GETTYSBURG, PA. - Cortland began play at the Messiah Invitational with a four-set win over the host Falcons, 25-8, 24-26, 25-19, 25-15.
 
The match was moved from Messiah to Gettysburg College due to a situation on the Messiah campus. Action is expected to be held at Messiah on Saturday, with Cortland facing Gettysburg at 1 p.m. and Oberlin at 3 p.m.
 
Cortland (6-4) was led by Kira Pirrera (Hauppauge/Smithtown West) with 18 kills. She recorded a .317 attack percentage and had 11 digs. Emalee Ballou (Eden) finished with nine kills and four blocks and Erica Arroyo (Nesconset/Smithtown West) had eight kills, a .286 attack percentage and three aces.
 
Samantha Rodriguez (Camarillo, CA/Adolfo Camarillo) led the Red Dragons with 21 assists and added nine digs. Bianca Sapano (Floral Park/Kellenberg Memorial) served a team-best five aces and registered six digs, Alyssa Rich (Rochester/Churchville-Chili) had four aces and a team-high 19 digs, and Anna Lynch (Rochester/Our Lady of Mercy) finished with seven blocks.
 
Makenzie Adams led Messiah (5-4) with 14 kills and Cassidy Dell handed out 27 assists. Erin Eby led the team with 16 digs.
 
Cortland hit a blistering .542 in the first set (15 kills, two errors in 24 attempts). The Red Dragons scored eight straight points to take a 15-4 lead and led by double digits after that. Cortland fought back from a 9-1 deficit in the second set and was still down 18-12 before tying the set at 18-18. The teams were tied four more times, including at 24-24 after two consecutive Cortland points, before Messiah scored the last two points to win the set.
 
The Red Dragons rallied from a 10-4 deficit in the third to take a 16-14 lead, then later extended a 19-17 lead to 22-17 with a run that featured two Pirrera kills on the way to the win. In the fourth set, Cortland hit .300 (11 kills, two errors in 30 attempts). An 8-0 run gave Cortland a 13-5 lead, and a later 4-0 run turned a 16-13 lead into a 20-13 score.
 
Cortland finished the night hitting at .200 (47 kills, 21 errors in 130 attempts) while holding Messiah to an .039 attack percentage (34 kills, 29 errors in 128 attempts).