CORTLAND, N.Y. - The Cortland women's volleyball team lost to visiting William Smith in four sets in a non-league women's volleyball match.
The Herons (10-2) won the first two sets, 25-19 and 25-17, but Cortland captured the third set, 25-19. The Red Dragons (6-6) were tied 23-23 in the fourth before William Smith scored the final two points to win, 25-23, to take the match.
Reese Chudoba (Hamburg) and
Sanaiya Whitted (Poughkeepsie/Franklin D. Roosevelt) led Cortland with nine kills each.
Kira Pirrera (Hauppauge/Smithtown West) finished with eight kills and
Lauren Millspaugh (Trumansburg/Charles O. Dickerson) added seven kills. Whitted finished with a .368 attack percentage, Millspaugh hit .235 and Chudoba finished at .233.
Lily Coan (Sayville) and
Kayla Wasserman (Minisink/Minisink Valley) registered 16 and 11 assists, respectively, and
Erica Arroyo (Nesconset/Smithtown West) served six of the Red Dragons' nine aces.
Bianca Sapano (Floral Park/Kellenberg Memorial) led the team with 24 digs, followed by Pirrera with 13 and Coan with 10. Arroyo ended with four blocks, and Pirrera and Millspaugh had three apiece.
Cassidy Breuer led the guests with 14 kills. Maren Hunt had 11 kills and Emily Fulton finished with 10 kills. Delainy Williams dished out 40 assists, Fulton and Senya Dorny each finished with three aces, and Arielle Newsome totaled five blocks. Kali Vanderhoof recorded 23 digs, followed by Fulton with 16 and Williams with 12.
Cortland led 14-10 in the first set before the Herons went on an 8-2 run to go up 18-16. With the score 20-18, William Smith rattled off four straight points, and two points later won the set on a block by Williams and Newsome.
William Smith never trailed in the second set. The Herons pushed a 12-9 lead to 19-11 and led by at least six from that point. Cortland scored six straight early in the third set to go up 6-2, and the Red Dragons eventually led 21-12 after a block by Pirrera and
Annika Fedullo (Amsterdam). The Herons got back to as close as four at 23-19 before a Millspaugh kill and a William Smith error ended the set.
In the fourth, Cortland trailed 5-1 early and never led, but the Red Dragons hung tough the rest of the way. Down 22-19, Cortland tied the set at 22-22 on an error and two Arroyo aces. Hunt's kill put the guests ahead, but Cortland tied it again on a Chudoba kill. The Herons, however, ended the match on a Cortland error and a Vanderhoof ace.
Cortland will travel to Misericordia on Saturday to face the Lynchburg and the host school in a tri-match.
