CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Cortland women's volleyball team lost a hard-fought, four-set decision to visiting RIT in a battle of two teams currently leading their league standings. The Tigers, currently first in the Liberty League, defeated the SUNYAC-leading Red Dragons, 27-25, 26-24, 21-25, 25-22 in a match that featured 38 ties and 16 lead changes over the four sets.
 
Cortland had its 13-match winning streak snapped with the loss and is now 18-3, while RIT extended its winning streak to 13 matches and is now 21-2. Cortland (7-0 SUNYAC) wraps up its league schedule this weekend with matches Friday at Plattsburgh and Saturday and Potsdam and needs just one win to clinch the conference regular-season title and earn the right to host the conference tournament semifinals and finals.
 
Nicole Van Pelt (Montgomery/Valley Central) and Hannah Southcott (Princeton, WV) led Cortland versus RIT with 14 kills apiece, with Southcott also picking up three aces and eight digs. Maya Owens (Nyack) added nine kills, a .389 attack percentage and three blocks, and Alexa Guedez (Rye/Rye Neck) had six kills and three blocks.
 
Danielle Fisk (Honeoye Falls/Honeoye Falls-Lima) finished the night with a career-best six blocks, Caterina Mangogna (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) had three kills and four blocks, and Ryan Hinshaw (Aurora, IL/Joliet Catholic Academy) dished out 22 assists. Carly Haegele (Commack) led the Red Dragons with 16 digs, and Haegele and Olivia Doorley (Pearl River) each served three aces.
 
Taylor Higgins led RIT with 22 kills and a .400 attack percentage and added nine digs. Katie Hobler finished with 19 kills and nine digs and Samantha Cox had seven kills. Sydney Neff rang up 48 assists, nine digs and four blocks, Hailey Blixt recorded three aces, and Kiana Walker totaled a team-high 14 digs.
 
The first set featured 13 ties. Cortland trailed 23-20, but eventually tied it at 24-24 on an RIT error, and again at 25-25 on a kill by Owens. The Tigers, however, finished the set with two kills by Higgins. There were eight ties and four lead changes in the second set. Cortland led 22-19 after a Guedez kill, but RIT tied it on kills by Cox and Higgins and a Cortland error. Following a timeout, Cortland took a 24-22 lead on a Van Pelt kill and an RIT error. The Tigers then called timeout and responded with three straight points, including kills by Cox and Calista Gasper, to take the lead and forced a Red Dragon timeout. RIT then won the set on a block by Cox and Gasper.
 
Most of the eight ties and five lead changes came early in the third set. Cortland trailed 14-12 but fashioned a 10-1 run, featuring five Southcott kills, to take a 22-15 lead. Trailing 24-18, RIT fought off three set points before Van Pelt's kill gave Cortland the set.
 
In a fourth set that featured nine ties and five lead changes, Cortland led 11-7 before RIT went on a 6-1 run to take a 13-12 lead. The teams were then tied five times between 13-13 and 18-18 before the guests went on a crucial four-point run. Higgins had two kills and Gasper posted a solo block during that stretch. Cortland answered with three consecutive points on a Mangogna kill, an RIT error and a block by Mangogna and Fisk to close within one at 22-21. Following an RIT timeout, kills by Higgins and Hobler pushed the Tigers' lead to 24-21. Van Pelt put down a kill to briefly keep Cortland alive before Hobler's kill ended the match.
 
RIT finished with a .230 team attack percentage, with the first two sets (.261 and .323) its strongest. Cortland improved from .156 and .114 marks in the first two sets to hit .257 in the third and .258 in the fourth to finish the night with a .192 team hitting percentage.