Bucknell University
St. Francis Brooklyn
Bison Volleyball Begins 2021 Campaign at Delaware State Tournament This Weekend
8/26/2021 3:42:00 PM | Volleyball
Setting the Scene, Part I
Who: Bucknell (0-0, 0-0 PL) vs. St. Francis Brooklyn (0-0, 0-0 NEC)
When: Friday, Aug. 27, 7 p.m.
Where: Memorial Hall – Dover, Del.
Live Video: TBA
Live Stats: TBA
Setting the Scene, Part II
Who: Bucknell (0-0, 0-0 PL) at Delaware State (0-0, 0-0 MEAC)
When: Saturday, Aug. 28 at 2 p.m.
Where: Memorial Hall – Dover, Del.
Live Video: TBA
Live Stats: TBA
Setting the Scene, Part III
Who: Bucknell (0-0, 0-0 PL) vs. Saint Peter's (0-0, 0-0 MAAC)
When: Saturday, Aug. 28 at 4:30 p.m.
Where: Memorial Hall – Dover, Del.
Live Video: TBA
Live Stats: TBA
About the Bison
- Bucknell begins the 2021 fall season this weekend at the Delaware State Invitational. The Bison are slated to face St. Francis Brooklyn in the season opener Friday evening. Bucknell then challenges Delaware State and Saint Peter's on Saturday.
- This weekend's tournament is the first of three that Bucknell will participate in ahead of the Sept. 17 Patriot League opener at Army.
- Bucknell played a truncated season in the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic and went 1-3 against Patriot League opponents. The Bison collected a 3-2 victory over American in the second match, topping the Eagles for the first time since 1996.
- Head coach Tyler Hagstrom is entering his second season with the Bison. He previously served as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Princeton from 2016 to 2019.
- The Bison returned 13 letterwinners and welcomed four newcomers to the roster, bringing the team total to 17. An outside hitter, a middle blocker and a pair of liberos make up the rookie class. Hagstrom also added two new assistants, Erin Kretzschmar and Jeremy Young, to the coaching staff.
- Junior outside hitter Lisa Zoch led the Bison in kills (42) last season and was third in hitting percentage (.230). Zoch also led all returning players with 38 digs. Sophomore Valentina Feigl, who earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors last season, led the Bison in blocks (17).
- Bucknell is 32-0 all-time against teams it will face during the opening weekend. Bucknell played all three of this weekend's opponents during the 2019 season when they went 10-1 against non-league opponents.
- St. Francis Brooklyn played just two matches last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both were 3-1 losses to LIU on March 2. The Terriers finished 14-17 (7-9 NEC) in 2019. The 14 wins were the program's most in a single season since 1999.
- Senior libero Kizzy Rodriguez was an All-NEC Second Team honoree in 2019, leading the Terriers in digs (500) and digs per set (4.63).
- The Terriers are led by third-year head coach Amable Martinez. The team is 14-19 under his direction.
- Bucknell and St. Francis Brooklyn have met 14 times since the series began in 1981, with the Bison claiming all 14 victories.
- The Bison won 3-1 in the last meeting when the Terriers visited Lewisburg in 2019.
- Delaware State went 11-5 overall during the spring season and qualified for the MEAC Tournament for the first time since 2010. The team fell to top-seeded North Carolina A&T in the semifinals. The Hornets' 7-3 conference record was its best since 2010.
- The Hornets were picked to finish third in this season's MEAC preseason poll. Additionally, junior middle blocker Sydney Lewis and sophomore outside hitter Valeria Otero were named to the 2021 Preseason All-MEAC Team. Lewis earned All-MEAC First Team and MEAC All-Tournament Team honors in the spring. She led the conference with a .395 hitting percentage and was second in blocks per set. Otero was an All-MEAC Second Team member and an All-Rookie selection.
- The head coach of the Hornets is Dr. Bruce Atkinson. Delaware State is 23-23 with Atkinson at the helm.
- Bucknell is 6-0 all-time against Delaware State, dating back to 1995. Most recently, the Bison claimed a 3-1 win over the Hornets during the 2019 Bucknell Invitational.
- Saint Peter's did not compete at all during the 2020-21 academic year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Peacocks went 3-27 (1-17 MAAC) in 2019 and were picked to finish 10th in the MAAC preseason poll this fall.
- Saint Peter's returned 10 letterwinners from last season. Seniors Alanis Alvarado, Angeleyshka Curbelo and Stephanie Rivera combined for 928 points in 2019, which accounted for nearly 70 percent of the team's total points. Saint Peter's setter, Wildalys Soto, is also returning for a fifth year. Soto led the team in assists in 2019.
- The Peacocks are led by head coach Joe Chojnacki, who was promoted to the position in 2020 after serving as interim head coach in 2019.
- Bucknell is 12-0 in all-time meetings with the Peacocks, dating back to 1992. The Bison claimed two victories over Saint Peter's in 2019.
Bucknell heads to Philadelphia to participate in the Penn Invitational, which begins on Friday, Sept. 3. The Bison will face Penn, Canisius and Coppin State.
