The 52nd Siena Volleyball season has arrived and the Saints will get marching on the court this weekend with consecutive matches on Friday, Saturday and Saturday at the Stony Brook Tournament when Siena takes on Atlantic 10 member Rhode Island in its opener on the North Shore of Long Island on Friday at 3 p.m. 

Under new head coach Tyler Kanelos, the Saints usher in a new era of volleyball for a coach who led Division II Charleston to 104 victories over four seasons and a .757 overall winning percentage (237-76) as both a head and an assistant coach across NCAA Division I and II levels including Marshall, Dayton, the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith and West Florida. 

The action continues Saturday with matches scheduled against host Stony Brook of the Coastal Athletic Association at 3 p.m. and on Sunday versus Central Connecticut State of the Northeast Conference at 10 a.m. at Pritchard Gymnasium.   

All matches can be streamed with a subscription to FloCollege.com and live stats are available through Stat Broadcast on the Stony Brook website. 

Live updates from this weekend's matches and all season will also be available by following @SienaVB on "X."

Stony Brook Tournament Schedule
Friday, Aug. 29
Siena vs. Rhode Island 3 p.m. – Follow Live Stats | Watch

Saturday, Aug. 30
Siena at Stony Brook, 3 p.m. – Follow Live Stats | Watch

Sunday, Aug. 31
Siena vs. Central Connecticut State, 10 a.m. – Follow Live Stats | Watch

The Saints are 0-2 all-time against Rhode Island, having last played the Rams in 2022.

URI was selected ninth out of 10 teams in the A10 Conference, but more than doubled its win total than the previous season under head coach Ryan Sullivan as the Rams jumped from 4-26 in 2023 to 9-22 in 2024. 

The Rams were among the nation's top teams at the net as it finished last season ranked 33^rd in the country and first in the A10 in total blocks with 294.5.

Siena is meeting the Seawolves of Stony Brook for the first time since 2006 and trail in the all-time series 6-10.

Stony Brook was projected to finish fifth out of 11 teams in the CAA with outside hitter Kali Moore earning Preseason All-CAA honors after putting down a career-high 469 kills.

Guided by head coach Kristin Belzung, the Seawolves went 16-13 a year ago with a 9-9 mark in conference play to earn the No. 6 seed in the CAA Championship Tournament.

The Green and Gold also play the CCSU Blue Devils, whom the Saints hold a 13-11 all-time series lead between the schools.

The Blue Devils were chosen seventh out of nine teams in the NEC in the Preseason Coaches Poll. 

CCSU finished 4-22 last season, but welcomed 11 newcomers under second-year head coach Alyssa Broccoli. 

The Saints will be seeking to outperform expectations set forth in the 2025 MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll where they were projected to finish 10^th out of 12 teams. 

The makeup of the Siena roster is split evenly between returners and new players with nine of 18 spots filled by newcomers.

Among the top statistical returners include juniors Doga Diraz (172 kills, .224 hitting percentage), Ella Treasure (80 total blocks, 0.76 blocks per set), and Oliwia Majtyka (299 assists, 4.21 assists per set, 26 aces), as well as seniors Alandra Hasbrouck (135 digs) and Amelia Robertson (119 digs).

The newcomers feature four transfers in former Oregon State setter Alara Doganyuz, outside hitter Gabrielle Wire (Wisconsin-Milwaukee), outside hitter Elizabeth Phillips (Bethune Cookman) and middle blocker Berra Tok (Seton Hall).

Five freshmen also joined the team with outside hitter Natalia Clifford, right side Mary Claire Deacy, setter Madison Evans, middle hitter Jill Frye and libero Autumn Willmott.