Cortland Sweeps New Paltz to Advance to SUNYAC Championship Match
Cortland Athletic Communications
CORTLAND, N.Y. – The top-seeded Cortland women's volleyball team advanced to the SUNYAC Tournament finals with a 25-13, 25-14, 25-8 win over fourth-seeded New Paltz in a semifinal match at Corey Gymnasium.
Cortland (25-5) will face second-seeded Buffalo State in the championship match Saturday at 5 p.m. The Red Dragons are looking to claim their fourth straight conference title. Buffalo State rallied from a two-set deficit to beat Morrisville in five sets in Friday's second semifinal.
Anna Pilkey (Ballston Spa) led Cortland with 10 kills and only one error in 20 attempts for a .450 attack percentage. She also finished with 13 digs and five aces. Kyrah Wilbur (Syracuse/Baldwinsville) recorded seven kills and four aces and Ryan Hinshaw (Aurora, IL/Joliet Catholic Academy) led the team with 16 assists and seven aces.
Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) led Cortland with 14 digs. Prior to the match, Martens was recognized as the SUNYAC's Elite 20 Award Winner for the third straight year as the player at the SUNYAC finals site with the highest overall GPA. The senior physical education major has a 3.99 GPA.
Also for the Red Dragons, Alexa Guedez (Mamaroneck/Rye Neck) finished with eight blocks, two solo, along with four kills and Jennifer Koestner (Syosset) finished with four kills and four blocks. Kira Pirrera (Hauppauge/Smithtown West) also chipped in with four kills and Samantha Rodriguez (Camarillo, CA/Adolfo Camarillo) added 12 assists.
New Paltz (16-13) was led by Jamie Albrecht's eight kills and seven digs and Letisha Perez's four kills and three blocks. Lexi Stragalas shared the team lead with seven digs.
Cortland hit .261 for the match, had eight team blocks and served 16 aces while limiting New Paltz to a minus-.011 attack percentage.
