Saint Francis Celebrates Senior Night With Weekend Series Against Le Moyne

Women's Volleyball | 11/13/2025 9:16:00 AM

OPENING SERVE VS LE MOYNE
Saint Francis and Le Moyne will have their 5th and 6th meeting of all time, only dating back to 2023. Le Moyne transitioned from Division II to Division I in the fall of 2023 where it joined the NEC. During the 2023 and 2024 series, the Red Flash swept the Dolphins 3-0 in both matches. Last year, in the second game, Kori McClure led the team with 12 kills. She proved to be a weapon at the net with a .857 attacking percentage, going 12 of 14. Korrin Burns recorded six service aces in that game, while Alexandra Sappia led the team with 25 assists.

THE WORD ON THE DOLPHINS
Le Moyne left off with a 4-22 season in 2024 but ironically has the same 4-22 record as of last weekend. The Dolphins lost against LIU, New Haven, FDU, Mercyhurst, and Stonehill twice, split with CCSU, and beat Chicago State twice. They are looking to end the season with a higher winning record than the previous year. They brought back two key opposite hitters, Branwyn Lupton and Nina Salas. Lupton currently leads her team in kills with 242 and is third in blocks (51). Salas is second on her team in kills with 192, third with digs (131), and second with aces (20) on the season. The Dolphins returned a sophomore defensive specialist, Brooke Menke. She is leading in digs (308) and aces (33), and in third with assists (62).

PRESEASON POLL
Saint Francis women's volleyball was picked third in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Preseason Poll. LIU earned four first-place votes and earned the distinction of being the preseason favorite. FDU garnered the three other first-place nods to finish in second. After the Red Flash in third place, the defending NEC Champions, Chicago State, Mercyhurst, Stonehill, CCSU, New Haven, and Le Moyne round out the nine-team poll. New Haven is in its first year in the NEC, and along with Mercyhurst, is not eligible for postseason play.

NEXT TIME OUT
Saint Francis will be heading into the semifinals of the NEC Championships on November 21. The location and time are to be determined.

RETURNERS TO TALK ABOUT
Korrin Burns returns for her final year as the team's top kills per set leader (4.07) after ranking second in the NEC with kills (342) and sixth in service aces (0.45). With the season almost over, she has been burning the competition, collecting 505 total kills and 223 digs. Burns leads the NEC in kills per set (5.21) and points per set (5.65). She is currently third in kills per set, in total kills, total points, and fifth in points per set in the nation.

Kori McClure also registered 215 kills, coming in third in hitting percentage (.313) in 2024. Both of these players earned All-NEC first team looking to come back this season with a clear attack. McClure is continuing the 2025 season with 205 kills, 68 blocks, 48 digs, and 30 service aces. She is second in the NEC in hitting percentage with .398. McClure is ranked 28th in the nation due to her dominant swing.

Alexandra Sappia returns to collect more aces as she paced service aces per set (0.54), and she ranked second in assists (812) in the NEC. She was also announced to the All-NEC second team in 2024. Sappia showed out over the last three months, dishing out points as she gathered 1052 assists and collected 53 service aces, both of which are number one in the NEC charts. Sappia is now fourth with assists per set, seventh with aces, and with total assists in the nation.

NEC HONORS
Gwen Atkins (Morristown, N.J./Morristown) has been named NEC/Molten Women's Volleyball Rookie of the Week. This is the fourth time that she has been awarded this and the 37th time that a Saint Francis player has received it.

Atkins delivered an exceptional two-game stretch, displaying impressive versatility and leadership as a freshman on both ends of the court. The left-handed right-side hitter was a force at the net, tallying 19 kills with remarkable offensive efficiency. On defense, she anchored the back row with 18 digs and added five assisted blocks, consistently disrupting the opponent's attack. Atkins also made her presence felt from the service line with four aces, showcasing her all-around skill set. Her energy, consistency, and clutch play set the tone for the team's dominant performance and back-to-back victories. She had 11.5 points in the first game and 12 points in the second game.

Korrin Burns and Alexandra Sappia were also named Prime Performers. Burns closed out the two-game stretch with an outstanding performance, racking up an impressive 33 kills to lead Saint Francis to back-to-back victories. She set the tone early against Chicago State, tallying 19 kills, nine digs, and a .309 hitting percentage to propel the Red Flash to a win. Burns carried that momentum into the following match, displaying her versatility with 14 more kills and 11 digs. Her dominant showing also marked the 24th double-double of her career.

Sappia demonstrated her outstanding play making ability throughout the weekend, dishing out an impressive 98 assists over the two-match series. She was the catalyst behind the Red Flash's success, recording 51 assists in Friday's win over Chicago State and 47 more on Saturday. Sappia also contributed across the board, adding 17 digs, four kills, and four service aces to cap off a well-rounded performance.

