CORTLAND, N.Y. – The top-seeded Cortland women's volleyball team advanced to the SUNYAC tournament championship match with a 25-16, 25-16, 25-18 sweep over fifth-seeded New Paltz in the semifinal round at Corey Gymnasium.

Cortland (25-3) will host second-seeded Geneseo for the title at 4 p.m. Saturday. Geneseo (14-11) won Friday's opening semifinal match at Corey Gym with a five-set thriller over third-seeded Brockport, 17-25, 25-22, 25-22, 17-15, 15-13. Cortland will play in the SUNYAC championship match for the first time since making four straight finals appearances from 2009-12, including three straight titles from 2010-12. 
 
Nicole Van Pelt (Montgomery/Valley Central) led Cortland with 12 kills. She committed only two errors in 27 total attempts for a .370 attack percentage. Hannah Southcott (Princeton, WV) added eight kills and eight digs, Alexa Guedez (Rye/Rye Neck) had four kills and three blocks, and Maya Owens (Nyack) finished with four kills. 
 
Ryan Hinshaw (Aurora, IL/Joliet Catholic Academy) totaled 15 assists, Meadow Wittman (Colden/Springville Griffith Institute) and Danielle Fisk (Honeoye Falls/Honeoye Falls-Lima) served five and three aces, respectively, and Wittman and Carly Haegele (Commack) finished with 12 digs each. 
 
For New Paltz, which closes the season with a 14-14 record, Mackenzie Williams had seven kills, Lauren Abbott tallied six kills and four blocks, Cate DiGiacomo dished out 20 assists and added 11 digs, and Melanie Podstupka finished with 10 digs. 
 
Cortland fell behind 4-1 in the first set before tying things at 5-5. The teams were tied on two other occasions during the set, the last at 13-13, before the Red Dragons scored seven of the next eight points. Leading 21-16, the hosts scored the last four points on a Southcott kill and three consecutive Fisk aces. 
 
The second set featured six earl ties and five lead changes. Cortland took control with a 7-0 run, including three blocks, two Van Pelt kills and a Caterina Mangogna (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) kill, to build a 21-11 advantage and was never seriously threatened. Cortland led wire-to-wire in the third set, although the Hawks were still within striking distance at 17-13 after a pair of Williams kills and at 18-15 after an Abbott kill and a Cortland error. 
 
The Red Dragons scored three of the next four points, including Guedez and Mangogna kills, to go ahead 21-16, and after the Hawks scored the next two points, Cortland closed out the night with a 4-0 run that was capped by kills from Fisk and Southcott and an ace by Olivia Doorley (Pearl River). 
 
Prior to the match, Owens recognized as the SUNYAC's Women's Volleyball Elite 20 Award, which goes to the player at the finals site with the highest cumulative grade point average. Owens is an inclusive childhood education major with a 3.94 GPA.