GLASSBORO, N.J. – The Cortland women's volleyball team won close battles in each set as the Red Dragons swept host Rowan, 25-21, 25-21, 25-23 in a non-league match.
 
Cortland won its fifth straight match and 11th in its last 12 outings to improve to 18-4 on the season. Rowan fell to 21-5 with the loss. Both teams entered the match ranked in their respective NCAA Division III regions – Cortland second in Region Three and Rowan third in Region Four.
 
Cortland closes its regular-season schedule Saturday with two matches at Eastern University in Pennsylvania. The Red Dragons face the host Eagles at 10 a.m. and Cabrini University at noon.
 
Zoe Staats (Buchanan/Hendrick Hudson) led Cortland versus the Profs with 12 kills and Giovanna Rossi (Nichols/Tioga) had 10 kills and three blocks. Emma Reilly (Massapequa Park) led the Red Dragons with four blocks and finished with five kills and no errors in seven attempts.
 
Meadow Wittman (Colden/Springville Griffith Institute) ended with 10 digs and team highs of 18 assists and four aces. Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) had a team-best 14 digs, Allie Sturgess (Stony Brook/Ward Melville) finished with eight digs, and Danielle Fisk (Honeoye Falls/Honeoye Falls-Lima) added two aces and three blocks.
 
Natalie Ogden led Rowan with eight kills and Brooke Adams had 24 assists.
 
Cortland led 10-3 to start the first set, but Rowan came back and took a 14-12 lead. The teams were tied six times after that, the last at 20-20, before the Red Dragons closed the set on a 5-1 run that included a Carly Haegele (Commack) ace and a Sturgess kill.
 
Cortland trailed 19-16 in the second before rattling off eight straight points, highlighted by two Staats kills, one kill each by Rossi and Fisk, and a Martens ace. Rowan scored twice to close within 24-21 before another Staats kill ended the set.
 
The Red Dragons looked like they were in control in the third set with leads of 14-3 and 21-13, but Rowan fought back to as close as two points at 23-21. A block by Megan McMahon (Ballston Spa) and Caterina Mangogna (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) gave Cortland a 24-21 lead. Rowan fought off two match points on an error and a Vanessa Hutchinson ace before Rossi put down a kill to give Cortland the win.