CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Cortland women's volleyball team completed its third straight perfect SUNYAC regular-season with a 9-0 record after sweeping visiting Brockport, 25-21, 25-16, 25-17. The Red Dragons (20-3 overall) will be the top seed in next month's SUNYAC postseason tournament and will host the league's semifinals and finals Nov. 10-11.
Kira Pirrera (Hauppauge/Smithtown West) led a balanced Cortland offensive attack with eight kills and one error in 12 attempts for a .583 attack percentage.
Allie Sturgess (Stony Brook/Ward Melville) also finished with eight kills,
Lexy Bloss (York, PA/Dallastown Area) and
Anna Pilkey (Ballston Spa) each had seven kills, and
Alexa Guedez (Mamaroneck/Rye Neck) added five kills.
Ashley Siergiej (Staten Island/Susan E. Wagner) led the Red Dragons with five blocks, followed by Guedez with four and Bloss with three.
Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) ended with 21 digs, with Sturgess and Pilkey totaling nine each.
Ryan Hinshaw (Aurora, IL/Joliet Catholic Academy) and
Meadow Wittman (Colden/Springville Griffith Institute) posted 17 and 14 assists, respectively.
Alexis Sison and Jordan Thompson led Brockport (14-11, 6-3 SUNYAC) with 10 kills each. Kaitlyn Jewett had 23 assists and Elsie Logan finished with 15 digs. Brockport will be the fourth seed in the six-team SUNYAC playoffs and will host fifth-seeded Buffalo State in the first round on Nov. 7.
The first set was the tightest of the afternoon with eight ties and three lead changes. The set was tied at 17-17 before Cortland scored three straight, including kills from Bloss and Siergiej, and the Golden Eagles got no closer than two points after that. Cortland scored the first three points and never trailed in the second set, and the Red Dragons took control in the third with a six-point run to turn a 10-8 lead into a 16-8 advantage.
Cortland wraps up the regular season next weekend with three non-league matches - at St. Lawrence on Friday, and versus Clarkson and Nazareth, both at Clarkson, on Saturday.