ROCHESTER, N.Y.  – A quick look at the stat sheet shows that Jessica Giancursio leads the Roberts Wesleyan women's lacrosse team in ground balls and draw controls and Tiffany Melendez has caused opponents to turn the ball over more than any of her teammates, but it does not begin to tell how valuable the fifth-year graduate students have been to the Redhawks this season.

With 139 career games played between them, Giancursio, a midfielder from nearby Penfield, and Melendez, a defender from Grand Island, have provided leadership, experience and more as Roberts has made an unprecedented march to the NCAA Division II Final Four.

The third-seeded Redhawks (14-1) will play No. 2 Lindenwood (15-1) at 7 p.m. Friday in Salem, Va. The winner will play either top-seeded Queens (13-1) or No. 4 East Stroudsburg (12-3) at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

"They bring two different things," Roberts coach Kristin Paolini said. "Jess brings her aggressiveness to practice and she brings everybody up to her level. She is a great leader and we really trust her in leading the team.

"Tiffany brings a sense of family. She connects with everybody on the team and really helps to foster our culture."

Giancursio and Melendez have both been starters since their freshman season and were off to strong starts when the 2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Melendez, who earned her bachelor's degree in psychology, decided to return to the Redhawks shortly after the NCAA granted student-athletes an additional year of eligibility.

"Our team was so close and I definitely consider them to be my second family," Melendez said. "I knew that most of the team was going to be coming back and this year felt a lot like things did last year before COVID. After seeing how much that we had achieved, I wanted to come back and see what we could do."

Giancursio, who earned her undergraduate degree in biology, took a different path. With her mind set on becoming a physician's assistant, she entered the workforce full-time to gain professional experience.

Then, something changed.

"One morning I woke up and realized that I didn't want to do that anymore," Giancursio recalled. "I called Kristin and we talked about me returning to Roberts. Tiff and Lexi (Alexis Grant) were pushing me to come back and play, but I didn't know until about a month before the season that I was going to come back and play."

Giancursio, who says she has become closer to God in the past year, said her faith played a major role in her decision.

"I just felt Him pushing me to come back to Roberts and finish what I started," Giancursio said.

She is doing that – and more.

Giancursio, who is pursuing her Master's degree in adolescent and special education, hopes to become a high school biology teacher. She leads the East Coast Conference in draw controls with 77 and has registered  17 goals, 13 assists and 42 ground balls.

"I may not be the most talented player or the most athletic player, but I go out there and give it my all for the whole game," said Giancursio, who has overcome two ACL tears (one as a junior in high school and one as a freshman at Roberts) to return to the game she loves.

She secured six draw controls, including several in the second half, as Roberts pulled away to defeat Bentley 10-7 in the NCAA East Region championship on Sunday. She has 85 goals, 57 assists, 195 ground balls and 246 draw controls in 69 career games.

"Jess is everywhere," Paolini said. "It is hard for other coaches to know that she is coming because she is all over the field."

Melendez, a second-team All-ECC selection, also has a penchant for being in the right place to make big plays at opportune times. Roberts plays a high-pressure zone defense and she and senior Madilynn Walsh are right at the top of it.

"I am a very hard worker and I want to do everything that I can to get the ball back over to the offense," said Melendez, who has caused 30 turnovers by opponents this season.

Melendez played three sports (soccer, basketball and lacrosse) in high school and was also a forward on the women's soccer team at Roberts for four seasons. She has scooped 130 ground balls and caused 104 turnovers and scored one goal in her lacrosse career after notching four goals and three assists in soccer.

"I play the game differently because of the other sports that I have played," said Melendez, who is in a three-year Master's program in psychology. "I pull the speed and endurance from soccer and the high-pressure defense from basketball. A lot of things from those sports transfer over to lacrosse."

Paolini agrees.

"Being able to play soccer and lacrosse at the college level, she is able to see the game of lacrosse with a whole different view," Paolini said. "She is able to see a wide-open field and anticipate what is going to happen and what she needs to do next."

Which seems to be focusing on Lindenwood and playing one more weekend of lacrosse.

"I don't think that I have even fully processed the last two weeks because we have done so much," Melendez said. "I don't think it will fully hit me until the last few seconds of our last game when everything is all over."

Giancursio is glad that she came back to be part of this season's incredible journey.

"Hearing the words Final Four come out of my mouth seems surreal," Giancursio said. "I just want to enjoy every moment because it really means the world to me."