team is loud and proud while playing, celebrating every small victory. Watch as the team chants on the sidelines with their famous victory emotes and the crowd goes wild when someone successfully performs a kill shot. Being in the gym while they play is an experience like no other.