Nicole Ziogas had the unique responsibility of being a lone senior on a team who was eyeing its third consecutive conference championship while entering a wavering season this past winter.
 
Without any juniors and the only upperclassman on the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team, Ziogas was committed in leading by example, putting the work in throughout the offseason and setting a standard off the court as well. With the unprecedented times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her leadership was required more than ever to help guide the team through a difficult offseason and prepare for an unknown fall and winter to a hopeful 2020-21 season.
 
"Over the course of multiple years as a college athlete you have a lot of ups and downs," said Hawks coach Jamie Seward. "I think her experience and ability to help her less experience teammates understand what it is to be [a college athlete], and most importantly, what our program is all about, she has really been a great influencer and a great help to me in doing that." 
 
Through an unusual fall where practices were limited in numbers, masks required and social distancing encouraged, Ziogas provided the much-needed leadership to an already established program. Setting the tone for the rest of her teammates, Ziogas guided the team throughout the semester and was all-in on preparing for another title run in the hopes a season came to fruition. Unfortunately, the winter, like the fall and spring 2020 campaigns before it, was officially canceled due to the obstacles of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 
"Her role was to get us to the other side of this in the best place to continue to move our program forward," Seward said. "That was something her and I talked about before we knew our season was actually canceled, and then it took an even different form once our season was officially canceled, but it was really her responsibility. She really took on that role and embraced it. She has helped navigate them through some things, because again she has more experience in dealing with adversity and overcoming it. I think that was very beneficial for them to hear first-hand from her."
 
"New Paltz, especially this program is really competitive. We're top of the line when it comes to that and the competitive nature is something that I think has helped me grow up a lot," Ziogas said. "If you look at me from my freshman year to my senior year I can say that I've grown up a lot and it's not about being a better basketball player, it is about being a better individual, being a better leader, being a better person in your community and I think coach and my teammates all throughout my four years has helped me get to this point and having that has opened me to new experiences and taught me about myself."
 
Ziogas' projected final season as a Hawk was set to be her best. Coming off a disappointing junior campaign that saw the New Rochelle High product limited for most of the season with a foot injury, Ziogas was determined to work her way back into the lineup and lead the team to a sixth conference title and another NCAA Tournament run. Seward credited the work Ziogas put in during the summer even facing the challenges of not being able to go to a gym or a park like usual due to the pandemic. Ziogas made sure to get shots in and came into the fall in the best shape to be a catalyst for her team. 
 
"She just stayed committed to getting better despite those limitations and I know she was out there working on her game outside in the 90-plus degree humidity and whatever the elements might have been, because she really had her sites set on finishing her career really strong as a senior," Seward said. "Unfortunately that opportunity was ripped away from her and so many others, but again she made what was not a good situation at all and turned it into the most positive that you can. It was really disappointing to not see all the work [she put in] on the court. She did a great job of doing everything that she could and at the end of the day all you can really do, which is cliché as anything, but you can only control the things that you can control, and she put herself in the best possible position to be successful."
 
Ziogas made sure to leave no regrets. If the 2020-21 season became official, she was prepared to leave with her best season as a Hawk.
 
"Her and I talked about this a number of times over the last year, or however long it has been, but you aren't going to have any regrets if you put all your time and effort into something even if you don't get the opportunity or get the results even," Seward continued. "You aren't going to say, 'I wish I didn't work so hard, or I wish I didn't put so much effort into it.' Even though it didn't work out the way she wanted it to or had it plan to, she really, I think, feels good about maybe not the way with what happened happened, but her role in it. She did take control of what she had control over, and I think year's down the road she's going to look back and say I did everything I could. There is nothing to regret. There is no what ifs."
 
Ziogas opened up her SUNY New Paltz career by appearing in 25 of 27 games with four starts throughout the season. She had her best statistical game as a freshman at home against Buffalo State where she played a season-high 25 minutes and shot 5-for-11 from the floor with four assists, two blocks and two steals with 12 points in a 69-53 victory.
 
Her most productive season came as a sophomore during the 2018-19 campaign, where she aided in the Hawks' fourth SUNYAC title and a second berth to the NCAA Sweet 16 that capped off another successful run for the program. Ziogas played in all 30 games and averaged nearly 18 minutes a contest. She scored in double-figures four times throughout the year and notched a career-high 10 rebounds in the season-opener against RIT. During SUNY New Paltz's five postseason games, Ziogas chipped in with 15 rebounds, four blocks and four steals in 74 minutes of action.
 
"My sophomore year, winning SUNYAC's was something that really stuck in my mind because that team from my freshman year to my sophomore year was basically the same team," she said. "In my freshman year it was a really big disappointment and to have that team come back the next year and win it all, make it to the Sweet 16 and have an historic season and to be able to cut down a net was something that I never really had experienced, and to do it in the way we did it against Geneseo in overtime is something that I will hold onto."
 
Seward expressed how much he will miss having Ziogas on his team, and although she had a tough and abrupt end to her career, Ziogas was still integral in developing the culture of his storied program. She leaves being a part of 67 wins and two conference championship titles.
 
"Nicole has become a strong ally and friend," Seward said. "You always miss them when they leave, but in this case it's a little different because you weren't really able to finish the journey that you started together. But in reality, the journey just became different than what we had planned. There was a different destination and she did a great job in helping to navigate through that, so obviously that is going to be sorely missed."
 
"I'm going to miss being a part of a family," Ziogas added. "Everyone from the seniors who graduated a couple years ago to the seniors last year, to the freshmen who are on this year's team, being around people who I can go to at any time and any day for anything I need, they are my best friends, my family, my sisters and that's something that I value so much. To be able to have that every day as a support system is amazing."



For everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.