SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The Cortland women's volleyball team split two matches during the first day of the Trinity University Fall Classic, sweeping Texas Lutheran, 25-21, 30-28, 25-23, before losing in three sets to the host and nationally eighth-ranked Tigers, 25-14, 25-23, 25-22.
The win over Texas Lutheran was the 100th victory for Cortland head coach
Erin Glickert. Her overall record (all at Cortland) through Friday is 100-26 since arriving at Cortland in 2019.
Cortland (1-1) concludes play at the tournament Saturday at 1:15 p.m. (Central) versus The College of St. Benedict (Minn.).
Jennifer Koestner (Syosset) and
Anna Pilkey (Ballston Spa) led Cortland versus Texas Lutheran with 12 kills apiece. Koestner also finished with four aces and a team-high 26 digs.
Emma Reilly (Massapequa Park/Massapequa) recorded eight kills with one error in 13 attempts for a .538 attack percentage and
Kira Pirrera (Hauppauge/Smithtown West) had seven kills.
Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) and
Melissa O'Connor (Hauppauge) finished with 11 digs each and
Ryan Hinshaw (Aurora, IL/Joliet Catholic Academy) had 36 assists.
Victoria Powell led the Bulldogs with nine kills and Faith Coldewey and Shavonne Respondek each totaled 19 digs. Texas Lutheran beat St. Benedict in five sets later on Friday and is now 1-1 on the season.
Cortland won the first set after finishing on a 5-2 run. The second set featured 11 ties and six lead changes. The Red Dragons trailed 24-22 before fighting off two set points on a kill by Koestner and a block by Koestner and Reilly. Texas Lutheran then fended off four potential Cortland set points from 25-24 to 28-27 before the Red Dragons closed the door on a kill by Pilkey and a Texas Lutheran attack error. The third set featured an amazing 17 ties, the last at 22-22. A Pilkey kill and an O'Connor ace gave Cortland a 24-22 lead. TLU scored the next point before another Pilkey kill ended the match.
Despite being swept, Cortland put up a strong fight against Trinity, which advanced to the NCAA Division III quarterfinals last season. The Red Dragons led 18-11 in the second set before the Tigers rallied for the two-point win, and in the third set Cortland came back from a 16-11 deficit to take leads of 21-20 and 22-21 before the hosts notched the final four points.
Koestner led the way for Cortland with 14 kills, a .310 attack percentage and three aces. Pilkey put down eight kills and Pirrera had seven kills. Martens totaled 10 digs,
Madelyn McCormack (Remsen) had nine digs and Hinshaw dished out 29 assists.
Mackenzie Logan led Trinity (1-0) with 17 kills and Taylor Starr had eight blocks. The Tigers finished the match with a .398 team attack percentage, including a .538 mark in the first set. Cortland hit at a .289 clip in the third set and finished with a .176 mark for the match.
