WARRIOR SPIRIT
ATHLETIC UPDATES FIELD HOCKEY ADVANCES TO SIXTH CONSECUTIVE NCAA TOURNAMENT
ESU’s field hockey program continued its sustained success this fall, reaching the NCAA Tournament for the sixth consecutive time and advancing to the semifinal game for the fourth straight tournament under 37th-year head coach Sandy Miller. Miller, who ranks fourth in Division II history with 459 career victories, led the Warriors to a 16-5 record before falling 2-1 to eventual national champion Shippensburg in the national semifinals.
ESU had two NFHCA All-America first team selections in seniors Hannah Barbush and Celeste Veenstra. Three others also earned All-PSAC accolades, senior Morgan Mesenbrink and junior Lia Parker on the second team and junior Nicole Krozser on the third team. Veenstra had a team-high 12 goals and scored 41 in her three seasons at ESU, while Barbush notched three goals and eight assists. During the regular season, ESU had winning streaks of seven and eight games, and turned in a five-game shutout streak that matched a program record. Sophomore goalkeeper Amy Supey was honored twice as the PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Week and NFHCA Defensive Player of the Week after not allowing an opponent to score for 286:54 minutes over six games. Barbush earned a pair of prestigious academic awards. The senior was honored as the PSAC Champion Scholar and earned the Elite 90 award at the NCAA Championships as the student-athlete with the highest gradepoint average at the championship site of both tournaments. She has compiled a 3.9 GPA while serving as secretary on ESU’s 2021-22 StudentAthlete Advisory Committee.
ESU’s Field Hockey Team celebrates their advancement to the NCAA Tournament.
VOLLEYBALL MAKES SECOND STRAIGHT NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE
Under the direction of PSAC Coach of the Year Tricia Melfy, the Warriors finished the regular season on a nine-match winning-streak to secure the No. 1 seed in the PSAC East and ultimately earn the right to host the conference final four. During that stretch, ESU recorded six consecutive sweeps, eight in total and dropped only one set. The Warriors ultimately fell to PSAC champion Clarion in the semifinals but punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. The Warriors were led by senior setter Ali Finch, who was named the PSAC East Athlete of the Year, was an All-Region selection, and was ESU’s first women’s volleyball student-athlete named Academic All-America. Finch put together one of the most impressive seasons in program history by leading the Warriors in kills and assists while also ranking second on the team in digs and blocks. The senior recorded five tripledoubles, the second-most during a career at ESU, and was fifth in DII in triple-doubles this fall. Seniors Kenzie Guimont and Emily Meredith were both named to the All-PSAC second team. Meredith ranks third all-time at ESU in career
ESU’s Volleyball Team was led by senior Ali Finch.
digs, and is one of five to eclipse the 1,500-dig mark. At the conference tournament, junior outside hitter Jessica Irwin became the program’s first student-athlete to earn PSAC Champion Scholar honors, recording a 4.0 GPA as an exercise science major. esualumni.org 27
