PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Cortland women's volleyball team clinched the SUNYAC regular-season title and the right to host the conference tournament semifinals and finals with a 25-13, 25-12, 25-17 victory at Plattsburgh.
Cortland is 19-3 overall and 8-0 in the SUNYAC with one league match remaining Saturday afternoon at Potsdam. The Red Dragons can do no worse than tie for first place with Geneseo (currently 7-1), and Cortland holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Knights.
Cortland earns a bye into the league semifinals and will host an opponent to be determined on Friday, Nov. 5, as well as the league's other semifinal match between second-seeded Geneseo and an opponent to be determined. Cortland will also host the league championship match on Saturday, Nov. 6. Cortland will host the SUNYAC championship for the first time since 2011.
Hannah Southcott (Princeton, WV) led Cortland with 13 kills and just one error in 37 attempts for a .324 attack percentage. She also had 13 digs and three blocks.
Nicole Van Pelt (Montgomery/Valley Central) finished with eight kills and
Caterina Mangogna (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) had four kills and five digs.
Carly Haegele (Commack) paced the Red Dragons with 15 digs and a career-high six service aces.
Olivia Doorley (Pearl River) totaled 14 digs,
Ryan Hinshaw (Aurora, IL/Joliet Catholic Academy) had 13 assists, and
Danielle Fisk (Honeoye Falls/Honeoye Falls-Lima) led the team with four blocks.
Plattsburgh (8-15, 1-7 SUNYAC) was led by Jenn Braun with five kills and Maddy Zophy with 22 digs.
Cortland was clinging to a 12-11 lead in the first set before scoring six straight points to create some distance. Southcott had two kills and a block during that run. Plattsburgh led 10-8 in the second set before Cortland finished on a 17-2 streak, starting with 11 consecutive points that featured three Haegele aces. The Red Dragons methodically pulled away in the third behind a .324 attack percentage during the set. Cortland finished hitting .191 for the night, while Plattsburgh was at minus-.061 (19 kills, 26 errors in 115 attempts).
