POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Cortland women's volleyball team improved to 5-1 on the season after sweeping Brooklyn College and winning a five-set thriller versus Vassar College in a tri-match setup at Vassar. The Red Dragons beat the Bulldogs 25-1, 25-16, 25-14 and defeated the Brewers 21-25, 25-19, 22-25, 26-24, 15-9.

Cortland finished with a .378 team attack percentage versus Brooklyn. Freshman Janine Patora (Salt Point/Arlington) led the Red Dragons with 12 kills, freshman Courtney Silberer (Centereach) had eight kills and freshman Jessie Allen (Syracuse/West Genesee) registered five kills and a .625 attack percentage.

Sophomore Liz Roberts (Island Park/West Hempstead) finished with 29 assists and three blocks and freshman Amanda May (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) served six aces. Sophomores Samantha Czeczotka (Elwood/John H. Glenn) and Melanie McGuirk (Lido Beach/Kellenberg) recorded seven digs each and freshman Ashley Ruggiero (Smithtown/Smithtown East) totaled six digs.

Cortland was facing defeat versus Vassar with a 17-14 deficit in the fourth set after losing two of the first three sets. The Red Dragons were still behind, 22-21 before fighting back to tie the score at 23-23. Junior Sydney Hayward's (Trumansburg) kill gave Cortland the lead, but a Vassar kill evened the count at 24-24. Cortland, however, responded with a kill by May and won the set on a bad Vassar set. In the fifth set, the Red Dragons used a 5-0 run, fueled by two kills each from senior Mary Kelly (Guilderland) and Hayward and a Patora ace, to extend an 8-6 lead to 13-6 on the way to the victory.

Hayward led the team with 15 kills and added four blocks and 16 digs. Czeczotka finished with 12 kills, 15 digs and two aces and Roberts tallied 42 assists and six digs. Kelly totaled nine kills and a team-high 10 blocks, three solo, and May registered nine kills and three blocks. McGuirk paced the Red Dragons with 22 digs.

Cortland will play matches versus Haverford and Richard Stockton on Saturday, Sept. 6, at Richard Stockton in New Jersey.