BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, NY – St. Francis College Brooklyn women's volleyball head coach
Amable Martinez has announced the Terriers 2019 schedule. St. Francis is set to play a total of 32 matches (16 non-conference, 16 conference) in 2019.
"As far as the non-conference schedule, I think it is a good beginning as preparation towards the conference slate. The team's that we are playing are very comparable, on our level, and I think a lot of them will push us to where we want to compete in order to get ready for our conference schedule," said Martinez as he discussed his first-ever schedule as head coach of St. Francis.
The Terriers open the season at home for the first time since 2012. St. Francis hosts the annual Terrier Classic from August 30-31, the tournament features Central Michigan, Maryland Eastern Shore, NJIT, and Saint Peter's. The Terriers' first match of 2019 takes place on Friday, August 30, when they face NJIT at 3 p.m. from the Genovesi Center. St. Francis is back in action for two matches on Saturday, August 31, when it goes head-to-head with Saint Peter's at 2 p.m., and Maryland Eastern Shore at 7 p.m., respectively.
Following the Terrier Classic, St. Francis is slated to compete in three-straight road non-conference tournaments. The Terriers head to the Bucknell Classic (Sep. 6-7), then the UPenn Tournament (Sep. 13-14), and finally the Hartford Tournament (Sep. 20-21).
St. Francis returns to the Genovesi Center to begin Northeast Conference (NEC) play on Friday, September 27, when it hosts Sacred Heart at 4 p.m., which marks the beginning of a three-match homestand. The Terriers welcome Bryant to Brooklyn Heights the following day on Saturday, September 28, for a 4 p.m. match and close out their first conference homestand of the season on Friday, October 4, against Fairleigh Dickinson at 4 p.m.
The Terriers continue conference play on Saturday, October 5, when they travel to New Britain, CT to face Central Connecticut State at 5 p.m. St. Francis returns home for a brief non-conference showdown with Manhattan on Wednesday, October 9, before heading to Merrimack on Saturday, October 16, and LIU on Wednesday, October 16. Merrimack is the newest member of the NEC as it joined the conference as its 11
th full-time member on July 1.
"It's great to have a new team (Merrimack) in the conference; it helps bring the competition level up. I look forward to competing, I know that last year we ended up right outside of the playoffs, so obviously, our goals will be to prepare to make the playoffs this year," noted coach Martinez.
St. Francis plays hosts to Saint Francis (PA) and Robert Morris on Friday, October 18, and Saturday, October 19, respectively. The Terriers embark on a three-match road trip from October 22-26, where they take on Saint Peter's (Oct. 22), Sacred Heart (Oct. 25), and Bryant (Oct. 26). The Terriers come home for a mid-week conference match with local rivals LIU on Wednesday, October 30, at 6 p.m.
St. Francis closes out the regular season with five matches in November. On Friday, November 1, the Terriers head to Hackensack, NJ to square off with Fairleigh Dickinson. St. Francis hosts Central Connecticut State on Saturday, November 2, at 4 p.m., before heading out to Saint Francis (PA) (Nov. 8) and Robert Morris (Nov. 9) for its annual Western Pennsylvania trip. The regular season finale takes place on Saturday, November 16, when the Terriers will honor their senior class against Merrimack at 4 p.m.
"From what I gathered from our team in the spring, I think we have a pretty good unit returning, and I think we added some valuable incoming freshmen and transfers that are going to help get us to a new level. I'm excited to see them come together in the preseason and going into our conference schedule," said coach Martinez.
The Terriers will be guided by Martinez, who is in his first year at St. Francis and was named head coach on February 25. Last season, the Terriers went (10-18, 6-8 NEC) and finished in fifth-place in the conference. St. Francis closed out the 2018 season on a high note as it went 5-2 down the stretch and won four-straight league matches from October 19-27. The four-match conference winning streak was the longest in program history for the Terriers.
The 2019 NEC Tournament will be held on November 22-23, and features the top four teams from the final regular season standings. The highest seed will serve as the host of the Tournament.
