BROCKPORT, N.Y. – Cortland rallied after losing the first two sets and the Red Dragons defeated host Brockport in a five-set thriller between the top teams in the SUNYAC women's volleyball standings. Brockport opened with 25-20 and 25-16 wins before Cortland came back to claim the final three sets, 25-20, 25-23 and 15-11.
 
Cortland (13-3, 7-0 SUNYAC) was led by four players with double-figure kills. Zoe Staats (Buchanan/Hendrick Hudson) finished with 17 kills, followed by Giovanna Rossi (Nichols/Tioga Central) with a career-high 16 kills. Alexa Guedez (Rye/Rye Neck) had 12 kills and a team-high five blocks, including a solo one for match point. Rossi and Guedez each put down 11 kills over the final three sets. Allie Sturgess (Stony Brook/Ward Melville) finished with 10 kills and 18 digs.
 
Meadow Wittman (Colden/Springville Griffith Institute) and Ryan Hinshaw (Aurora, IL/Joliet Catholic Academy) totaled 25 and 21 assists, respectively, with Hinshaw adding 12 digs and two aces. Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) led the Red Dragons with 21 digs and Carly Haegele (Commack) had 11 digs.
 
Brockport (14-5, 4-1 SUNYAC) was led by Jordan Thompson's 24 kills and Kerri McHale's 29 assists. Madalyn Bowen posted 34 digs and Myah Frostclapp led the team with seven blocks.
 
The first set was tied at 20-20 before the Golden Eagles scored the final five points, two on Thompson kills. Brockport took control of the second set early with a 16-7 lead and was never seriously threatened.
 
Cortland slowly pulled away midway through the third set as an 11-10 lead grew to 19-12. Brockport got to within 24-20 before a Staats kill finished the set. Cortland hit .378 in the fourth set (17 kills, three errors in 37 attempts) compared to Brockport's .189 mark, but the set was tied five times, the last at 23-23, before a block by Guedez and Staats and a Brockport attack error sent the match to the fifth set.
 
In the fifth, Cortland was once again strong offensively with a .333 attack percentage (10 kills, two errors, 24 attempts) but had trouble sealing the victory. The teams were tied five times between 7-7 and 11-11 before the Red Dragons scored the final four points on an error, a Sturgess kill, a Haegele ace and the Guedez block.
 
Cortland heads to Ithaca on Tuesday for a non-league match and will host a tri-match with Clarkson and Williams on Saturday, Oct. 15.