CORTLAND, NY – The Cortland women's volleyball team posted a three-set sweep of visiting Canton, 25-11, 25-17, 25-19, on Saturday afternoon in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action in Corey Gymnasium. Cortland improves to 13-9 (6-1 SUNYAC), while Canton falls to 14-9 (3-4 SUNYAC).
Kira Pirrera (Hauppauge/Smithtown West) finished with 12 kills and a .500 attack percentage to lead the Red Dragons, while
Lauren Millspaugh (Trumansburg/Charles O. Dickerson) hit .455 with seven kills.
Sarah Taggart (Buffalo/Williamsville South) posted a game-high 19 digs, and
Melissa O'Connor (Hauppauge/Hauppauge) dished out 15 assists.
Emerson Coulter and Abby Raven each had seven kills for the Roos, while Olivia Tran recorded nine of Canton's 21 digs in the match.
Cortland used a 12-2 run early in the opening set to turn a 4-4 game into a 16-6 advantage, with Taggart leading a 7-0 run that included one ace at the line, and two kills each by
Abigail McGaughey (Palmdale, CA/Desert Christian), Millspaugh, and
Sanaiya Whitted (Poughkeepsie/Franklin D. Roosevelt). Cortland later went on an 8-1 run to finish the set, highlighted by a pair of kills by Millspaugh and an ace from
Bianca Sapano (Floral Park/Kellenberg Memorial).
The teams traded points to begin the second set, with Canton taking a 6-5 lead. The Red Dragons then won six of the following seven points behind kills by
Grace Anderson (Pawling), Pirrera, and McGaughey, as well as an ace by O'Connor. From the point, Cortland's lead was never less than three points, and an ace by
Kayla Wasserman (Minisink/Minisink Valley) and a Canton attack error closed the second set.
The Red Dragons secured the sweep in a back-and-forth third set. Cortland led 11-8 early but the Roos closed to within one point on three separate occasions, including as late as 18-17. Following a Canton service error, Taggart recorded an ace and Pirrera recorded a kill on the next play to make it 21-17. The Roos pulled back to within two with back-to-back points, but Cortland responded with four straight points of its own to close out the match, with Anderson, Millspaugh, and McGaughey providing one kill each.
Cortland will wrap up the regular season with a pair of conference contests at home next week, hosting Morrisville on Wednesday evening and Alfred State on Saturday afternoon to determine playoff seeding for the conference tournament.
