The night was Friday, September 27th, and people were piling into Amsler Campus Center for the 6:00 game of the MCLA Trailblazers against the SUNY Cobleskill Fighting Tigers.
The past three times these teams have met up for a match, MCLA has dominated each time. 2021 was a close game of 3-2, MCLA swept Cobleskill in 2022, and 2023 brought about another close game resulting in a 3-2 Trailblazer victory. It is a safe bet that the Fighting Tigers hoped to come out on top of the Trailblazers in 2024, but MCLA’s volleyball women had another thing coming for Cobleskill.
The Trailblazers’ starting lineup consisted of middle hitter Makenna Carter (#4), setter Addison Decaro (#5), middle hitter Caroline Schmaling (#10), right side Chloie Garber (#13), setter Beth Harris (#15), outside hitter Elizabeth Brown (#16), and libero Ezmeralda Albright (#19).
Decaro served first, getting the Trailblazers their first two points, before a play off the ceiling gave the Fighting Tigers their first point of the night.
However, it was a short run for the Fighting Tigers, with only one point being scored before the Trailblazers scored off their serve, bringing the score to 3-1.
The Trailblazers stayed in the lead early, with Brown going on a three-point serving streak, bringing the score to 6-1 before the Fighting Tigers scored again. Thus began a back-and-forth volley of points that skewed heavily in the Trailblazers’ favor, until the Fighting Tigers called their first timeout of the day at a 14-7 point deficit.
After a brief break for both teams, they regrouped, and Albright’s serve went a little long, giving the Fighting Tigers a point and the ball back. The Fighting Tigers’ joy was short-lived, as MCLA’s women refused to let their foot off the gas. A series of masterful serves by Brown carried the Trailblazers into victory over the first set, with an ending score of 25-9.
With the Trailblazers having a leg up in the game after winning the first set, it was up to the Fighting Tigers to live up to the name of “Fighting” Tigers, lest they fall to MCLA’s skill and verve.
Cobleskill started out with the serve, but the Trailblazers were able to secure the first point with ease. Brown started serving for the Trailblazers, where she brought the score up to 5-0, in an impressive feat of serving skill.
At this point, The Fighting Tigers dug their heels in and tried to gain back some momentum. Points were scored back and forth between the teams, with MCLA barely eeking out a lead. This lead, however, did not last long, as the Fighting Tigers soon took the lead for the first (and only) time of the night, bringing the score to 11-10 in their favor.
The teams tied up the score a few times before the Trailblazers truly gained control. At a score of 20-15 (in MCLA’s favor), the Fighting Tigers took another timeout. This timeout was not fruitful for them, though, as the second set resulted in another Trailblazer victory — with a final score of 25-18.
With two sets under the Trailblazer’s belt, it was looking up for the team. All they had to do was exactly what they had done twice that evening. Win a set. However, Cobleskill’s women were certainly not going down without a fight, as they managed to double their final score between the first and second sets.
The Trailblazers started off the serve, this time slotting in Decaro, who had multiple serve streaks earlier in the game.
During her fourth serve, three Fighting Tigers ended up on the floor, with one diving and almost sending the ball over the net while two of her teammates dove unsuccessfully, trying to save it. After Decaro’s fifth successive point, Cobleskill finally managed to get their first point of the set.
With the score 5-1, the Fighting Tigers were able to scrape one more point before the Trailblazers once again took control of the match.
It was a dominant string of points for MCLA’s women until the score hit 8-2. At this point, Cobleskill began clawing their way back into the game. Slowly, they got a few strings of points themselves, climbing to a score of 12-10 (in the Trailblazers’ favor) before MCLA managed to wrest back control of the game.
There were a lot of points back and forth, allowing the Fighting Tigers to creep closer to tying up the score. At 16-11 in MCLA’s favor, the Trailblazers brought out middle hitter Jayna Schmohl (#8), who sent over a beautiful serve, to raucous applause and hollering from the audience. The set (and the match) ended in a 25-20 victory for the Trailblazers.
Garber lead the game for kills, with a total of 10, and Albright lead the number of digs with 14.
Jackie Cohen ’27, a frequent face in the stands at the volleyball games, shared her thoughts after the game. “My favorite moment definitely had to be when Jayna Schmohl [was] subbed in and had her first [home] serve of the season,” she said.
Asked about her overall thoughts on the game, she stated, “I had a blast watching it, though I felt like our communication was faltering a bit towards the end. Overall, still a great game. I always have a lot of fun at the volleyball games, regardless of if we win or not, but specifically this game, we had a lot of really great volleys. We brought our A game with keeping the ball up and in play. I’m definitely excited about the upcoming games and the season.”
After this game, it looks like the Trailblazers could continue their pattern of sweeping the Fighting Tigers, then having a close game the following year. With this win under their belt, hopefully, they will continue their win streak in their next games and throughout the season.
