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ALBANY - The College of Saint Rose women's volleyball team aims to have a successful 2018 season. The veteran-laden Golden Knights, which open at the Daemen Volleyball Classic presented by Millennium Buffalo on Friday, return nine players, including senior setter Sam Kubik and junior libero Tina Ceriello, the co-captains.
 
Kubik, a two-year captain, ranked sixth in the Northeast-10 Conference with 8.72 assists/set last fall. She enters her final season in fifth place in program history with 1,758 career assists.
 
"Sam's competitive nature and drive will help lead the team," said Saint Rose head coach Vanessa Volpe-Rivera. "She'll quarterback our offense as our setter."
 
Volpe Rivera, entering her third season, expects Ceriello to continue leading the Saint Rose defense as the libero. Ceriello, who will run team's defense from the back row, finished fourth in NE10 with 534 digs in 2017.
 
Joining Kubik in the Class of 2019 are right side Grace Campbell and middle hitter Shayna Webber.
 
The duo helped the Golden Knights lead the NE10 in total blocks (228) and blocks/set (2.13) last autumn. Webber, who was second in the conference with 1.06 blocks/set, finished second on the team with 250 kills. She ranked third in the league and 49th nationally with a .336 hitting percentage.
 
"We have a strong senior class this year with Sam, Grace and Shayna," said Volpe-Rivera. "All have been major contributors to the program over the years and this season we expect them to be a strong backbone for the underclassmen. The three of them will lead the team and help push everyone." 
 
Returning juniors include defensive specialist Madison Gerace and outside hitter Stevie Schweitzer. Gerace will help the team defensively while Schweitzer looks to be a consistent power from the outside.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Brenna Goebel, and sophomores middle hitters Victoria Fogg and Kyla Archie also are back.
 
Archie and Fogg will help the Golden Knights up front, either in the middle or on the right side, while Goebel, now with a year under her belt, will see her share of time on the outside.
 
Volpe-Rivera is excited about the five newcomers joining the program: sophomore outside hitter Hope Wulliger, freshman libero Nadia Lau, freshman setter Macey Drezek, freshman defensive specialist Megan Mayer, and freshman outside hitter Jaylin Roundtree.
 
"We have a diverse incoming class that will fill our gaps nicely. They all come from very strong club and high school programs which will help their transition to the collegiate environment."
               
The Golden Knights have a challenging non-conference schedule in place this fall, before the always rigorous NE10 slate commences.
 
"We open with two very strong tournaments," said Volpe-Rivera. "This weekend we go out to Buffalo to play Daemen, Lake Erie and Gannon. Lake Erie won 26 matches last year and Gannon reached the national semifinals. Next weekend we travel to Long Island to play Molloy, Post University, Bloomfield and NYIT. These teams combined for 76 victories and a .603 winning percentage with Molloy, the East Coast Conference Champions, and NYIT earning NCAA berths." 
 
In between tournaments, Saint Rose has its home opener on Wednesday, August 29^th vs. Mercy. Start time is set for 6:00 pm. Sign up for our E-Newsletter for the latest news by clicking here, and for information on the Golden Knights Club, click here. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.