PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Junior
Kayla Pollock (Massapequa) and junior
Sydney Hayward (Trumansburg) recorded nine and eight kills, respectively, as Cortland earned a four-set victory at St. John Fisher in non-league action. The Red Dragons won by scores of 25-16, 22-25, 25-17 and 25-22 and are now 31-0 all-time versus the Cardinals.
Pollock ended with nine kills and two errors in 26 attempts for a .269 attack percentage and Hayward had eight kills and three errors in 31 attempts for a .161 attack percentage. Freshmen
Jessie Allen (Syracuse/West Genesee) and
Amanda May (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) and senior
Mary Kelly (Guilderland) each added six kills. Allen registered a .385 hitting percentage with just one error in 13 attempts and May had a .267 percentage with two errors in 15 attempts. Allen and Kelly led the team with three blocks apiece.
Also for the Red Dragons (10-16), sophomore
Liz Roberts (Island Park/West Hempstead) finished with four kills in as many attempts along with 32 assists, 10 digs and three aces. Freshman
Ashley Ruggiero (Smithtown/Smithtown East) led the team with 17 digs and sophomore
Melanie McGuirk (Lido Beach/Kellenberg) finished with two aces and seven digs.
Anna Marcy led St. John Fisher (8-17) with 11 kills and three aces and Madison Karwas had 10 kills and nine digs.
Cortland used an 8-2 run in the first set to turn a 7-6 deficit into a 14-9 lead. Leading 16-13, the Red Dragons scored five straight points, the last two on aces by Roberts, to go up 21-13. In the second set, Cortland led 20-16 after a Pollock kill, but a Paige Wilson kill and three straight Marcy aces tied the set at 20-20. With the set knotted at 22-22, Fisher scored the final three points on a block, an ace and a Cortland error.
Cortland was up 16-14 in the third set before extending the lead to 22-15 on a run that featured two Pollock kills. Fisher scored the next two points, but the Red Dragons closed the set on a kill by May, a McGuirk ace and a Fisher error.
Fisher held a 16-11 lead in the fourth after two Karwas kills and a Cortland error. The Red Dragons, however, mounted a 9-1 run that started with a Hayward kill, a
Janine Patora (Salt Point/Arlington) ace and kills by May and McGuirk and finished with a block by Allen and Hayward and two Allen kills. Fisher, however, scored the next four points, two on kills by Marcy, and went up 21-20.
Hayward's kill tied the set at 21-21 and started a 4-0 run that also included a block and kill by Allen. Fisher fought off one match point with a Marcy kill before a Roberts kill ended the set and the match.
Cortland will play at Nazareth Saturday at noon.
