2023 Women’s Volleyball Outlook – Saint Michael’s College

COACHING STAFF
Head Coach: Lauren Brough (1st Year)
Assistant Coaches: Nick Pizzuti (4th Year), Joe Gunn (1st Year)

LAST YEAR
2022 Overall Record: 1-20
2022 Northeast-10 Conference Record: 0-12

THIS YEAR
Returners: 9
First-Years: 5

FAST FACTS
Seven regular contributors are among the veterans, while five first-years each hail from a different state, coming from as far away as Arizona, California and Illinois … the Purple Knights’ top four in kills and three of their top four in digs are back … Lauren Brough is in her first year as the program’s initial full-time head coach, but heads into her fourth season with the program following three years as an assistant coach.

KEY DATES
Saint Michael’s begins the season at Saint Anselm College and Southern New Hampshire University’s jointly-hosted invitational this Saturday and Sunday … both schools qualified for the 2022 NCAA Tournament, with the Penmen winning the region to advance to the Elite 8 … a pair of challenging Division III foes are on the docket early, as the Purple and Gold heads to 2022 Little East Conference Tournament runner-up Plymouth State on Sept. 9 and Middlebury College, which was fifth in the final NCAA Region I poll, three days later … after seven matches on the road, the Purple Knights begin their regular-season home slate against Southern New Hampshire on Oct. 3, the first of three straight home contests with 2022 NCAA qualifiers (Bentley University on Oct. 7, Saint Anselm on Oct. 10) … a visit to NCAA squad Adelphi University on Oct. 27 and a Senior Day match versus NCAA qualifier American International College on Nov. 4 highlight the back half of the slate … the top eight teams in the final regular-season standings qualify for the NE10 Championship, which begins on Nov. 14.

SENIORS (2)

• Caitlin O’Connor (Bourne, Mass./Bourne), 5-foot-6 outside hitter | 2nd-year captain | 19 matches | 99 kills | 48 digs | 8 aces | 8 blocks
• Beth Syverson (Huntington, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union/Emmanuel [Mass.]), 6-foot- middle blocker | 5th-year senior | 21 matches | 102 kills | 40 blocks (team leader) | 15 solo blocks

JUNIORS (5)

• Alexandra Báez Rentas (San Juan, Puerto Rico/New Dimensions), 5-foot-7 setter | 2nd-year captain | 21 matches | 536 assists (team leader) | 278 digs (team leader) | 61 kills | 18 blocks | 12 aces
• Brynn Bertucci (Beverly, Mass./Bishop Fenwick), 6-foot middle blocker | did not make any appearances
• Aaliyah Huihui-Martinez (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame), libero/defensive…