SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - The Oneonta women's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on the first day of the Union/Russell Sage Crosstown Challenge on Friday evening. The Red Dragons fell 3-0 to Springfield and then 3-1 to Union. 
Oneonta lost 16-25, 15-25, and 20-25 to the Pride in the opening match. After senior Ashanti Davis (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Hendrick Hudson) tied 4-4 following a kill in the first set, Springfield used an 8-1 run to go ahead 12-5. Senior Isabella Fabrizio (Highland Mills, NY/Cornwall) knocked in a kill to cut the lead to six, but a 10-1 Springfield span made it 21-7. The Red Dragons rattled off a 5-0 run with two Julia Reedy (Galway, NY/Galway) aces, but a final error gave the Pride the win. '

Oneonta kept the second set close with two straight Katie Spano (Dryden, NY/Dryden) blocks and a kill cutting the Pride lead to 10-9. Springfield responded with a 10-0 run, and Oneonta was able to pull within nine following a Keira Welsh (Patchogue, NY/Patchogue-Medford High School) kill. Springfield used kills from Olivia Nealy and Rachel Hegarty put the Pride up 2-0. 

Oneonta took a 6-4 lead following kills from Layla Alt (Shullsburg, WI/Shullsburg) and Colleen McCabe (Rockville Centre, NY/Oceanside). The Red Dragons attempted to hold off the Pride, but  more runs proved too much to overcome. Oneonta made a final push when down 24-15, going on a 5-0 span, but Springfield won on an error. 

The night cap match against Union went four sets at 15-25, 25-23, 14-25, and 15-25. Oneonta fell behind 11-3 in the first set, and struggled to gain any momentum against the Garnet Chargers. In the second set, Davis knocked in two straight kills to begin a 4-0 run capped off with two Annalisa Alicea (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) aces. Oneonta never relinquished the lead and a kill and block from Davis made it 12-10. Welsh recorded an ace to put Oneonta ahead 17-15. A block from Spano and Welsh tied the sets 1-1.

Union went on an 8-2 run to take a 13-6 lead in the third set. The Garnet Chargers controlled the tempo and took an 11-point lead, and went on to win in double digits.  Union continued to take a large lead in the fourth set that Oneonta could not rally from. A 5-0 Oneonta span cut the lead to eight with two more Alicea aces. A last kill by Union's Caroline Fraser gave the Garnet Charger a ten-point win. 

Oneonta looks to bounce back in the second day of the Crosstown Challenge with matches against Castleton and Sage at noon and 2 p.m. in Albany, NY.  Read Full Article