POTSDAM, N.Y. – The Cortland women's volleyball team posted a team .302 attack percentage and the Red Dragons swept host Potsdam, 25-11, 25-14, 25-19, in a SUNYAC match.
Cortland improved to 13-3 overall and 2-0 in the conference. Potsdam dropped to 4-10 and 0-3. Cortland will play at Plattsburgh Saturday at 1 p.m.
Emalee Ballou (Eden) led Cortland with a career-high 10 kills and added seven digs. She had just one attack error in 18 attempts for a .500 attack percentage.
Lexy Bloss (York, PA/Dallastown Area) registered a .667 attack percentage with seven kills and one error in nine attempts. Bloss also led the Red Dragons with five blocks.
Anna Pilkey (Ballston Spa) finished with seven kills, 10 digs and two blocks.
Alexa Guedez (Mamaroneck/Rye Neck) hit at a .545 clip with six kills and no errors in 11 attacks. She also chipped in with two blocks.
Ashley Siergiej (Staten Island/Susan E. Wagner) had six kills and one error in 10 attempts for a .500 attack percentage.
Ryan Hinshaw (Aurora, IL/Joliet Catholic Academy) ended with 19 assists and four digs,
Meadow Wittman (Colden/Springville Griffith Institute) rang up 13 assists and five digs, and
Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) had seven digs.
Alyssa Adams led Potsdam with 10 kills. Sophia Layer recorded 14 assists and Madison Gilliland finished with 12 digs.
Cortland finished the night with 41 kills and 12 errors in 96 attempts. The Red Dragons surpassed the team .300 attack percentage plateau for the third time this season. Cortland set the tone early by hitting .448 (15 kills, two errors and 29 attempts) in the opening set. The Red Dragons hit .235 in the second and .242 in the third. Conversely, Potsdam was held to a minus-.024 attack percentage with 20 kills and 22 errors in 85 attempts. Eight of those 22 errors were the result of Cortland blocks, including Bloss' five block assists and Giovanni Rossi's (Nichols/Tioga) three block assists.
Cortland led 6-0 to start the first set and cruised to the win. The Red Dragons also dominated the second set, pushing an 11-7 lead to 22-9 on the way to the win. The third set was tied, 5-5, before Cortland used a 9-3 run to take a 14-8 lead. Potsdam closed back to within three points on a few occasions, the last at 21-18, but Cortland scored four of the match's final five points, including a kill by Rossi and two by Ballou.
