LOUDONVILLE, NY – Siena Athletics saw five former players, coaches, and administrators recognized for their contributions as women leaders during their time at Siena by the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) on Thursday.
The MAAC along with its 11 member institutions are recognizing 50 impactful women leaders during the 50th Anniversary of Title IX and Women's History month. The 50 honorees include student-athletes, teams, coaches, and administrators throughout the Title IX era from all 11 current fulltime member schools. These dynamic pioneers contributed to their respective sport, athletic departments, and institutions while paving the way for women of the future to have inclusion and gender equity in collegiate athletics.
Vicki (Aromando) Bersch – Women's Basketball & Softball, 1978-1982
The first woman to be inducted into the Siena Hall of Fame in 1987, Aromando graduated as the second all-time leading scorer in Siena Women's Basketball program history with 1,594 points. She was twice named an All-American by the American Women's Sports Federation while leading the team in scoring for three straight seasons from 1979-81. Along with being the first woman in program history to score 1,000 points, Aromando helped lead the Lady Indians to a New York State Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (NYSAIAW) championship title in 1982. A multi-dimensional force at Siena, she became the first female student athlete in the history of the college to receive Academic All-America honors in 1980 as a CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team selection. She was also a member of the softball team for two seasons, ending her career with a .528 career batting average.
Jane Buratto – Field Hockey, 1978-1982
Buratto was a member of Siena's first intercollegiate field hockey team in 1978 and was the program's first star in the sport. An inside forward on the offensive line, she led the team in scoring her first three seasons, and finished second her senior year despite missing half of the season with an ankle injury. She served as a team captain in each of her four years at Siena. In a 42-game career, she scored 33 goals and graduated as Siena's career leader in goals scored and second in points scored. She also excelled in the classroom as well, graduating as her class's valedictorian. She was enshrined in the Siena Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990.
Gina Castelli – Women's Basketball Head Coach, 1990-2012
Castelli served at the helm of Siena Women's Basketball for 22 seasons from 1990-2012 and left as the winningest coach in program history with 336 victories. A five-time MAAC Coach of the Year honoree, she guided the Saints to seven MAAC regular season championships and the program's only MAAC title and NCAA Tournament appearance to-date in 2001. She twice earned Division I Coach of the Year honors from the Basketball Coaches Association of New York, while forty-one of her players were named all-conference with seven being named MAAC Player of the Year. Castelli is enshrined in the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.
Joyce Eggleston – Administrator/SWA/Coach, 1978-2014
Eggleston spent more than three decades as a vital part of the Siena Athletics Family. First hired as Siena's Women's Athletic Coordinator in 1978, she also served as the first head coach of the field hockey program (1978-92), head coach of the softball team (1979-82, 1984-89), and as an assistant coach with the women's basketball program (1978-85), before transitioning exclusively to an administrative role. Eggleston spent the final 15 years of her 36-year tenure as Siena's Associate Director of Athletics, Senior Woman Administrator, and the College's first NCAA Division I Compliance Officer, before retiring in 2014. Under Eggleston's direction as senior women's administrator, she helped grow Siena's Division I women's athletic programs to include the additions of women's golf (1996), women's lacrosse (1997), women's swimming and diving (1999), and women's water polo (2001). She was selected to the MAAC Hall of Fame Honor Roll in 2018.
Burgandy McCurty – Volleyball & Women's Lacrosse, 2006-10
Arguably the top attacker in Siena Volleyball history, McCurty used her time at Siena (2006-09) to lead the Saints to MAAC Tournament Championships & NCAA Tournament appearances in 2006, 2007 & 2008, and was a three-time MAAC Offensive Player of the Year from 2007-09. A four-time First Team All-MAAC selection, she was also the 2006 MAAC Rookie of the Year, the 2008 MAAC Tournament MVP, and a two-time MAAC All-Tournament Team selection, McCurty remains the program's all-time leader in kills (1945), kills per-set (4.27), attack percentage (.353), points (2194) and points per-set (4.82), and is inside the program's career top-10 ranks in 10 different categories. Additionally, she displayed the top-two single-season outputs in kills, attack percentage, points, and points per-set, as well as the top output in kills per-set. A program-record 13-time MAAC Player of the Week selection, she stands as the only repeat winner of the Siena Female Athlete of the Year award, taking home the honor in 2008 & 2009. McCurty also played on Siena's women's lacrosse team during her senior season. She was honored as a First Team selection on the MAAC's 35th Anniversary Fall Sports Team in 2016, and currently serves on Siena College's Board of Trustees.
