CORTLAND, N.Y. – Cortland improved to 15-4 on the season with three-set, non-league wins over Clarkson and Williams in a tri-match hosted by the Red Dragons at Corey Gymnasium.
Cortland opened the day with a 25-17, 25-16, 26-24 win over Clarkson and closed the competition with a 25-17, 25-18, 25-13 sweep of Williams. In the other match, Williams outlasted Clarkson in five sets, 25-21, 25-16, 20-25, 23-25, 15-11.
Cortland was sharp offensively in both matches. The Red Dragons hit .315 as a team versus Clarkson, including a sterling .600 (16 kills, one error in 25 attempts) in the second set. Cortland then hit .375 for the match against Williams, including a .481 mark (16 kills, three errors in 27 attempts) in the second set and a .393 mark (14 kills, three errors in 28 attempts) in the third set.
In the win over Clarkson,
Allie Sturgess (Stony Brook/Ward Melville) led the Red Dragons with 12 kills and only one error in 30 attempts (.367) and added nine digs.
Zoe Staats (Buchanan/Hendrick Hudson) finished with eight kills and three blocks, while
Anna Pilkey (Ballston Spa),
Emma Reilly (Massapequa Park) and
Giovanna Rossi (Nichols/Tioga Central) totaled seven kills apiece. Pilkey had no attack errors in 14 attempts for a .500 attack percentage, while Reilly led the team with seven blocks, four of them solo.
Ryan Hinshaw (Aurora, IL/Joliet Catholic Academy) and
Meadow Wittman (Colden/Springville Griffith Institute) finished with 18 and 16 assists, respectively. Wittman led the team with 14 digs,
Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) had nine digs and
Danielle Fisk (Honeoye Falls/Honeoye Falls-Lima) registered three solo blocks.
Kristin Werdine and Sara Galante led Clarkson (11-9) with 10 kills each and Isabelle Crow had 31 assists.
Staats put down 10 kills and Sturgess and Rossi each had nine kills in the victory over Williams. Wittman dished out 21 assists and had eight digs, Fisk and Sturgess each served two aces, and Fisk led the team with four blocks, two solo, and added four kills with no errors in six attempts. Martens finished with seven digs.
The Ephs (9-6) were led by Celia Adams with 10 kills.
Cortland hits the road next weekend for its final two SUNYAC regular-season matches. The Red Dragons play Oneonta Friday at 6 p.m. and New Paltz Saturday at 1 p.m. Cortland currently leads the conference with a 7-0 mark, followed by Brockport and New Paltz each at 6-1. Cortland is guaranteed a spot in the league's six-team playoffs. The top two seeds earn byes into the semifinals, with the number one seed hosting the league semifinals and finals.
