ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cortland women's volleyball team closed out its regular-season schedule with a 3-0 win over nationally 19th-ranked Ithaca College and a 3-1 victory against Nazareth University in matches played at Ithaca.
 
Cortland (24-5) will return to action when it hosts the SUNYAC tournament semifinals on Friday - the Red Dragons will face either New Paltz or Oswego Friday at 4 p.m., with Buffalo State playing either Morrisville or Potsdam at 7 p.m. The two winners will play for the title Saturday at 5 p.m.
 
Cortland opened the day with a 25-19, 25-23, 25-23 win over Ithaca, which dropped to 19-6 with the loss. Anna Pilkey (Ballston Spa) led the Red Dragons with 12 kills, followed by Jennifer Koestner (Syosset) with nine kills and Kyrah Wilbur (Syracuse/Baldwinsville) with eight. Emma Reilly (Massapequa Park/Massapequa) finished with seven kills and no errors in 10 attempts and Kira Pirrera (Hauppauge/Smithtown West) had seven kills.
 
Alexa Guedez (Mamaroneck/Rye Neck) totaled five blocks and Reilly had three blocks. Ryan Hinshaw (Aurora, IL/Joliet Catholic Academy) ended with 20 assists and two aces, Samantha Rodriguez (Camarillo, CA/Adolfo Camarillo) had 18 assists and Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) led the team with 23 digs, followed by Wilbur with nine.
 
Naomi Clauhs led Ithaca with 12 kills and Wesley Slavin dished out 24 assists.
 
Cortland finished the match with a .237 team attack percentage compared to Ithaca's .156 mark.
 
Cortland never trailed in the first set. The second set, however, was tied 12 times and featured four lead changes and the third set was tied 13 times and had six lead changes. Cortland led 24-20 in the second before Ithaca scored three straight points. Wilbur's kill gave the Red Dragons the set. In the third, Cortland also led 24-20 before the Bombers fought off three match points. Koestner put down the kill that gave the Red Dragons the victory.
 
The Red Dragons then defeated Nazareth 25-13, 22-25, 25-12, 25-22, behind 14 kills each from Guedez and Wilbur, 10 kills by Pilkey and nine kills from Koestner. Guedez finished with one error and a .520 attack percentage. Hinshaw handed out 30 assists, Pilkey served six aces and had seven digs, Madelyn McCormack (Remsen) finished with three aces, and Martens totaled 22 digs.
 
Tessa Grover led Nazareth (15-12) with 17 kills and Ella Kules had 21 assists.
 
Cortland never trailed in the first and third sets. The second set featured eight ties and four lead changes, with Nazareth taking a 17-10 lead and never being seriously threatened. Naz led 22-19 in the fourth set before Cortland came back to score last six points, including a Reilly block, two McCormack aces, a Pilkey kill, and another McCormack ace that clinched the win.