CORTLAND, N.Y. - Cortland finished 2-1 and in second place out of four teams at the two-day Cortland Invitational after splitting two matches Saturday. The Red Dragons lost in four sets to RIT before finishing the day with a three-set win over Wilkes.
RIT finished the weekend with a 3-0 mark, followed by Cortland at 2-1, Morrisville at 1-2 and Wilkes at 0-3. Cortland improved to 7-11 on the season and will host SUNY Poly in a non-league dual match Tuesday at 7 p.m.
After the tournament, it was announced that Cortland raised more than $1,550 during its "Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer" event on Friday. The money raised will support Go 4 the Goal, which works with hospitals across the country to provide financial assistance, grant wishes, develop and fund unique hospital programs, and fund innovative research.
Cortland opened Saturday with a four-set loss to RIT, with the Tigers winning 26-24, 18-25, 25-9, 25-20.
Bridgette Moran (Massapequa Park/St. John the Baptist) and
Nadia Moore (Durham, NC/Durham School of the Arts) led the Red Dragons with 10 kills apiece, followed by
Nicole Van Pelt (Montgomery/Valley Central) with nine kills and
Rachael Colombo (Wallkill) with six. Moran finished with a .364 attack percentage (10 kills, two errors in 22 attempts).
Gabby Amelio (Pine Bush) recorded 36 assists, 10 digs and two aces and
Malley Bowen (Owego/Tioga Central) had a team-high 13 digs. The Red Dragons finished with 12 team blocks. Moran totaled six block assists,
Camryn Anderson (Bronx/Cardinal Spellman) had two solo blocks and three assists, and Moore added three block assists.
Taylor Higgins paced RIT (now 14-2) with 19 kills and Sara Taylor added 12 kills. Erin Parkinson finished with 40 assists.
Cortland trailed 24-20 in the first set, but came back and tied the score at 24-24 with a run that featured an Anderson block. The Tigers, however, closed the set on kills by Taylor and Parkinson. In the second set, Cortland held a slim 17-16 lead before scoring four straight on kills by Moran and Colombo, a block by Moran and Amelio, and another block by Moran and Colombo. The Red Dragons eventually sealed the win on an Anderson kill.
RIT turned a 10-6 lead into a 19-8 advantage in the third set and was never threatened. In the fourth set, however, Cortland led 13-11 on a Moore kill before the Tigers tallied six straight points. The margin remained at least three from that juncture.
In the win over Wilkes, Van Pelt led the way with 10 kills, Colombo had eight kills and a .400 attack percentage (two errors, 15 attempts), and Moran recorded seven kills with only one error in 11 attempts for a .545 percentage.
Moore pitched in with six kills for the Red Dragons, who finished the match hitting .306 (37 kills, 11 errors in 85 attempts). Amelio amassed 26 assists and 13 digs and
Kiersten Cote (East Rockaway/Kellenberg Memorial) had nine digs. In three tournament matches, Moran finished with 28 kills and a .411 attack percentage, Moore had 34 kills (.237 percentage) and Van Pelt finished with 29 kills (.232 percentage).
Jamey Mikovich ended with eight kills and seven digs and Karlye Huffman had 19 assists for Wilkes (12-7).
Cortland went on a 7-0 run to turn an early 9-8 lead into a 16-8 margin in the first set. Moran and Van Pelt each had two kills during that stretch. The Red Dragons used a more impressive streak in the second set with 12 straight points, mainly during Moran's serve, to take a 21-9 lead. The third set was tied at 16-16 before a kill and an ace from Moore, a block by Moran, and another Moore ace put the Red Dragons up 20-16. The Colonels eventually got back to within 23-21 before Cortland wrapped up the match on a Van Pelt kill and a Wilkes attack error.
