Cortland Splits Pair of Matches at Day 2 of Kean Invitational

UNION, N.J. – The Cortland women’s volleyball team split two matches during Saturday’s action at the Kean University Invitational, defeating the host Cougars in four sets, 25-12, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19, before falling in three sets to Middlebury, 25-15, 25-17, 25-22. 
 
Cortland finished the tournament with a 2-1 record and is now 5-1 on the season. The Red Dragons will host Ithaca College in a non-league match Tuesday at 6 p.m. 
 
Allie Sturgess (Stony Brook/Ward Melville) and Anna Pilkey (Ballston Spa) recorded 17 and 15 kills, respectively, in the win over Kean. Pilkey also finished with 11 digs. Emalee Ballou (Eden) added seven kills, Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) led the Red Dragons with 28 digs, Meadow Wittman (Colden/Springville Griffith Institute) dished out 26 assists and Samantha Rodriguez (Camarillo, CA/Adolfo Camarillo) had 20 assists. 
 
Aubre Adams led Kean (3-3) with 10 kills and no errors in 17 attempts and Anne Beckemeyer had nine kills and six blocks. Cortland finished the match with a .179 attack percentage while holding Kean to a .076 mark. 
 
Cortland used an 11-1 run to turn a 7-6 deficit into a 17-8 lead in the first set. The Red Dragons never trailed in the second set, yet led only 23-22 before a service error and, two points later, a Pilkey kill secured the set victory. The third set played out similarly for Kean, which never trailed but held only a 24-23 lead before winning on an Ashley Smith kill. Cortland turned a 12-12 score into a 16-12 advantage in the fourth on a run that featured two Pilkey kills, and the Red Dragons led by at least four the rest of the way. 
 
In the loss to…