CORTLAND, N.Y. – Five Cortland players recorded at least six kills and the Red Dragons hit .418 as a team – their second-best attack percentage of the season – in a 25-16, 25-13, 25-18 sweep of visiting Potsdam in a SUNYAC women's volleyball contest.
 
Cortland improved to 20-6 overall and 8-0 in the conference. The Red Dragons wrap up conference regular-season play Saturday at home versus Plattsburgh at 1 p.m. and will look to finish 9-0 in the SUNYAC for the fifth straight year.
 
Cortland finished the night with 44 kills and six errors in 91 attempts while limiting Potsdam (8-15, 1-7 SUNYAC) to a .103 attack percentage (26 kills, 16 errors in 97 attempts).
 
Emalee Ballou (Eden) led the Red Dragons with 11 kills and no errors in 20 attempts (.550). Erica Arroyo (Nesconset/Smithtown West) finished with eight kills and one error in 13 attempts (.538), while Kira Pirrera (Hauppauge/Smithtown West) ended with eight kills and two errors in 20 attempts (.300) along with two aces and 12 digs. Sanaiya Whitted (Poughkeepsie/Franklin D. Roosevelt) amassed seven kills with one error in 14 swings (.429) and Lauren Millspaugh (Trumansburg/Charles O. Dickerson) had six kills and no errors in 10 attempts (.600) along with a team-best three blocks.
 
Melissa O'Connor (Hauppauge) rang up 19 assists and a team-high three aces and Samantha Rodriguez (Camarillo, CA/Adolfo Camarillo) handed out 16 assists. Alyssa Rich (Rochester/Churchville-Chili) led the team with 15 digs and Sarah Taggart (Buffalo/Williamsville South) served two aces.
 
For Potsdam, Ashlee Hagerman put down seven kills and Emily Prest had six kills. Sophia Layer finished with 20 assists and Rachel Madore totaled 15 digs.
 
Cortland hit .500 (14 kills, two errors, 24 attempts) in the opening set, which featured five early ties. The Red Dragons took control with a 6-0 run to go up 16-9; that streak featured two O'Connor aces and a Millspaugh kill and block. Cortland continued its hot hitting in the second set with a .483 mark (15 kills, one error, 29 attempts) and never trailed. The key stretch was an 8-1 run to pull away to a 22-11 advantage. Whitted, Arroyo and Ballou each had a kill during that stretch.
 
The Red Dragons "cooled down" to a .316 attack percentage in the third set (15 kills, three errors, 38 attempts). The set was tied five times, the last at 12-12. Potsdam was within 16-14 before Cortland scored the next three points on a Whitted kill, a block by Whitted and Millspaugh, and a Potsdam error. Cortland led by at least four points the rest of the way.