HUNTINGDON, PA. – Cortland rallied to win the first two sets and cruised in the third as the Red Dragons defeated Rowan, 26-24, 25-22, 25-11, in the first round of the NCAA Division III women’s volleyball tournament.
Cortland (22-5), seeded fourth in the eight-team regional at Juniata College, will play in the second round Friday at 7 p.m. against the top-seeded host Eagles (29-1), who swept eighth-seeded Keene State in the first round. Rowan, the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) champion, finishes the year 24-7. The contest was a rematch from Oct. 28 when Cortland won in straight sets at Rowan.
Zoe Staats (Buchanan/Hendrick Hudson) led Cortland with 14 kills, followed by Giovanna Rossi (Nichols/Tioga) with 12 kills. Staats, who also had three blocks, ended with a .370 attack percentage (four errors in 27 attempts) and Rossi had a .409 attack percentage (three errors in 22 attempts). Emma Reilly (Massapequa Park/Massapequa) had six kills with no errors in 11 attempts (.545) and led the Red Dragons with six blocks. Allie Sturgess (Stony Brook/Ward Melville) finished with eight kills and 11 digs.
Megan McMahon (Ballston Spa) paced Cortland with 21 assists and Meadow Wittman (Colden/Springville Griffith Institute) handed out 12 assists. Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) had a team-best 14 digs and Carly Haegele (Commack) finished with 13 digs.
Natalie Ogden led Rowan with eight kills. Brooke Adams totaled 22 assists and Simone Sparano finished with 16 digs.
The first set featured nine ties and seven lead changes. Cortland trailed 20-15 before going on an 8-2 run to take a 23-22 lead….
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