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SLU volleyball team names Street captain for third straight year; two assistants announced

Posted 8/28/14

CANTON -- The St. Lawrence University volleyball team has named its captains for the 2014 season, which gets underway this weekend at the Red Dragon Classic at SUNY Cortland. Senior Jenna Street was …

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SLU volleyball team names Street captain for third straight year; two assistants announced

Posted

CANTON -- The St. Lawrence University volleyball team has named its captains for the 2014 season, which gets underway this weekend at the Red Dragon Classic at SUNY Cortland.

Senior Jenna Street was named a captain for the third consecutive season, while junior Mariah Dignan and sophomore Rebecca Briggs will serve as assistant captains.

The Saints, who earned a spot in the Liberty League Tournament semifinals last year, return four all-conference selections including Street, a stand-out setter. The Scarlet and Brown were selected third in the Liberty League pre-season coaches' poll behind defending champion Clarkson and Union.

"Jenna has a great balance of intensity and calmness on the court and, as she's done throughout her entire career, leads by example every day," said head coach Shelly Roiger, entering her fifth season at the helm. "I am confident that her leadership will help develop those same characteristics in our assistant captains, Mariah and Rebecca."

St. Lawrence could have one of the most dynamic offenses in the conference this fall, as Street is a veteran setter with a variety of hitters to turn to including all-conference selections Lexi Brown, Cristina Deschaine and Rebecca Doser. Brown had a team-high 312 kills and added 158 digs last season, while Deschaine and Doser were among league leaders in blocks and hitting percentage.

Meanwhile, Briggs is poised for a breakout season in the middle and Katarina Marczeski and Amanda Brooks add depth at the net. Finally, newcomers Masha Kolesnikova and Maddy Ruehl and setter Katherine Kull are expected to work their way into the rotations.

Defensively, St. Lawrence is expected to be strong at the net with a trio of blockers including Briggs, Deschaine and 6'2" newcomer Kelly Dillon. The Saints will look to a veteran to step up and fill a defensive specialist position, as Dignan, Catherine Rowell and Marisa Turner are expected to earn time. Meanwhile, newcomer Rachel Pineda is battling for the libero spot with Rowell and Dignan.

"We've had a few individuals make tremendous improvement in the offseason and I'm excited to see it translate into their performance on the court this fall," added Coach Roiger. "We know that the Liberty League will be extremely competitive this season and that earning a spot in the postseason will be very challenging."

Clarkson, which posted a perfect 14-0 conference mark last year to earn its second straight league title, was the unanimous pick in this year's coaches' poll. Union and St. Lawrence were followed by RIT and Vassar, which were separated by a single point. Skidmore and Bard rounded out this year's pre-season rankings.

The Saints will open the season this Friday, August 29 against Rochester and SUNY Cortland followed by Fredonia State and Hiram on Saturday to round out the Red Dragon Classic. St. Lawrence will then make its debut in the Burkman Gymnasium at the 2014 Victory Promotions Tournament against Plattsburgh State on Friday, September 5 at 6:00pm. All of the Saints home games this season will be broadcast for free in HD at saintsathletics.com/broadcasts/vb.