This fall marks a pair of special milestone anniversaries for Siena Volleyball, as the program celebrates the 25-year anniversary of its first MAAC Championship team of 1995, and the 15-year anniversary of the 2005 title-winning squad. Today, we reflect upon the season of the Saints' first NCAA Tournament First Round appearance.
 
The 1995 squad led by Spaulding MAAC Coach of the Year Hank Wysocki was coming off a strong 1994 season which saw the Saints earn their way to the program's first NCAA Play-In appearance. Once 1995 rolled around, there was no stopping the Green and Gold. Senior setter Rochelle Travers would earn MAAC Offensive Player of the Year accolades, and the Saints would roll through their conference schedule without a loss for the second straight season. Joining Travers with All-MAAC accolades would be Jeanine Bula and Donna DeFrancesco. Along with the strong play of previous MAAC Offensive Player of the Year Kristin May, the Saints extended out their MAAC winning streak to 26 matches by the time it was all said and done.
 
The Green and Gold won their third consecutive MAAC Tournament title with 3-0 wins over Iona and Saint Peter's. The Saints then defeated Colgate by a final of 3-1 in their second straight NCAA Play-In game appearance to earn their first NCAA Tournament berth.
 
It may have been Siena's first trip to the NCAA Tournament, but it was hardly the Saints only venture onto the national playoff scene. It was the previous pair of seasons that culminated into history in 1995, as Siena also made appearances in the National Invitational Volleyball Championships as well as their matchup in the 1994 NCAA Play-In game versus Princeton.
 
The season started off strong, as the Saints spouted off 11 straight victories to begin the year, which included two MAAC wins over Manhattan and Saint Peter's. Seven of those victories would be clean 3-0 sweeps, while the Saints lost just four sets throughout the entire 11 match run. The stretch began with a solid performance at the Yale Invitational on September 8 and 9, dropping just two sets en route to the overall team title at the tournament.
 
That winning streak would stop short at the hands of the Syracuse Orange on the road on September 26, by a final of 3-0. However, the loss only stopped the Saints briefly as it led to seven more victories in a row, giving them an 18-1 record heading into their October 15 matchup with Cornell. As it would turn out, three of Siena's five losses on the season would come at the hands of Ivy League competition.
 
But the Saints stayed strong through the end of the season finishing with a 27-5 record, and an undefeated 7-0 MAAC record. Siena would lean on May and Bula up front, with Rochelle Travers setting them up for success. Travers would go onto win MAAC Offensive Player of the Year honors, while DeFrancesco and Bula earned All-MAAC honors. May and Bula would combine for 656 total kills, as the Saints used that fire power to sweep their way to the MAAC Championship, sweeping both Iona and Saint Peter's 3-0. Travers would earn Tournament MVP for the second consecutive season.
 
Siena would face Colgate in an NCAA Play-In game, their second appearance in such matchup in as many years. Facing the Red Raiders on October 18, whom they previously lost to one month earlier, the Saints were destined to take advantage of their position despite the opponent. They did just that, as Siena topped Colgate 3-1 to earn their spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. The Saints would take the first two sets 15-11 and 15-13, before the Red Raiders reached down deep and pulled out a 17-15 win in set three to fight off elimination. But, the Saints would clinch it in set four as they took a 15-10 win, as May finished with a team-high 16 kills, with Bula and DeFrancesco each collecting 14 kills.
 
Then it was time to take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the 1995 ACC Champions. Led by ACC Player of the Year Kerry Annel, the Yellow Jackets were also making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the school joined the ACC in 1983. They defeated Maryland 3-0 to advance to the tournament, as the volleyball program would be the first female program at Georgia Tech to bring home an ACC championship.
 
With both sides hungry, they came out flying early in the matchup. The Yellow Jackets bolted to early leads in the first two sets, but the Saints hung around. Bula would knock down a kill for the Saints to make things 10-7 in the first set. In the second set, the Saints would make a run to make the score 13-8 after Georgia Tech had started out 11-4. But in all three sets, the Saints would run out of steam as Georgia Tech would down the Saints 3-0.
 
Despite the exit, it would be the most successful season in Siena Volleyball history to that point, and would remain as the only appearance in the first round of the NCAA Tournament until 2005. May, Travers, DeFrancesco, and Wysocki have all gained admission into the Siena Athletics Hall of Fame since.