SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The Cortland women's volleyball team dropped a five-set nailbiter to The College of St. Benedict to close out play at the Trinity University Fall Classic. St. Benedict rallied from a 2-1 deficit after three sets to defeat the Red Dragons, 21-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-17, 16-14.
Cortland (1-2) was led by
Kira Pirrera (Hauppauge/Smithtown West) with 14 kills and no errors in 26 attempts for a .538 attack percentage.
Jennifer Koestner (Syosset) had a team-high 15 kills along with two aces, eight digs and three blocks, and
Emalee Ballou (Eden) finished with 10 kills, seven digs and two blocks.
Emma Reilly (Massapequa Park/Massapequa) totaled seven kills, a .312 attack percentage and a team-best seven blocks.
Ryan Hinshaw (Aurora, IL/Joliet Catholic Academy) ended with 44 assists and four blocks,
Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) posted a team-best 19 digs, and
Melissa O'Connor (Hauppauge) added eight digs and a team-leading four aces.
Kali Jones led St. Benedict (1-2) with 20 kills, followed by Mackenzie Knofczynski with 12 kills and McKenna Moehrle with 10. Audrey Spolidoro handed out 55 assists and shared the team lead with Jones with three aces. Spolidoro, Moehrle and Knofczynski each had four blocks.
Cortland led from start to finish in the first set, hitting at a .350 clip during the set. The Red Dragons led 23-21 in the second set before St. Benedict tied it on kills by Jones and Knofczynski. Cortland had a possible set point leading 24-23 after
Anna Lynch's (Rochester/Our Lady of Mercy) kill, but the Bennies scored the last three points on a Jones kill, a Jones ace, and a block by Knofczynski and Spolidoro.
Cortland scored four of the final five points in the third set to turn a 21-21 tie into a 25-22 win. Reilly's kill finished off the set. The fourth set was tied 11-11 before the Bennies went on a 6-0 run to take a 17-11 lead and they led by at least four points the rest of the set.
The fifth set featured nine ties and four lead changes. St. Benedict led 13-11, but after a Cortland timeout the Red Dragons tied it on a Pirrera kill and a St. Benedict error. The Bennies went up 14-13 on a Jones kill and Cortland fended off that match point on a kill by Ballou. St. Benedict, however, scored the final two points on a service error and an attack error.
UPDATE: Martens was named to the all-tournament team following the conclusion of the event.
