SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - Cortland lost a five-set heartbreaker to Union College and was swept by Williams College during the opening day of action at the Union College Invitational.
The Red Dragons fall to 2-6, with three of their six setbacks coming in five-set matches. Cortland will face Skidmore and St. Michael's of Vermont on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
Union, now 7-0 after a five-set win over Williams to wrap Friday's play, rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat Cortland, 21-25, 26-24, 23-25, 25-17, 15-13. Cortland trailed 8-5 in the fifth set but rallied and tied the score at both 11-11 and 12-12. Union scored the next two points before Cortland answered with a
Samantha Czeczotka (Elwood/John H. Glenn) kill, but the Dutchwomen scored the match-ending point on a service error.
Czeczotka and
Nicole Silberer (Centereach) led the team with 11 kills each. Silberer finished with a .333 attack percentage (no errors in 33 attempts), while Czeczotka paced the squad with 17 digs.
Courtney Silberer (Centereach) added 10 kills,
Liz Roberts (Island Park/West Hempstead) finished with 39 assists and 13 digs, and
Melanie McGuirk (Lido Beach/Kellenberg) contributed 13 digs.
Deja Smith (Suffern) finished with six kills and four blocks.
Rachel Wyman led Union with 19 kills, Morgan Clark had 12 kills and a .478 attack percentage, and Amanda Price distributed 50 assists.
Williams posted set victories of 25-19, 25-21 and 25-17 versus the Red Dragons. Czeczotka led Cortland with eight kills and
Nicole Silberer finished with six kills. Roberts and
Vanessa Carmesin (Leverkusen, Germany/Landrat-Lucas Gymnasium) totaled 10 and nine assists, respectively.
Catherine Egan and Ally Ostrow led a balanced Williams attack with eight kills apiece. Ryan Farley recorded 32 assists and four aces for the Ephs, who are 2-1 on the season entering Saturday's action.
