CORTLAND, N.Y. - Cortland overcame a loss in the opening set to defeat visiting Buffalo State, 24-26, 25-21, 25-19, 25-14, in the SUNYAC women's volleyball opener for both teams.
 
Cortland (12-4, 1-0 SUNYAC) will host Fredonia Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
Kira Pirrera (Hauppauge/Smithtown West) finished with 14 kills and eight digs, Erica Arroyo (Nesconset/Smithtown West) totaled career highs of nine kills, seven aces and three blocks, and Emalee Ballou (Eden) ended with eight kills and three blocks for the Red Dragons. Lauren Millspaugh (Trumansburg/Charles O. Dickerson) had six kills and a career-best seven blocks, Sanaiya Whitted (Poughkeepsie/Franklin D. Roosevelt) finished with seven kills and a career-best tying five blocks, and Anna Lynch (Rochester/Our Lady of Mercy) led the team with a career-high tying seven blocks.
 
Also for the Red Dragons, Samantha Rodriguez (Camarillo, CA/Adolfo Camarillo) and Melissa O'Connor (Hauppauge) each dished out 22 assists, with Rodriguez serving three aces and O'Connor two. Sarah Taggart (Buffalo/Williamsville South), playing in her first match of the season, ended with nine digs and two aces, and Alyssa Rich (Rochester/Churchville-Chili) led the team with 14 digs.
 
Buffalo State (7-11, 0-1 SUNYAC) was led by Ella Wittman's 10 kills, Nicole Delli Colli's nine kills, and Autumn Flanders' nine digs.
 
Cortland finished the match with 15 blocks, which helped the Red Dragons limit the Bengals to a .086 team attack percentage. Cortland also recorded 15 aces to Buffalo State's three. Cortland finished the night with a .167 attack percentage, including a .409 mark (13 kills, four errors in 22 attempts) in the fourth set.
 
Buffalo State's victory in the first set was the first time Cortland lost a set to a SUNYAC opponent since the 2023 SUNYAC Tournament semifinals versus Brockport.  The set was tied eight times, including every step from 20-20 to 24-24 before kills by Wittman and Delia Lake gave the Bengals the win.
 
The second set was tied 17-17 before four straight Cortland points on kills by Millspaugh, Pirrera, Whitted and Lynch made it 21-17. The Bengals were within 23-21 before an error and an O'Connor ace evened the match. Cortland took a 4-0 lead and never trailed in the third set, although Buffalo State was within 9-8 before the Red Dragons went on a 7-1 run. Cortland took control of the fourth set early with a 6-1 run that turned a 7-5 lead into a 13-6 advantage.