UNION, N.J. – Cortland rallied after trailing two sets to one and after being behind 4-1 in the fifth set to defeat Springfield College, 25-13, 20-25, 17-25, 25-22, 15-8, during the opening night of the Kean University Invitational.
 
Cortland improved to 4-0 and will face the host Cougars Saturday at 11 a.m. and Middlebury College at 1:30 p.m. Springfield suffered its first loss of the season and is now 4-1.
 
Anna Pilkey (Ballston Spa) led the Red Dragons with 14 kills and was second on the team with 15 digs and three blocks. Alexa Guedez (Mamaroneck/Rye Neck) finished with 11 kills and a taem-high five blocks. Pilkey and Guedez each recorded three kills and no errors in five attempts in the fifth set.
 
Meadow Wittman (Colden/Springville Griffith Institute) led Cortland with 17 assists and added nine digs and two aces. Samantha Rodriguez (Camarillo, CA/Adolfo Camarillo) totaled 14 assists and a team-best three aces.
 
Natalie Billet paced Springfield with 15 kills and Riley Donahue added 11 kills. Tori Colosimo finished with 20 assists and eight aces.
 
Cortland held a slight 14-12 lead in the first set before scoring 10 straight points to take control. Springfield scored the final three points of the second set to pull away from a 22-20 lead, and the Pride erased an early 5-2 deficit and led most of the third set. In the fourth, Cortland trailed 20-19 before scoring three straight on a service error and two Springfield attack errors. After the Pride scored, Cortland tallied the next two points on kills from Pilkey and Guedez, and two points later another Pilkey kill sent the match to the fifth set.
 
The fifth set featured five ties and four lead changes. Cortland turned an early 4-1 deficit into a 5-5 tie after a Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) ace, and the teams were tied at each interval through 8-8 before Cortland went on a decisive 7-0 run to finish the match. The last streak included two kills from Guedez, one kill by Pilkey and two combined blocks by Guedez and Pilkey.