Sandy Collins, now in her third season as the women's volleyball coach, picked up her 50th victory at Union and her 75th overall last weekend while leading the Dutchwomen to the championship of their own tournament. Collins, who guided Union to an 18-14 record in 2000, led the Dutchwomen to a school-record 25-13 campaign last year. Not only did last year's squad set the standard for victories in a season, the Dutchwomen were invited to the ECAC tournament for the first time since volleyball became a varsity sport at Union in 1976.
Collins, who was at Randolph Macon before coming to Union, picked up her landmark victories against some tough competition. The Dutchwomen knocked off Oneonta, the state's fourth-ranked team at the time, 26-30, 27-30, 32-30, 31-29 and 15-13 on Friday night before handing Vassar its first loss in nine matches on Saturday, 23-30, 27-30, 30-20, 30-25. The win over the Brewers also avenged an earlier loss at the Vassar Tournament when Union dropped a 23-30, 27-30, 30-25, 30-21, and 15-12 decision to its UCAA rival
The four-match sweep of the Union Invitational not only left the Dutchwomen with a 7-2 record, it gave the Garnet seven consecutive victories since dropping season-opening contests to perennial powers Skidmore and Vassar.If last weekend's success wasn't enough for the Garnet, Union went to Middlebury, Vermont on Tuesday, September 24 and beat the Panthers, 3-2. The Dutchwomen captured the first two games, lost the next two, then won the tie-breaking fifth match, 15-4.
Coaches around the state are taking note of Union's early-season achievements as the Dutchwomen were ranked fifth in the region.
