By Emma Deo
Under a new coaching staff, Plattsburgh State women’s volleyball is looking to shake up the SUNYAC standings and continue last season’s success.
The Cardinals finished 12-13 overall (3-6). The team earned a sixth seed in the conference and a trip to the playoffs for the first time in 10 years. With head coach Eimile O’Brien at the helm, the team will look to repeat this achievement.
“Volleyball is just part of my code, it’s part of my fabric,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien is well versed in the SUNYAC as a player and a coach. She played from 2016 to 2019 at conference for Buffalo State, where she was a three-year team captain. O’Brien led the team in blocks once and kills twice. O’Brien then joined the Bengals as an assistant coach for the 2023 season.
“It was a pretty unsuccessful program for the four years that I was there, in terms of just actual wins, but it taught me an insane amount of true life skills and how to overcome adversity,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien was a member of the SUNYAC Student Athletic Advisory Committee executive board during her time at Buffalo State.
“Like Coach Healis did, she’s going to help oversee our student SAAC group here,” said Mike Howard, athletic director. “She’s looking to get involved in areas outside of volleyball to help students become leaders.”
O’Brien also describes her coaching style to be similar to Healis, who was the head coach of the women’s volleyball team for three years.
“I knew she had done a lot of the groundwork, so me coming in wouldn’t be too much of a culture shock for the girls,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien will be joined by Joe Zimmerman as an assistant coach for the season. Zimmerman was a member of the SUNY Potsdam men’s volleyball team for the 2022 and 2023 seasons after transferring from Wells College. He brings more conference experience to the team.
The coaching staff is not the only change the team will face this season. The Cardinals roster also suffered the loss of many key players, including Jeannette Ashong, Shannon Fitzpatrick, Emma Rivers, Lily White, and Payton Zophy.
Last season, Zophy was the first Cardinal volleyball player to earn an all conference selection since 2019.
Ashong, a junior, is not listed on the roster but is “working to get back on campus, hopefully next year,” O’Brien said.
Ashong was the team’s second leading scorer last season with 214 points.
“I heard her name over in Buffalo six and a half hours away,” O’Brien said. “When you have players like that, their legacy is what continues on once they graduate, and it shows up in the other players.”
Juniors Kyleigh Ganz and Bridget Ryan will captain the Cardinals and look forward to continuing the tradition of success established by those before them.
“Having a new head coach is giving us an opportunity to foster the team dynamic that we really want, and it seems like we’re moving in a positive direction,” Ganz said.
Plattsburgh women’s volleyball has four newcomers this season: three first years and a transfer from Wells College, which shut down.
The first-years consist of defensive specialist Bella Perrone, outside hitter Bella Darnell and setter Anabella Almeida. The team’s transfer is junior defensive specialist Lexi Carfi.
“They’re all transitioning in very well, it’s nice having the numbers that we needed and I’m really looking forward to what the lineups could look like,” Ganz said.
With Brockport and Geneseo leaving the SUNYAC this season and Morrisville and Canton joining the conference, the playing field looks much different than previous years. Both teams finished top five in the conference last season and with their departure, two perennial playoff contenders are eliminated.
“After making the playoffs last season, we really gave ourselves a nice goal to reach again this year, especially with the changing of the SUNYAC,” Ganz said. “A lot of doors of opportunity are open for us as a program.”
The Cardinals open up the season on their home court, hosting Plymouth State University, SUNY Potsdam and Saint Michael’s college in the Cardinal Classic on Aug. 30 and 31.
