CORTLAND, NY – The Cortland women's volleyball team split a pair of matches on Saturday at the Cortland Quad in Corey Gymnasium, falling to Stevens in the opening game of the day and defeating Bard in the third match, both in straight sets. In the second match of the day, Stevens defeated Bard in three sets. Cortland completes the day with a 17-6 record, while Stevens is 14-8 and Bard is 3-18.
 
Erica Arroyo (Nesconset/Smithtown West) led Cortland against Bard with 10 kills, and Emalee Ballou (Eden) and Lauren Millspaugh (Trumansburg/Charles O. Dickerson) each chipped in eight kills. Kira Pirrera (Hauppauge/Smithtown West), Samantha Rodriguez (Camarillo, CA/Adolfo Camarillo) and Sarah Taggart (Buffalo/Williamsville South) provided three aces each.
  
 Ella Small recorded seven digs for the Raptors, while Annika Flittie had two kills and five digs.
  
 Cortland recorded a .430 attack percentage as a team, including 15 kills and only one error in the first set. The Red Dragons also forced Bard to post a negative attack percentage for the match, at -.082.
 
Cortland never trailed in the first set, and turned a 5-4 lead into a 11-4 advantage after a six-point run that included two kills by Arroyo and two aces by Taggart. Leading 18-9, the Red Dragons rattled off seven points in a row to close out the set with a 25-9 win.
 
Bard scored the first point of the second set, but Cortland immediately won the next six points behind two aces by Pirrera, a kill and a solo block by Millspaugh, a kill by Ballou, and a combo block by Millspaugh and Reese Chudoba (Hamburg). Cortland continued to build its lead, and finished off another 25-9 win with a combo block by Arroyo and Emma Reilly (Massapequa Park/Massapequa).
 
The Red Dragons jumped out to an 11-1 lead in the third set, with three kills each from Ballou and Millspaugh during the run. Cortland stretched its lead to as large as 16 points at 22-6 after an ace from Kayla Wasserman (Minisink/Minisink Valley), and Ballou closed out the match with her eighth kill a few points later.
 
Against Stevens, Millspaugh had 13 kills for her career high, and contributed seven blocks. Melissa O'Connor (Hauppauge) handed out 21 assists and registered seven digs. Alyssa Rich (Rochester/Churchville-Chili) led the Red Dragons with 14 digs.
 
Alyssa O'Neal had 14 kills to lead the Ducks. Molly Harris handed out 36 assists and chipped in eight digs. Stevens was led defensively by Lianna Schmieder's 15 digs.
 
With the score tied at 13-13 in the first set, Stevens scored seven straight points to jump ahead 20-13. The Red Dragons immediately rattled off five straight points, including a kill and a solo block by Millspaugh, to close the deficit to two, before the Ducks regained a five-point lead after kills by O'Neal and Ella Boland. A few points later, O'Neal closed out the set with a kill for a 25-21 win for Stevens.
 
Stevens led 20-12 in the second set, but Cortland battled back to within four points at 24-20 after a kill by Julia Geitner (Canandaigua/Canandaigua Academy) and a combo block by Geitner and Pirrera. One point later, O'Neal once again finished off the set with a kills for the Ducks.
 
Cortland overcame an early deficit to build a 16-13 lead in the third set, and extended its advantage to five points at 22-17. However, Stevens stormed back to win the next eight points to complete the sweep after a kill by Eva Tarolli on the final point.