CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Cortland women's volleyball team advanced to the championship bracket of its own 12-team Red Dragon Classic with two pool-play victories during the opening day. Cortland swept Pitt-Bradford, 25-10, 27-25, 25-17, and Rochester, 25-23, 25-18, 25-19.

Cortland, ranked 13th nationally in the AVCA Div. III preseason poll, will play Skidmore in the semifinals Saturday at 10 a.m. Richard Stockton and Buffalo St. will meet in the other semifinal at 12 p.m. The third-place match follows at 2 p.m. and the title match is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Junior Ava Hintz (East Aurora) led the Red Dragons in their win over Pitt-Bradford with 14 kills compared to just three errors in 21 attempts. Junior Aubrey Barrett (Liverpool) finished with six kills and five digs, senior Natalie Zacpal (Islip) had four kills with one error in six attempts and senior Kristen Guercio (Smithtown/Smithtown East) totaled 28 assists.

In the victory over Rochester, Barrett led the way with eight kills and no errors in 15 attempts and Zacpal recorded eight kills and no errors in 17 attempts. Zacpal also led the team with five blocks, four solo. Guercio dished out 27 assists and senior Ashley Coyle (Mt. Hope/Minisink Valley) finished with seven kills and eight digs. Cortland did not commit any attack errors in the second set, totaling 12 kills in 19 attempts as a team.

Cortland has won 16 of the previous 27 Red Dragon Classics, including last year's tournament. Prior to last season, Cortland had not won the title since four straight crowns from 2003-06.

This year's Red Dragon Classic features six teams that won conference titles and made NCAA tournament appearances in 2011. Cortland won the SUNYAC title, Skidmore won the Liberty League, Richard Stockton was the NJAC champ, Nazareth won the Empire 8, Lebanon Valley was the Commonwealth Conference winner and Baruch was the CUNYAC champion.

Red Dragon Classic - Schedule and Results Page