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ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The SUNY Oneonta women's volleyball team picked up its first win of the season, going 1-1 on the second day of the Rochester Invitational. The Red Dragons (1-2) defeated Wells (0-1) in the opening match 3-1 and then fell in four sets to RIT in the second. Additionally, junior middle blocker Ashanti Davis (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Hendrick Hudson) was named to the all-tournament team.
Wells
Oneonta took the first two sets 25-16 and 25-11 before falling 26-28 in the third. The Red Dragons then controlled the fourth with a 25-13 victory. Two kills from senior Casey Biggers (Holtsville, NY/Sachem East) and a Clara Culeton (Oswego, NY/Oswego) service ace pushed the Red Dragons' lead to 10-3 in the first. A 5-1 span gave Oneonta a 20-10 advantage, and first-year Colleen McCabe (Rockville Centre, NY/Oceanside) capped off the set with the final two kills.
Three straight Sophia Gerace (Pearl River, NY/Pearl River) service aces gave the Red Dragons a 13-5 lead in the second, and the Express could not find any momentum. Another 5-0 Oneonta run comprised two Davis kills, and a Karli Chamberlein made it 21-7. After first-year Katie Spano (Dryden, NY/Dryden) sent in a kill to make it 24-11, a bad set by Wells gave Oneonta the set win.
The Express bounced back in the third set and forced extra points to pick up the win. A pair of Davis aces put Oneonta up 12-6, and a kill from junior Isabella Fabrizio (Highland Mills, NY/Cornwall) pushed the lead to seven. Wells took six of the following seven points to cut the deficit to two, but the Red Dragons continued to hold a slight lead. An ace from Wells' Brianah Dawson tied it at 16-16, and the teams traded the next three points. Seven more ties followed, and a Davis kill made it 26-26. Wells took the following two points and capped off the set victory with a Roosa Armstead-Lehti ace.
Oneonta rebounded in the fourth set and went up 17-11 following a kill from Biggers. Wells tallied the following two points, but the Red Dragons responded with an 8-0 run to seal the match.
Davis finished with a team-high ten kills and six total blocks, while Culeton recorded eight kills, four aces, and three blocks. Carsyn Rachuta (Holbrook, NY/Sachem North) and Anna Moller (Long Beach, NY/Long Beach Senior) grabbed 16 digs, and setter Kayla Rende (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) dished out 19 assists.
RIT
Oneonta faced a challenging RIT squad in the second match of the day. The Red Dragons took the first set 25-23 after hitting .323 with only three errors and held the Tigers to a .200 hitting percentage. A 5-0 RIT run put the Tigers up 7-4, but Oneonta earned seven of the following eight points to take an 11-8 lead. The Red Dragons went up 18-15 after kills by Culeton and Biggers and an Annalisa Alicea (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) ace. The Tigers cut the lead to 23-22 when Grace Phelan hit in an ace, but Culeton and junior Caitlin Christie (Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore) knocked in the final two kills.
The second set remained close, and Biggers knocked in a kill to cut the Tigers' lead to 16-15. RIT snagged the following four points before a 4-1 Oneonta run made it a two-point game. A couple of errors caused trouble for the Red Dragons as RIT held on for the 25-20 win.
The Tigers ran ahead to a 19-6 advantage in the third, but the Red Dragons staged a comeback to make it 23-17. Despite that, an Oneonta setting error put the Tigers up 2-1.
Oneonta kept the fourth close until a couple of RIT runs pushed the lead to 22-13. The Red Dragons had too much to overcome, and the Tigers finished off the set win with a kill by Liv Benard.
Davis and Christie tacked on seven kills each, while Alicea added three aces. Rende tacked on 16 assists, while Rachuta totaled seven digs.
Davis was named to the all-tournament team after leading all teams with a .389 hitting percentage. She tied for second with nine total blocks and was ninth with 26 kills.
Oneonta returns to action for the Skidmore Invitational on Sept. 9. The Red Dragons play host Skidmore at 5 p.m. in Saratoga Springs, NY.