2021 Bucknell Season Preview
The Bucknell volleyball team opens the 2021 campaign this weekend, and while head coach Tyler Hagstrom has already completed one season in Lewisburg, his era of Bison volleyball appears to just be getting underway after things were cut short last spring.
Bucknell played just four matches last spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but during those four matches the team showed signs of a promising future. Younger players on the roster shined, and the Bison collected a massive win over American that gave Hagstrom his first career victory and the program its first win over the Eagles in 25 years.
"I look at it a little bit like the prologue to my first real season. I think we were able to put some systems and some core values in place that we want to see moving forward, but obviously with how limited things were we weren't able to do that to the fullest extent," said Hagstrom. "I think this year has been nice in that we can actually have a preseason, talk about some standards that we want to see with the team, and for the team to have some standards they set for themselves."
Of the 17 players on the 2021 roster, only eight have competed in a full collegiate season. Five veterans departed from the program in the spring, and Bucknell welcomed four newcomers this year. Hagstrom also brought in two new assistants, Erin Kretzschmar and Jeremy Young, over the summer, giving the team a brand-new look.
"With how separated things were last year, it was just hard to really form those bonds with them. I think the team is bonding more this year and it's great to see that. The fact that we can have the team together, you can just see how much closer they are," said Hagstrom. "On the volleyball side we're seeing some good things out of them, but also the way they're bonding has been nice as well."
The Bison return to a full 25-match schedule this fall, beginning with three non-conference road tournaments in August and September. Bucknell's Patriot League schedule opens at Army on Friday, Sept. 17. The tournament at Delaware State that opens the new season will also be Hagstrom's first real travel experience with the team, as last year was limited to day trips.
The starting lineups and rotations are likely to vary early in the year as the coaching staff experiments with what they're able to do, which is a luxury that didn't exist during the spring's league-only season.
"Having a full weekend and seeing some different lineups and some different players doing some different things will be really valuable. Last year you had no room for error if you tried something different in league. Now we can try something and see how that plays out. You want to win those preseason matches, but the goal is to be ready for league," said Hagstrom.
Entering their final seasons at Bucknell, the Bison seniors are led in experience by middle blocker Emma Buchanan. Buchanan has appeared in 31 matches and 86 sets over her career. She finished tied for second on the roster in blocks in 2019. At outside hitter, Jennie Burke and Vittoria Sottani return for their senior seasons and add depth to a position group stacked with young talent. Defensive specialist/libero Angela Pieroni rounds out the group of fourth-year players.
"The junior and senior classes had to deal with a lot during the pandemic and with having a new coach, and I think so far they've done a really great job stepping up and making some changes. They've done a good job of getting on the same page," said Hagstrom.
Headlining the juniors is outside hitter Lisa Zoch, who has started nearly every match since joining the Orange & Blue. Zoch led the team in kills (42) last season while maintaining a .230 hitting percentage. She was also third on the roster in digs as a sophomore. Joining Zoch at outside hitter is junior Sarina Singer, who saw increased time on the court during the shortened spring season and led the team in service aces.
The junior right-side hitters are Camryn Anderson and Sandra Korusiewicz. The pair combined for 17 sets played in 2019 but did not appear in matches in the spring.
Bucknell's sophomore class made perhaps the biggest splash last season. The five-player class is the team's largest, and the group as a whole saw the most playing time in the spring.
"The sophomore class stepped up tremendously last year with the mentality they brought in and their work ethic," said Hagstron.
Sophomore middle blockers Valentina Feigl and Allie Lopez played every set last season and didn't disappoint. Feigl led the Bison with 17 blocks over the four matches, and Lopez wasn't far behind with 13. Feigl earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors after posting 14 blocks, 16 kills and seven digs over her first two collegiate matches.
Outside hitter Libby Nieporte was third among the then-rookie class with 11 sets played, and she finished fourth on the team in both kills (24) and digs (36). Catherine Jamison, also a sophomore outside hitter, appeared in two matches and totaled six kills with one block.
With the departure of Kelsey O'Loughlin in the spring, sophomore Sarah Ramirez remains as Bucknell's lone setter. Ramirez appeared in three of fourth matches last season, playing five sets and recording seven assists with eight digs.
Hagstrom brought in middle blocker Jen Sivak, outside hitter Thea Rotto, and liberos Amanda Tesserot and Jordan Hardy with his 2021 rookie class. The group consists of two Florida natives, an Iowa native, and one Ohio product.
"I want people that are motivated in different facets of life as long as volleyball is a big priority to them. I think Bucknell is a place where you can do a lot of things at a high level, so I want kids that are motivated and driven, and I think this rookie class is a lot of those things," said Hagstrom. "They're good student-athletes. I'm excited to coach them for four years, and I think they're going to take our volleyball team to a higher level competitively. We're deeper in every position this year, so they added a lot of value there."
The Bucknell volleyball program is entering its 43rd season of competition.
"For us, I think we can do some fun things this year, and I think we can upset some teams. We have to have the underdog mentality and work really hard to make it happen, but as of right now, that's what we're showing we're capable of doing that," said Hagstrom.
