CANTON, N.Y. – The Cortland women's volleyball team earned its ninth straight victory with a four-set, non-league triumph at St. Lawrence University. The Red Dragons (21-3) defeated the Saints, 25-18, 25-18, 27-29, 25-17.
Cortland wraps up its regular-season schedule on Saturday with two matches at Clarkson University - versus the host Golden Knights at 11 a.m. and against Nazareth College at 1:30 p.m.
Lexy Bloss (York, PA/Dallastown Area) led Cortland with 14 kills and seven blocks and
Alexa Guedez (Mamaroneck/Rye Neck) finished with 13 kills.
Anna Pilkey (Ballston Spa) added nine kills, 12 digs and three aces and
Kira Pirrera (Hauppauge/Smithtown West) totaled eight kills.
Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) led the Red Dragons with 20 digs and
Madelyn McCormack (Remsen) tallied 10 digs and a team-high four service aces.
Ryan Hinshaw (Aurora, IL/Joliet Catholic Academy) ended with a team-best 26 assists along with two aces.
St. Lawrence (4-20) was led by Araiza Acum-Santos with 17 kills and Vivian Zymeck with 11 kills. Vanessa Latam had 33 assists and 13 digs and Sofia Velasquez finished with five blocks.
Cortland never trailed in the first set, although St. Lawrence was within a point at 19-18 before Cortland rattled off the final six points - two on kills by Bloss, one on a block from Bloss and
Ashley Siergiej (Staten Island/Susan E. Wagner), one on a Siergiej kill and one on a
Meadow Wittman (Colden/Springville Griffith Institute), along with a St. Lawrence attack error on set point. The second set was tied at 16-16 before the Red Dragons closed on a 9-2 streak. Bloss had three kills and Siergiej added two kills during that stretch.
The teams were tied 14 times, and the lead changed hands seven times, during the third set. The Saints fought off match points at 25-24, 26-25 and 27-26, then won the set on a Cortland error and a Velasquez ace. The teams were tied eight times between 1-1 and 10-10 in the fourth set, and the hosts trailed by only a 13-12 score before Cortland went on a 7-0 run to take control.
