Women's Volleyball

Women’s Volleyball Program Overview

The Genesee Community College women’s volleyball program maintains a strong winning tradition.  The Lady Cougars compete at the NJCAA Division II level and are a part of the Western New York Athletic Conference and Region III.  The team is made up of bright young women from as nearby as Genesee’s hometown, Batavia, and hail from as far as Virginia, Canada, and the Bahamas.  Each of the Lady Cougars comes from strong athletic backgrounds, with many of the girls having numerous years of club volleyball experience.  Players graduating from Genesee have continued both their education and volleyball careers at schools such as University of Buffalo, Saint Francis, and Youngstown State. 

The women’s volleyball team has won the Region III championship for the eleven consecutive years, taken the Western New York Athletic Conference title for the nine years, and has captured the District title for the eight of the past nine years, for a bid to the national tournament, in which they compete against some of the country’s top teams in locales such as Florida, Utah, Michigan, Ohio, and most recently, Scottsdale, Arizona.  The Lady Cougars are consistently determined to continue their success and ambitious about reaching their goal of a spot in the final four at the National Championships.

2007 Season Wrap-Up
The Genesee Community College women’s volleyball program ends the 2007 season with much success.  The Lady Cougars returned from sunny Scottsdale, Arizona after participating in the program’s 10th straight appearance at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament.  Genesee returned from their trip ranked 13th in the nation. 

A long regular season filled with accomplishments allowed the Lady Cougars to earn their bid to Nationals.  In their first tournament appearance in August at the Central Ohio Invite in Columbus, the ladies reigned victorious taking first place.  Their winning streak continued with another first place victory at the Broome Community College Tune-up Tournament in Binghamton, New York.  Throughout their season, the ladies traveled to tournaments in Michigan, Maryland, and Rhode Island in an effort to prepare for the post-season. 

The Lady Cougars were also proud to host their home tournament, the Kaminna Allen Classic, in September.  The tournament is held in honor of a former player who passed away suddenly during the Cougar Classic tournament in 1997.  A scholarship has been created to be awarded to a promising member of the volleyball program each year.  This year, the scholarship was given to freshman Jerrica McAndrew of Ellicottville, New York.  This 2007 season also marked the 10th anniversary of the Kaminna Allen Classic and through generous donations, the scholarship was finally endowed.  The Lady Cougars took second place in the tournament.

While the team achieved multiple titles, including Western New York Athletic Conference Championship, Region III Championship, and District L Championship (the win that earned the ladies their bid to Nationals), there were also a number of individual honors.  Team captains, Ashley Uberty (Leroy, NY) and Teresa Conti (Attica, NY), were named to the All-Region III team.  Uberty was also named first team All-Conference, and Conti was named second team All-Conference.  First year player, Cynthia Zayas (Richmond, VA), joined her fellow teammates as a member of the All-Region III team.  Freshman, Heather Lieberman (Macedon, NY), was named Region III Player of the Year, first team All-Conference, and was also named second team All-American.  In addition to these team and individual achievements, Head Coach Roger Majeski was named the District L Coach of the Year for the 10th year in a row. 

The women’s volleyball team ended their season with a record of 34-12.  Lieberman and fellow freshman, Jenn Turner (Batavia, NY), begin the winter season as members of the Cougar Swimming Team.  Turner along with Uberty and McAndrew are all members of the women’s softball team as well.  Graduating sophomores, Lisa Weninger (Warman, SK) and Brooke England (Penfield, NY), are looking to continue their volleyball careers in the 2008 season at four-year institutions.