YORK, PA. – The nationally ninth-ranked Cortland women's volleyball team split a pair of five-set matches to open play at the York (Pa.) College Spartan Invitational. The Red Dragons (18-2) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Stevenson University of Maryland, 3-2, but fell just short of matching that feat later in the day in a 3-2 loss to Grove City College of Pennsylvania.

Cortland will complete its pool play Saturday at 10 a.m. versus FDU-Florham. The Red Dragons will then play one final match versus an opponent to be determined, based on its pool finish, at either 2 or 4 p.m. Grove City is currently 2-0, while Cortland and Stevenson are each 1-1 and FDU-Florham is 0-2.

Cortland defeated Stevenson by set scores of 28-26, 18-25, 11-25, 25-19 and 16-14. Each team entered the match with just one loss on the season – Stevenson dropped to 16-2 with the loss, and is now 17-2 after defeating FDU-Florham.

The Red Dragons fought off a set point at 25-24 in the first set, then won three of the next four points. The Mustangs finished the second set on a 10-2 run to erase a 16-15 deficit, then dominated Cortland in the third set. The Red Dragons, however, jumped out to leads of 7-0 and 11-1 in the fourth set. In the fifth set, the teams were tied at every point interval from 7-7 to 14-14. Stevenson had a match point at 14-13, but Cortland won the final three points to claim the victory.

Senior Ashley Coyle (Mt. Hope/Minisink Valley) finished with 16 kills, 15 digs and four blocks and junior Ava Hintz (East Aurora) had 15 kills and three blocks. Senior Natalie Zacpal (Islip) and junior Aubrey Barrett (Liverpool) totaled 10 kills each, with Zacpal leading the team with six blocks.

Senior Kristen Guercio (Smithtown/Smithtown East) finished with 54 assists. Freshman Kim Givelechian (Roslyn Heights/Herricks) and junior Krissy Silk (Massapequa Park/Massapequa) matched Coyle for team honors with 15 digs each.

Cortland opened its match versus Grove City (9-6) with a 25-23 first-set win, but the Wolverines won the next two sets, 25-23 and 25-22. The Red Dragons cruised to a 25-12 victory in the fourth set, but Grove City earned the win with a 15-13 decision in the fifth.

Coyle finished with a team-high 18 kills and shared the team lead with Silk with 21 digs. Barrett and Zacpal put down 13 kills apiece, with Barrett committing no attack errors in 27 attempts. Hintz chipped in with 11 kills and Zacpal finished with six blocks, three solo. Guercio dished out 54 assists for the second straight match.