CORTLAND, N.Y. – The top-seeded Cortland women's volleyball team advanced to the SUNYAC tournament championship match with a 27-25, 25-11, 20-25, 25-19 semifinal victory over fourth-seeded Brockport at Corey Gymnasium.
Cortland (24-3), the two-time defending league champion, will face second-seeded New Paltz (21-7) in the title match Saturday at 4 p.m. at Cortland. New Paltz swept Geneseo in Friday's second semifinal contest.
Anna Pilkey (Ballston Spa) and
Allie Sturgess (Stony Brook/Ward Melville) led Cortland with 11 kills apiece. Pilkey committed no attack errors in 23 swings for a .478 attack percentage.
Giovanna Rossi (Nichols/Tioga),
Alexa Guedez (Mamaroneck/Rye Neck) and
Kira Pirrera (Hauppauge/Smithtown West) each finished with seven kills and
Lexy Bloss (York, PA/Dallastown Area) added six kills.
Pilkey had four aces and eight digs, Sturgess totaled 14 digs and Guedez led the team with three blocks.
Ryan Hinshaw (Aurora, IL/Joliet Catholic Academy) finished with 21 assists, followed by
Samantha Rodriguez (Camarillo, CA/Adolfo Camarillo) with 18 assists and six digs.
Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) led the Red Dragons with 17 digs. Prior to the match, Martens was recognized as the SUNYAC's Elite 20 Award Winner for the second straight year as the player at the SUNYAC finals site with the highest overall GPA. The junior physical education major has a 4.0 GPA.
Jordan Thompson led Brockport (16-14) with 20 kills. Alexis Sison had 14 kills and Megan Loomis totaled 11 kills. Kaitlyn Jewett rang up 47 assists and seven digs. Elsie Logan led the Golden Eagles with 20 digs and Maren Lutz served three aces.
The first set featured 12 ties and seven lead changes. Cortland led 19-12 before Brockport scored nine straight points to take a 21-19 lead. The teams were tied at five straight intervals from 21-21 to 25-25, with Cortland escaping possible Brockport set points at 24-23 and 25-24 on kills by Pirrera and Rossi. The Red Dragons claimed the set after a Brockport error and a Pilkey ace.
Cortland opened with a 10-1 lead in the second set and was never threatened. In the third set, however, Brockport rallied from a 14-9 deficit to tie the set at 15-15, and with the score 17-17 the guests scored four straight, two on Lutz aces, to go up 21-17. Brockport led by at least three from that point.
In the fourth set, Cortland used an early push to turn a 5-5 tie into a 16-9 lead. Brockport fought back to within three at 20-17 before two misplays gave Cortland a five-point lead. The Red Dragons eventually closed out the set and the match on a Guedez ace.
