It was quite the up and down season for the Oswego State Lakers volleyball team.

A 12-14 record seems solid, but eight of those losses came to SUNYAC opponents, and only one of their wins came in SUNYAC play, coming against SUNY Potsdam. Despite their woes in conference play, there’s a lot for the Lakers to look to and build upon in preparation for the 2022 season.

When the 2022 season rolls around, JJ O’Connell will only be down three players from his 2021 squad. The team’s star libero in Skylar Bechard is the biggest loss, with Dana Carey and Madelyn Smith making strong contributions all year. Carey’s average of 2.93 assists per set was only bested by McKenna Corbin, who averaged 4.66 assists per set. A majority of the Laker’s offensive core remains in place for the 2022 season. Cara Simplicio, Emma Fiorentine, Sydney Chiffriller, Grace Taylor, Emily Zeisler, McKenna Corbin and Georgia Farry will all be back for the 2022 season. Out of this list of players, only Fiorentine and Corbin will be seniors. Farry, a sophomore, was named SUNYAC offensive player of the week this past week and will likely be the star of what is expected to be a potent offense in 2022.

Despite their struggles in conference play, out of conference, the Lakers were lethal. The Lakers went 11-6 out of conference, beating quite a few teams that are currently on playoff runs in their own conferences. A big win for the team came over Elmira College, who will play in the Empire 8 semi-finals against St. John Fisher. Fisher is one of the powerhouse teams that Oswego lost to in those out of conference matchups. Out of the 6 teams Oswego State lost to out of conference, only Skidmore College had a losing record. The other five teams all had at least 16 wins, with St. John Fisher College being the strongest team out of the bunch, with a 24-4 record. Clarkson University, another team that Oswego State lost to in the 2021 season, was on the verge of being ranked in the AVCA national poll early in the season. Otherwise, the Lakers were strong against their opponents, winning many 3-0 and 3-1 matches against those opponents. 

That being said, the SUNYAC was a still a fairly strong conference this year. The College at Brockport got votes in the AVCA poll this year, and it was a surprise for many that SUNY Cortland did not after a 24-3 season. SUNY Geneseo had a strong schedule and struggled out of conference to a 13-11 record, but playing tough teams allowed the Knights to ride to an 8-1 record, putting them second in the SUNYAC standings behind SUNY Cortland. It was a similar story for SUNY New Paltz and SUNY Fredonia, who both went 6-3 in conference despite their overall records hovering just above or below .500. 

Statistics on the season make a good case for Oswego continuing to improve and get better through the years. They practically matched their opponents in kills, errors, attempts, and shot percentage. The trend found in those offensive stats continues down the sheet, as the Lakers were right on par with their competition on average.

Their statistics in conference were a bit of a different story, however. SUNYAC opponents averaged about two more points per set than the Lakers. The team did struggle in a few other categories in conference as well. They averaged about 1.3 less kills than their opponents in conference games, and their opponents had an 80% higher hitting percentage than the Lakers in conference games.

However, the average statistics are not the whole story. Looking at game by game statistics, the reasons why Oswego State struggled in conference became fairly clear. Against SUNY Geneseo, their hitting percentage was a rather low .068 for the set. SUNY Geneseo’s hitting percentage was .260 for the match, towering well above Oswego State’s mark. It was a similar story against SUNY Brockport. SUNY Brockport put up a .212 hitting percentage, while Oswego State only mustered a .043. 

It will be interesting to see what the 2022 season holds for Oswego State volleyball. The Lakers enters 2022 with a team that is now more experienced than the 2021 squad, where more than half the team played their first collegiate season this year. With some off-season practice and more time to develop chemistry, this Lakers team could be very fun to watch in 2022.

William Rogers | The Oswegonian