BUFFALO, N.Y. – Hannah Southcott (Princeton, WV) and Nicole Van Pelt (Montgomery/Valley Central) combined for 33 kills as Cortland swept host Buffalo State, 25-18, 25-18, 25-22, in a SUNYAC women's volleyball match.
 
Cortland earned its fifth straight victory, all in straight sets, and improved to 10-2 overall and 2-0 in SUNYAC play. Buffalo State fell to 5-7 overall and 0-2 in the league. Cortland will stay in Western New York and will play at Fredonia in a league match Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
Southcott finished with 19 kills and a .395 attack percentage in 38 attempts and added 11 digs, while Van Pelt put down 14 kills in addition to tallying two aces and six digs. Maya Owens (Nyack) and Caterina Mangogna (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) contributed five kills apiece. Cortland hit .228 for the match, including a .302 mark in the first set (19 kills, six errors, 43 attempts) and a .275 mark in the second set (14 kills, three errors, 40 attempts).
 
Carly Haegele (Commack) led the Red Dragons with a season-high 28 digs and Alexa Guedez (Rye/Rye Neck) posted six blocks, five of them solo. Ryan Hinshaw (Aurora, IL/Joliet Catholic Academy) and Megan McMahon (Ballston Spa) finished with 22 and 18 assists, respectively, and McMahon and Danielle Fisk (Honeoye Falls/Honeoye Falls-Lima) each served two aces.
 
Angelina Scichilone paced Buffalo State with nine kills. Alena McKelvey had five kills, Riley Domin handed out 15 assists, and Jenna Hugenschmidt led the team with 20 digs. The Bengals hit .242 in the first set, but only .079 in the second and .105 in the third to finish the night at a .138 mark.
 
Cortland fell behind 8-4 and 12-8 in the first set, but after a timeout rattled off eight straight points to take a 16-12 lead. Southcott had three kills and Van Pelt added a kill and an ace during that run. After a kill by Buffalo State's Kayla Wolinski, Cortland came back with a Mangogna kill, a Fisk ace, a Bengals' attack error and a Guedez kill to go up 20-13. The margin remained at least four the rest of the set.
 
The second set was tied at 13-13 before the Red Dragons scored 12 of the final 17 points. Southcott had eight kills and no errors in 14 attempts and Van Pelt added three kills in the set.
 
The hosts were up 21-18 in the third set after a block by Wolinski and McCartney Geartz. Cortland responded with four consecutive points on a kill and an ace by Van Pelt and two Southcott kills to take a 22-21 lead. Another Southcott kill made it 23-21 and, following a Red Dragon error, Cortland clinched the set and the sweep on a Buffalo State service error and a Fisk ace.