ADDING TO PROGRAM MILESTONES
Burns surpassed the 1,000-kill milestone as she adds 33 kills to her previous count, bringing her to a total of 1,370. She collected her 1,000th kill during the first game against Rutgers on her first kill of the night. Burns added her name in with seven other record holding women. Currently, Kristin Buter (2005-08) holds the most kills in a career with 1,427. Burns is sitting in fourth place in the Saint Francis program record with the most kills in her career. She is only 25 kills behind Anne Roosevelt 2003-06) and 54 kills away from taking second place from Madi Tyus (2018-22). Sticking with her overall career, she is in fifth place with 3,395 total attacks, pushing Shirley Miller (2006-09) down to sixth place with an impressive 3,338 attacks.

She is sitting in first place in Red Flash history with the most kills in a single season with 502. She passes Roosevelt, who previously held the record in 2006 with 486 kills. Burns sits in third place with the most total attacks in a season with 1,148. She passed Roosevelt who held the third spot with 1,134 (2004) and sits behind Miller with 1,159 (2009).

Sappia set her way past the 2,000-assist milestone. She added 98 more assists to her total, which brings her to 2,502 total career assists and is still climbing. Sappia passes Amelia Metzler (2015-19) who held fifth place with 1,883 assists, Alanna Blenkarn (2011-14) who held the fourth spot with 2,123 assists, and Kierstin Kiser (2009-12) who held the third spot with 2,137 assists. Sappia now sits in the third spot and is looking to continue moving up in the top 10 in career assists. She is 314 assists away from Kelly Snee (2001-03) who holds second place with the most assists at 2,816.

Sappia now passes Traci Hassell who held the third place in most assists in a season with 1,008 in 2004. Sappia is behind Alanna Blenkarn (2014) who has 1,111 assists. She is only 59 assists away from claiming second place. Sappia also jumped past Lauren Wingard in most career service aces (132) at fifth place and Nichole Hyer (2001-04) in fourth place in program history. She now holds the new fourth place record with 144, sitting 12 aces behind Kirstin Buter (2005-08).

McClure is currently sitting in first place in Saint Francis women's volleyball history for the best hitting percentage within a single season and throughout her career. In this season, she has converted on 205 of 400 attempts, giving her a hitting percentage of .398. She beat her previous record and Jaclyn Kessler's record of a .313 percentage. When looking at her career as a whole, McClure surpassed Keshia Gibbs (2005-08) at .209 and now holds the record with a .300 hitting percentage.

WELCOME TO THE LO'
Two freshmen continued to help the Red Flash gain two more wins: Gwen Atkins (Morristown, N.J./Morristown) and Hailey Atkins (Morristown, N.J./Morristown). Gwen Atkins has collected 177 digs, 169 kills, and 38 blocks so far this season. Hailey Atkins registered 90 digs and 31 assists.

Nevaeh Ingram (Rocky Mount, N.C./Northern Nash) had her collegiate debut against New Hampshire. She recorded 11 service aces and is still looking to gather more.

In addition, sophomore Paloma Gonzalez Jaramillo (Coahuila, Mexico/Bishop Lynch) got her first Saint Francis start against UAlbany. During the 2024 season she played for Stonehill and collected 140 kills and 36 digs. This season she started for the Red Flash bringing in 186 kills and 57 digs, including her first double-double of her career in a Saint Francis win against Robert Morris.

Sophomore Elsa Richards (Wilmington, Mass./Essex North Shore Technical and Agricultural) came from Adelphi. Richards had her Saint Francis debut in the win against Mercyhurst.

Graduate student Chandler Alter (Powder Springs, Ga./McEachern) transferred from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She finished the 2024 season with 244 digs and 19 aces. Alter collected 195 digs so far in the season, recording a Red Flash personal best of 16 digs vs LIU.

Staying with the team but from a viewpoint, is graduate assistant Raegan Rosi.

ABOUT THE COACH
Sara Spielvogel begins her tenth season in Loretto. She earned her first overall winning season in 2023, going 15-11 with a 10-4 record in conference play. Saint Francis earned two players on the First-Team All-Conference Team and made the NEC tournament for the third consecutive year. In her first season in Loretto, Spielvogel guided the team to wins over Buffalo of the Mid-American Conference and Iona in non-conference play. She picked up her first NEC victory in a triumph over FDU. In her first season, the Red Flash finished third in the NEC in digs and digs per set and had a pair of attackers record over 200 kills. Prior to Saint Francis, Spielvogel sent a season on the staff at the College of Wooster. The Fighting Scots had a four-win improvement from the previous season and had their best start to a season since 1969.

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