SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The Cortland women’s volleyball team dropped a five-set nailbiter to The College of St. Benedict to close out play at the Trinity University Fall Classic. St. Benedict rallied from a 2-1 deficit after three sets to defeat the Red Dragons, 21-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-17, 16-14.
Cortland (1-2) was led by Kira Pirrera (Hauppauge/Smithtown West) with 14 kills and no errors in 26 attempts for a .538 attack percentage. Jennifer Koestner (Syosset) had a team-high 15 kills along with two aces, eight digs and three blocks, and Emalee Ballou (Eden) finished with 10 kills, seven digs and two blocks.
Emma Reilly (Massapequa Park/Massapequa) totaled seven kills, a .312 attack percentage and a team-best seven blocks. Ryan Hinshaw (Aurora, IL/Joliet Catholic Academy) ended with 44 assists and four blocks, Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) posted a team-best 19 digs, and Melissa O’Connor (Hauppauge) added eight digs and a team-leading four aces.
Kali Jones led St. Benedict (1-2) with 20 kills, followed by Mackenzie Knofczynski with 12 kills and McKenna Moehrle with 10. Audrey Spolidoro handed out 55 assists and shared the team lead with Jones with three aces. Spolidoro, Moehrle and Knofczynski each had four blocks.
Cortland led from start to finish in the first set, hitting at a .350 clip during the set. The Red Dragons led 23-21 in the second set before St. Benedict tied it on kills by Jones and Knofczynski. Cortland had a possible set point leading 24-23 after Anna Lynch’s (Rochester/Our Lady of Mercy) kill, but the Bennies scored the last three points on a Jones kill, a Jones ace, and a block by…
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