Staff Report

Oneonta State will be home for the 2001 New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association volleyball tournament, which begins this weekend.

The first round starts at 11 a.m. Saturday and continues through the weekend. The championship of the 12-team tournament at O-State's Alumni Field House is slated for 3 p.m. Sunday.

Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for students with college ID and free to children younger than age 12.

The host Red Dragons, who enter as the 10th seed, open against the No. 7 Vassar College at 1 p.m. Saturday. Sophomore setter Lacey Musso leads O-State.

The tournament field is headed by top-seed Nazareth College (26-2). The Golden Flyers had their 26-match winning streak to start the season end last weekend at the ASICS Tournament at Juniata College. Junior outside hitter Christa Downey leads the team with 644 kills, 498 digs and a hitting percentage of .369. Sophomore Ashley Mokan tops the offense with 1,008 assists.

Defending state champion Ithaca College (22-6) is the No. 2 seed. The Bombers are 3-3 in their last six matches, including a split out West last weekend at California-Lutheran University and Whittier College. Junior middle hitter Jessica Raymond leads the team with 268 kills, 74 blocks and a .405 hitting percentage.

The third and fourth seeds for the tournament went to Elmira (21-1) and Brockport (21-8), respectively.

Elmira was the top seed in the New York Regional of the 2000 NCAA Div. III Tournament and has been runner-up in the State tournament twice. Brockport, last year's runner-up, clinched the SUNYAC West crown last weekend and will receive a bye for the conference tournament during the first weekend of November at Cortland.

The Rochester Institute of Technology is the fifth seed. The Tigers are three time winners of this tournament, with their last title coming in 1998. They are led by senior outside hitter Emily Verbridge, who has 533 kills, 47 aces, 247 digs and 90 blocks.

Sixth-seed Cortland (23-10), which won the first state tournament in 1989, clinched the SUNYAC East division after finishing 10-0 in conference pool play last weekend. Senior middle hitter Kim Jentz and sophomore Andrea Smith have combined for 570 kills, 61 aces, 450 digs and 239 blocks this fall.

The seventh, eighth and ninth seeds are Vassar (13-9), 1996 winner Geneseo (19-14) and Fredonia (18-11), respectively.

No. 11 Union College (21-10) and No. 12 Hunter College (21-10) round out the field of competitors. Union will be the 11th seed and is currently 21-10 while

The top four seeds receive a bye. The first-round pairings will be Fredonia-Geneseo, RIT-Hunter (both 11 a.m.), Cortland-Union and Oneonta-Vassar (both 1 p.m.).

The four winners advance into the championship bracket, with matches at 3 and 5 p.m. The losers will play one final match for ninth place overall, with one match at 3 p.m. and one at 5 p.m.

The remaining semifinal matches begin at 1 p.m. Sunday.