Saint Francis Women's Volleyball Heads To Brooklyn

Women's Volleyball | 11/19/2025 6:39:00 PM

OPENING SERVE VS FDU
Saint Francis and FDU will have their 72nd meeting of all time during the semifinals of the NEC Championship. These two teams faced each other earlier this season in a weekend battle between two of the top three ranked teams in the NEC. The Red Flash beat the Knights 3-2 at home, with the help from Korrin Burns and Kori McClure. Saint Francis lost in the second game 3-0 to FDU. The last three years, the Red Flash have lost to the Knights in the NEC tournament during the first round. The Red Flash are looking to break the streak and advance with a win.

THE WORD ON THE KNIGHTS
The Knights are entering the tournament with an 18-11 record. After ending conference play, FDU is 12-4, beating New Haven, Stonehill, Le Moyne, CCSU, and Chicago State twice, splitting with Mercyhurst, Saint Francis, and losing twice to LIU. Currently, the Knights have two main seniors who are leading in categories. Kylie Nott sits first for her team with 255 kills but also is second in blocks with 67. Notts is third in the NEC for hitting percentage (.332) and was on the All-NEC second team during the 2024 season. Kyndal Ganoe leads her team in digs with 361 on the year and fourth place with assists (112). Ganoe is fourth in the NEC for digs with 3.68 per set.

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 is not eligible for postseason play.

NEXT TIME OUT
If the women's volleyball team wins the match on Friday, they will advance to the finals on Saturday at 6 p.m. The Red Flash will face the winner of LIU and Mercyhurst.

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). As the Red Flash enters post season, Burns finished the regular season, collecting 542 total kills and 234 digs. Burns leads the NEC in kills per set (5.26) and points per set (5.72). She is currently third in total kills, fourth in kills per set, 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 starting the 2025 post season with 211 kills, 72 blocks, 52 digs, and 33 service aces. She is second in the NEC in hitting percentage with .381. McClure is ranked 42nd 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 1,129 assists and collected 61 service aces, both of which are number one in the NEC charts. Sappia is now fourth with total aces, fifth with assists per set, total assists, and seventh with aces per set in the nation.

NEC HONORS
Korrin Burns (Clarion, Pa./Clarion Area), a member of the Saint Francis women's volleyball team, has been named the NEC/Molten Women's Volleyball Player of the Week for the eighth time this season. It is the 12th time that she secured Player of the Week and the 15th time she received a weekly conference award in her career.

Burns capped the two-game stretch with a standout showing, amassing 37 kills to lead Saint Francis to consecutive victories. She set the pace early against Le Moyne, delivering 21 kills and five digs to guide the Red Flash to a win. Burns kept her hot streak going in the next match, adding 16 kills and six digs while showcasing her versatility. She was particularly efficient in the second game, posting a .750 hitting percentage.

The senior was also named Player of the Week two times in 2023, once during August and again in November. Then two more times during 2024, in September and October. Burns now earns her 10th award for this category surpassing Megan Taliaferro as the program record holder since 1997.

Burns now holds third place in NEC history with 12 Player of the Week awards. She sits ahead of Martina Wagner (10) and Cristina Pintilie (10), and behind Annika Foit (15) and Sarah Ciszek (15).

This is the 37th time that a Red Flash women's volleyball player has won Player of the Week, and Burns is the 12th different player to earn the distinction. She surpassed Skyler Eicher for the most Player of the Week awards in a season in program history with five.

Burns and Alexandra Sappia were both named Prime Performers once again. Sappia showcased her exceptional play making all weekend, totaling an impressive 77 assists across the two-match series. She fueled the Red Flash's success, handing out 39 assists in Saturday's Senior Night win over Le Moyne and another 38 on Friday. Sappia also made an impact in every area, contributing 12 digs, eight service aces, and four assisted blocks to round out a well-balanced performance.

ADDING TO PROGRAM MILESTONES
Burns surpassed the 1,000-kill milestone as she adds 37 kills to her previous count, bringing her to a total of 1,407. 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 third place in the Saint Francis program record with the most kills in her career. She passed Anne Roosevelt 2003-06) this past weekend and is only 17 kills away from taking second place from Madi Tyus (2018-22). Sticking with her overall career, she is in fifth place with 3,456 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 542. She passes Roosevelt, who previously held the record in 2006 with 486 kills. Burns sits in second place with the most total attacks in a season with 1,209. She passed Roosevelt who held the third spot with 1,134 (2004) and Miller with 1,159 (2009). Burns sits only 85 attacks away from taking another first-place program record.

Sappia set her way past the 2,000-assist milestone. She added 77 more assists to her total, which brings her to 2,579 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 237 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. With the sweep of last weekend's matches, Sappia passes Alanna Blenkarn (2014) who has 1,111 assists. She now claims second place with 1,129. Sappia sits behind Kelly Snee (2002) who holds the program record with 1,389 assists. 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 152, sitting four 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 183 digs, 182 kills, and 40 blocks so far this season. Hailey Atkins registered 90 digs and 35 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, for the Red Flash, she brought in 202 kills and 58 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 first 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 206 digs this 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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