Women’s Volleyball is Traveling to Rutgers for the First Time Since 1991

Women’s Volleyball | 9/10/2025 10:22:00 AM

Thursday, September 11 | Rutgers | Piscataway, N.J. | Jersey Mike’s Arena | 6 p.m. |  LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO (BIGTEN+) 

Friday, September 12 | New Hampshire | Piscataway, N.J. | Jersey Mike’s Arena | 1 p.m. | LIVE STATS 

Saturday, September 13 | Rider | Lawrenceville, N.J. | Alumni Gymnasium | 6 p.m. |  LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO 

OPENING SERVE VS RUTGERS
Saint Francis will play its first game of the tournament against Rutgers. Back in 1991, Rutgers took a 3-0 win, putting them ahead in the series against the Red Flash. Flash forward two decades, Saint Francis is looking to tie the series after its long-awaited match. 

THE WORD ON THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

Rutgers come into the tournament with a 4-2 record after going 6-25 during the 2024 season. They have two main returners including a sophomore outside hitter, Aspen Maxwell, and a junior middle blocker, Zora Hardison. Maxwell leads Rutgers in kills (97), falls third in digs (36), second in blocks (17), and third in aces (9). She was also named to the Buffalo Invite All-Tournament Team. Hardison leads the team in blocks with 26 and second in kills with 52. Of those 26 blocks, 11 were solo and 15 were assisted.

OPENING SERVE VS NEW HAMPSHIRE

Saint Francis and New Hampshire will have their second meeting of all time; this dates back to 1996. The last time Saint Francis faced the Wildcats was during a 3-1 loss for the Red Flash. This will be the first matchup in almost two decades as the Red Flash look to add a tally to their win column to tie the overall series.  

THE WORD ON THE WILDCATS

New Hampshire left off with an 18-10 season in 2024 but kicked off this year with a 4-2 record. They brought back a key middle blocker, Rachel Grier, and brought in a freshman outside hitter, Lucy Chertock. Grier was named to the 2024 America East All-Conference second-team and currently leads her team with most blocks (29) and is second in kills (51). Chertock started her collegiate career off strong, leading her team in kills (80), third in digs (43), and second in blocks (15).   



OPENING SERVE VS RIDER

The Red Flash and Broncs will meet up for the 24th time since they started as opponents in 1984. The last time they faced off was in 2011 when the Red Flash were on a five-game win streak in the series. Saint Francis is looking to extend its series win streak to six.  

THE WORD ON THE BRONCS

During 2024, the Rockets ended their season with a 16-17 record. This season they are starting off 1-4 but have two returners that are trying to reverse the record. Senior opposite hitter, Kiannisha Santiago and senior libero/defensive specialist, Keegan O’Connor. Santiago was All-MAAC first-team, Northern Colorado All-Tournament team, and MAAC All-Tournament team in 2024. She currently leads her team in kills (49), second in digs (44), and second in service aces (5). O’Connor was named to the Georgetown/George Washington All-Tournament team, and she led Rider with 337 digs. She leads the team in digs with 73.

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 is set to travel to play Robert Morris (September 19) and Duquesne (September 20) during the Four Twelve Project Volleyball Invitational.



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). To start this season, she burned the competition, collecting 134 total kills and 58 digs. Burns also leads the NEC in kills per set (5.58) and points per set (5.98). She currently is the number one leader for kills, kills per set, and points in the nation. 

Kori McClure also registered 215 kills, coming in third in hitting percentage (.313). Both of these outside hitters earned All-NEC first team looking to come back this season with a clear attack. McClure started the 2025 season off with 42 kills, 14 digs, and 11 blocks.  

Alexandra Sappia returns to collect more aces as she paced service aces per set (0.54), and she ranked second in assists (812). She was also announced to the All-NEC second team in 2024. Sappia showed out over the last two tournaments, dishing out points as she gathered 248 assists, which leads the NEC charts, and 43 digs.

 

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. It is the sixth time that she earned Player of the Week and ninth time she received a weekly conference award in her career. Gwen Atkins (Morristown, N.J./Morristown) has been named NEC/Molten Women’s Volleyball Rookie of the Week. This is the first time that she has earned this award and the 34th time that a Saint Francis player has received it. 
 
Burns, leading the team in kills and kills per set, set a new program record for most kills in a home game with 30 in the win against Siena on Friday. She collected a total of 69 kills over the weekend, including a 24-kill game to help the Red Flash take its second win of the weekend against Lafayette. In both of these wins, Burns added 11 (Siena) and 12 (Lafayette) digs to bring her career record to 15 double doubles. She also recorded six aces and four assisted blocks.  
 
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 sixth award in this category, surpassing Megan Taliaferro as the program record holder since 1997.   
 
This is the 30th time that a Red Flash women’s volleyball player has won Player of the Week, and Burns is the 11th different player to earn the distinction. 
 
Atkins turned in a standout weekend for the Red Flash, racking up 24 kills, including a career-high 12 in the victory over Siena. She also contributed five service aces, five assisted blocks, and 28 digs, showcasing her all-around impact on both sides of the ball.  

BURNING PAST MILESTONES

Korrin Burns is creeping up to the 1,000-kill milestone as she adds 65 more kills to her previous count, bringing her to a total of 820. She only needs 180 more kills to reach this, adding her name in with seven other record holding women. Currently, Kristin Buter (2005-08) holds the most kill record of 1,427.

Alexandra Sappia added 141 assists to her total, which allows her to pass 1,500 assists in her career. She now passes Kimmy Sweeney (2018-21) who held the number six place with 1,555 assists. Sappia sits with 1,698 assists looking to continue moving up in the top-10 career assists. 

WELCOME TO THE LO’ 
At the home opener in Loretto, 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 collected 28 digs and 24 kills over the weekend, adding a new career best of 12 kills in a win over Siena. 

Nevaeh Ingram (Rocky Mount, N.C./Northern Nash) is looking for her first collegiate start this weekend. 

 

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 31 kills and 29 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 is looking for her starting debut for Saint Francis this weekend. 

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 got her starting debut in the home tournament for the Red Flash where she contributed 22 digs. 

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.