Natalie Schieder of Alden was named an Elmira College Athlete of the Week after earning tournament MVP honors at the Oswego State Invitational over the weekend.

2017 Sep 18

Natalie Schieder of Alden was named an Elmira College Athlete of the Week after earning tournament MVP honors at the Oswego State Invitational over the weekend.

Schieder, a third-year outside hitter from Alden, New York, led the Soaring Eagles to an undefeated showing at the Oswego State Invitational and claimed tournament MVP honors. Over EC's five total matches last week, Schieder amassed a whopping 75 kills to go along with 49 digs and 13 aces. She registered a trio of double-double performances, including the three-set victory over Bard College (19k-11d) and the five-set win over the host Lakers (19k-16d).

Although the week began with a non-conference loss to Morrisville State on September 12, Schieder still impressed by flooring 11 kills, recording 12 digs and serving a pair of aces. She then turned in two of her best offensive outings of the year with 18 kills versus SUNY Canton and a season-high 19 against Bard on the opening day of the Oswego State Invitational. In those two matches combined, which both resulted in 3-0 sweeps for Elmira, Schieder attacked at a .443 clip. After hitting .438 (8k-1e-16a) in a straight-sets sweep of Hilbert to open play on Sunday, she either tied or established new season bests in kills (19), digs (16) and aces (5) in the five-setter against Oswego. With the Soaring Eagles down 13-12 in the decisive fifth set, Schieder leveled the score with a kill, before spiking another for the match point.

Coming off of a sophomore year in which she ranked 29th in all of Division III in kills per set, Schieder is on pace for another outstanding season in 2017. She's among the nation's top 25 with 4.07 kills-per-set average, a mark that leads all qualified hitters in the Empire 8 Conference.

Schieder and the EC women's volleyball team will continue non-conference play on Tuesday, September 19, when the Soaring Eagles travel to Cortland, New York, to face the Red Dragons of SUNY Cortland at 6:00 p.m. at the Whitney T. Corey Gymnasium.