BALTIMORE, MD. – The Cortland women’s volleyball team finished the season with a 27-4 record and tied for 17th place nationally after falling to Tufts University, 25-8, 25-16, 25-20, in the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs at Johns Hopkins University.
Tufts (20-5) will face the host Blue Jays in the final of the eight-team regional Sunday, with that winner advancing to the national quarterfinals next Thursday in St. Louis.
Nicole Van Pelt (Montgomery/Valley Central) led Cortland with eight kills, followed by Alexa Guedez (Rye/Rye Neck) with five kills and Caterina Mangogna (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) and Hannah Southcott (Princeton, WV) with four kills each. Danielle Fisk (Honeoye Falls/Honeoye Falls-Lima) had three blocks, while Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) and Carly Haegele (Commack) led the Red Dragons with 10 and nine digs, respectively.
Jenelle Yarwood finished with 13 kills and Cate Desler had 12 kills for the Jumbos. Stephanie Lee totaled 15 digs and Jennifer Ryan had six blocks and six kills.
Tufts scored nine straight points in the first set to take a 12-3 lead and was never challenged as Cortland was held to a minus-.182 attack percentage in the set. Cortland improved to a .140 attack percentage in the second set, but Tufts hit at a .395 clip and rode an early 8-2 lead to another convincing win.
Cortland was tied at 8-8 in the third set before the Jumbos posted five straight points. Trailing 23-15, the Red Dragons made one final push to cut their deficit to 24-20 before a Yarwood kill ended the match.
UPDATE: Tufts defeated Johns Hopkins on Sunday to win the regional. For Cortland, Van Pelt was selected to the regional all-tournament team.
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