Posted: Feb 11, 2021
This Week for SHU Women's Volleyball
Fri., Feb. 12 - vs. Concordia (Mich.) *
7:30 PM | SHU Fieldhouse
Sat. Feb. 13 - vs. UNOH *
11:00 AM | SHU Fieldhouse
Upcoming for Saints Women's Volleyball: The Saints open the 2021 season with a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) match-up at home against Concordia on Friday. The week concludes with a home game against the University of Northwestern Ohio on Saturday morning.
Head Coach: Kim Berrington enters her sixth season as the head coach for the Saints. She is in her sixth season with the Saints with a record of 94-63 overall and 48-45 in the conference. WHAC Openers: Siena Heights is 3-2 in WHAC opening matches since Berrington became head coach in 2015. This year is the first time the Saints start the conference season at home since the 2018-19 season. That year was a 3-0 loss at home against Madonna in 2018.
Protect This House: The saints are 56-29 at home since 2013. During this time, Siena Heights is 5-2 for that stretch for home-opening matches.
Series History: Concordia: Siena Heights is 10-0 against Concordia since Berrington became head coach in 2015. The Saints are also 14-0 against them since 2013.
UNOH: The Saints are 6-6 against the Racers since 2013. During that time, the home team is 8-4. One of the past 12 meetings took place during the WHAC Tournament in 2017 at Siena Heights. The Saints won that meeting 3-1.
Top Returners: The Saints return nine players from the 2019-20 roster. Siena has no seniors on the roster, but juniors Courtney Dolkowski, Aline Marinelo, Claire Beaudoin, Autumn Anderson, and Janel Ruhlman will be looked to for leadership.
Siena also returns a few sophomore players that saw significant action in their first season with the team. Victoria Nerkowski, and Karsyn Wolf.
Coach Berrington added six newcomers to the roster to help fill out the depth. Kinsey Wagner (Clayton, Mich. / Onsted) and Aubrey Bates (Grand Haven, Mich. / Coopersville) are two standouts in that group.
Preseason Rankings: The Siena Heights women's volleyball team was chosen to finish seventh in the 2020 (WHAC) Preseason Coaches' Poll. The poll has the Saints improving on their standings from the 2019 season as the team finished eighth with a 7-13 record in conference play.
Season Breakdown: The Saints start the first month of the season with six matches, five of which are at home. Opening weekend sees Concordia (Mich.) and UNOH come to town on February 12 and 13. Siena Heights will hit the road for a WHAC matchup with Rochester on February 16 before the final three matches of February at the SHU Fieldhouse. The first of those matches is against Indiana Tech (Feb. 19) followed by dates with Lourdes (Feb. 21) and Cornerstone (Feb. 24).
March has the bulk of the schedule with 12 of the team's 20 matches for the season. Only three of those 12 matches will be at home, starting with the second meeting against Rochester on the 2nd. A three-game road trip follows against Lawrence Tech (March 4), UNOH (March 6), and Concordia (March 9). Madonna will visit Adrian, Michigan on March 12 before the second three-game road trip from March 13-19. Indiana Tech is first on the 13th, Lourdes on the 16, and Cornerstone on the 19. March 20, is a home match versus Lawrence Tech before the third, and final three-game road trip of the year with Aquinas (March 23), UM-Dearborn (March 26), and Madonna (March 30).
Siena Heights wraps up the regular season with two matches in April. The first is on April Fools Day against Aquinas at home. The final match is against UM-Dearborn at the SHU Fieldhouse on April 3.
