CORTLAND, N.Y. - The Cortland women's volleyball team opened the 2015 season with five-set losses to Clarkson University and Houghton College in a tri-match at Corey Gymnasium.

Clarkson, ranked 13th nationally in Div. III, rallied to defeat the Red Dragons, 21-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-13, 15-12, while Houghton came from two sets down to beat Cortland, 21-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-15, 15-11. In the other match, Clarkson swept Houghton, 25-13, 25-19, 25-16.

Sophomore Amanda May (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) led Cortland versus Clarkson with 10 kills and just one error in 28 attempts for a .321 attack percentage. She also added four aces. Sophomore Courtney Silberer (Centereach) and sophomore Janine Patora (Salt Point/Arlington) each had nine kills and junior Samantha Czeczotka (Elwood/John H. Glenn) finished with eight kills.

Junior Liz Roberts (Island Park/West Hempstead) finished with 32 assists. Junior Melanie McGuirk (Lido Beach/Kellenberg) led the team with 18 digs and also served two aces. Silberer added 15 digs and Patora totaled 14 digs.

Aishvina Arasu led the Golden Knights with 17 kills and Rachel Aird had 15 kills, a .400 attack percentage and four blocks.

May also paced Cortland offensively versus Houghton with 12 kills along with three blocks and two aces. Czeczotka had 11 kills and 16 digs and sophomore Deja Smith (Suffern) recorded a .368 attack percentage with nine kills and two errors in 19 attempts. McGuirk led the Red Dragons with six aces and 29 digs and Silberer totaled nine kills and 11 digs. Roberts dished out 43 assists.

Hattie Burgher was the Highlanders' leader with 11 kills, with Meagan Palm and Naomi Prentice adding 10 kills each.

In the Clarkson match, Cortland scored four of the last points in the first set, capped by a Patora ace, while the Golden Knights held off a Red Dragon rally in the second set that closed a 22-16 deficit to 23-21. In the third set, the guests trailed 19-14 before fighting back to tie the score at 20-20, but Cortland scored the next four points on two Patora kill, a Czeczotka ace and an error and eventually won the set on a Roberts kill.

Clarkson dominated the fourth set, jumping out to a 9-2 lead and later turning an 11-8 advantage into a 16-8 lead. Cortland led 8-3 in the decisive fifth set and still held an 11-7 lead after a pair of Clarkson hitting errors. The Golden Knights responded with three straight points, two on Victoria Kirkemo kills, but a Czeczotka kill put Cortland ahead 12-10. Clarkson finished the match on a 5-0 run that featured a Rachael Aird block, a Kirstie Shurie ace, kills by Aird and Kirkemo, and a Cortland error.

Against Houghton, Cortland never trailed in the first set, with the Highlanders tied just once at 12-12. Houghton took a 3-0 lead in the second set, but Cortland eventually grabbed the lead at 9-8. The Red Dragons were never caught, although Houghton did score five straight to turn a 24-17 deficit into a 24-22 score before Smith finished the set with a kill.

The tide turned in the third set. A see-saw start saw Houghton score the first four points, followed by six straight points by Cortland, four on McGuirk aces, then three consecutive Houghton scores. Leading 12-11, Houghton went on what proved to be a decisive 5-0 run to lead 17-11. The Highlanders eventually led 24-19 before Cortland made things interesting with four straight points on errors. Kayla Bernard's kill gave Houghton the 25-23 win. The fourth set was all Houghton as it jumped out to an 11-3 lead and never trailed.

The Highlanders' momentum carried over to the start of the fifth set as two kills, an ace and a block gave them an early 4-1 lead. Cortland fought back and tied the score at 7-7 on a Smith kill and an error, but a service error and two Rebekah White aces put Houghton up 10-7. Cortland got no closer than two the rest of the set, with Burgher's kill ending the match.

Cortland will host the 31st Annual Red Dragon Classic Friday and Saturday. The 12-team tournament featured a predetermined schedule in which Cortland will play Stockton and Rochester Friday at 3 and 5 p.m., respectively, and St. Lawrence and Utica Saturday at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., respectively.