Medaille Sports

Women’s Volleyball

“Lady Mavericks Look Solid Heading into the 2010 Season”

This weekend the Women’s Volleyball team traveled to the University of Rochester to compete in their spring ball tournament. Each attending team competed against 5 top colleges from Western New York. They played two sets to 25 points and if they split, the deciding factor was overall points. The ladies finished the weekend (4-1) beating R.I.T., University of Rochester, St. John Fisher & Buffalo State. Their only loss came from Daemen College toward the end of a long day of volleyball.

Coach Beiter was pleased with how the ladies played and commented, “This squad has something extra special about them. They looked very sharp this weekend. Last season they entered the spotlight by breaking the school wins record and having the 4^th best turnaround in the country…not to mention being ranked in the top 25 for Ace percentage in the country. This fall, don’t be surprised to see this talented bunch of athletes securing a spot in the NCAA tournament.”

2009 Review: The 2009 season turned out to be a banner one for the Medaille women’s volleyball team as they posted a program best (19-12) overall record and a (6-4) mark in AMCC play. The win total is a program record as is the (.613) winning percentage. The Lady Mavs began the season with five straight wins, including a sweep at the Spartan Invitational hosted by D’Youville College, and went (15-2) in their first (17) matches. Second year head coach Jake Beiter led the Lady Mavs to their first ever ECAC Upstate Tournament appearance and was named the AMCC Coach of the Year for his efforts. A strong group of newcomers combined with several returning players were the key ingredients to the successful season. Four Lady Mavs received All Conference honors as Meghan Fahy (Kendall, NY/Kendall)(pictured) was named to the Second Team while Gina Traniello (Falconer, NY/Falconer), Holley McAllister (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) and Janine Benkelman (Eden, NY/Eden) received Honorable Mention nods. The Lady Mavs turnaround from (8) wins in 2008 to (19) wins in 2009 was the fifth best swing in the country and the future looks bright as they will return 12 of 13 letterwinners in 2010.

2009 Preview: The Medaille Women’s Volleyball Program is entering their second season under head coach Jake Beiter with a competitive, championship mindset. “We have a great mix of talented returnee’s, highly skilled freshmen and experienced transfer athletes that seem to share one common characteristic…The will to win!” A diverse group of newcomers recruited both nationally and internationally, will boost the Lady Mavs roster to a full squad increasing the level of competition and energy inside the Medaille College Sullivan Center!

“This is a new era for women’s volleyball at Medaille College. We will continue to raise the bar and move to the next level” says Coach Beiter. “I am excited to train such a talented group of individuals”. Abiding by the “what can I do to help my team” philosophy last season brought upon a strong sense of team chemistry and I plan to follow the same course for this year.

The 2009 schedule is more competitive than ever as the ladies get the opportunity to compete against some of NCAA Division III’s best! The Mavericks kick off their season on September 1^st at the Sullivan Center when they host Alfred University. Come support the new force in AMCC Women’s Volleyball!

2008 Review: The Medaille College Lady Mavericks entered the 2008 season with hopes of improving on a disappointing 2007 season. First year head coach Jake Beiter was pleasantly surprised with the effort of this years squad as they finished at (8-20) overall, eclipsing the five wins from the previous season. Senior Melissa Carter (Lancaster, NY/St. Mary’s) made her way into the record book twice during the 2008 season as she set the mark for assists in a match with (51) in a match against AMCC foe La Roche College. She also set the nw standard for assists in a season as she registered (735) this fall. The Lady Mavs only All Conference honors came from outside hitter, Michele Burgstahler (Wilson, NY/Wilson), who garnered Honorable Mention honors after putting down (304) kills while digging up (216) balls. Burgstahler and Carter find their names littered throughout the Lady Mavs all time records. Returning in 2009 will be junior, Holley McAllister (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) who anchors the Lady Mavs defensive play. In 2008 she led Medaille with (396) digs, a category that she is currently ranked sixth in all time with (687). Coach Beiter is optimistic about the 2009 season as he will return a strong crew of players to compliment a strong recruiting effort.