ONEONTA, N.Y. - After dropping the first set 25-12, the Oneonta women's volleyball team won three straight sets to secure a 3-1 victory over Plattsburgh on Friday evening. The Red Dragons improve to 12-9 overall and 2-3 in the SUNYAC, while the Cardinals fall to 8-11 and 1-3 in the conference.
Oneonta took the second through fourth sets 25-20, 29-27, and 25-21.
Oneonta struggled in the first set with Plattsburgh taking a 12-4 lead after two Anabella Almeida aces. The Cardinals pulled away 17-5 following a 5-0 run. Plattsburgh took three of the final five points to take the first set.
The Cardinals went ahead 5-3 in the second following kills from Iris Mulvey and Sanaia Estime. Oneonta tied after three Plattsburgh attack errors. Freshman Lily Pugliese (Hopewell Junction, NY/John Jay) knocked in a kill to cut the lead to 10-9, but the Cardinals pulled away by two after a service error. Oneonta went on a 5-0 run with a pair of kills from Pugliese to take a 19-16 lead. Pugliese tallied another kill to make it 22-18 before Plattsburgh kills from Mulvey and Darby Collyear cut the Red Dragons' lead to 22-20. Junior Emma Morretta (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) and Pugliese blocked an attack to spur a 3-0 run capped off with a kill from senior Colleen McCabe (Rockville Centre, NY/Oceanside) to tie 1-1.
Plattsburgh went ahead 15-13 in the third following an ace from Bridget Ryan. Morretta and McCabe tallied kills to tie 15-15. Mulvey knocked in a kill to give Plattsburgh a one-point lead before Oneonta rattled off a 4-0 run with kills from sophomore Shea Landversicht (Greenville, NY/Greenville) and senior Mikayla Kendrick (Nassau, NY/Columbia) to go ahead 19-16. The teams went back and forth until Collyear hit a kill to tie 27-27. Morretta recorded a kill to take the lead, and a Cardinals error put Oneonta up 2-1.
The Red Dragons jumped ahead 8-3 in the fourth set. Kills by Landversicht and Pugliese gave Oneonta a six-point lead as the Red Dragons never trailed in the set. Kills from Morretta made it 23-20, and a final Landversicht block gave Oneonta the win.
Kendrick led the team with ten kills, while McCabe had eight kills. Pugliese finished with a career-high eight kills and two blocks. Morretta and Landversicht each had five blocks. Freshman Layla Pertchik (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Springs) made 30 assists and 20 digs, while senior Anna Moller (Long Beach, NY/Long Beach Senior) had 20 digs.
Oneonta next hosts Potsdam on Saturday, October 18 at 1 p.m.
