BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Cortland women's volleyball team clinched its fourth straight SUNYAC regular-season title with a 25-9, 25-22, 26-24 win at Buffalo State, combined with Morrisville's five-set loss Saturday at Fredonia.
Cortland (21-5, 8-0 SUNYAC) will be the top seed in the six-team SUNYAC tournament and will host the semifinals and finals Nov. 15-16. The Red Dragons have won 35 straight league regular-season matches dating back to 2021, including 9-0 marks from 2021-23 in addition to their current 8-0 mark. Cortland will close the conference schedule next Tuesday at Morrisville.
Buffalo State is now 14-9 overall and 6-1 in the conference, a half game ahead of Morrisville (6-2 SUNYAC).
Kyrah Wilbur (Syracuse/Baldwinsville) led Cortland with 14 kills and was second with 11 digs.
Anna Pilkey (Ballston Spa) and
Kira Pirrera (Hauppauge/Smithtown West) each had seven kills, while
Emalee Ballou (Eden),
Alexa Guedez (Mamaroneck/Rye Neck) and
Emma Reilly (Massapequa Park/Massapequa) finished with four kills apiece. Reilly led the Red Dragons with four blocks, two solo, and Guedez had three blocks, one solo. Pilkey recorded seven digs.
Samantha Rodriguez (Camarillo, CA/Adolfo Camarillo) finished with a team-high 21 assists and added nine digs.
Ryan Hinshaw (Aurora, IL/Joliet Catholic Academy) ended with 10 assists, two aces and eight digs.
Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) totaled a team-high 17 digs.
Ella Wittman was the Bengals' leader with 10 kills and 21 digs. Karlie Shaffer had 23 assists.
Cortland won the first set easily after taking early leads of 10-2 and 17-4. Things got much more competitive after that, however. The second set featured 11 ties and five lead changes. With the score tied at 22-22, Cortland scored the final three points on two kills by Wilbur sandwiched around a kill from Pilkey.
Buffalo State led 21-18 in the third set before Cortland eventually tied it at 22-22. The Bengals, however, scored the next two points on a block by Kate Rutigliano and Nicole Delli Colli and a Samantha Coakley kill, to go up 24-22. Cortland fought off two set points on a service error and a Buffalo State attack error, and the Red Dragons went ahead after another error by the hosts. Cortland won the match on a Rodriguez kill.
