Cobleskill, NY – The SUNY Cobleskill women's volleyball team honored its senior class on Saturday afternoon before falling in straight sets to regional power SUNY Cortland, 3-0 (7-25, 20-25, 9-25), inside Iorio Gymnasium.
Senior
Kathleen Smart (Nashville, TN) led the Fighting Tigers' attack with five kills while hitting .143 and adding three digs. Fellow senior
Hallie Gasner (Middleburgh, NY) finished with four kills and three digs, while senior setter
Baylee Kirschberg (Lindenhurst, NY) directed the offense with a team-high 11 assists to go with seven digs.
Senior libero
Jojo Haycock (Bowie, MD) anchored the back row with a team-best nine digs. Sophomore
Kaleigh Capasso (Ballston Spa, NY) added four kills and a service ace, while senior
Emma Hinze (Altenburg, MO) chipped in two kills, a dig and an ace.
Cortland held the statistical edge throughout the match, finishing with a 37-16 advantage in kills and a 15-3 edge in service aces. The Red Dragons also led 36-12 in assists, while the teams were much closer defensively with Cortland holding a narrow 31-29 advantage in digs. The biggest difference came in offensive efficiency, as Cortland hit .367 for the match while Cobleskill finished at .015. The Red Dragons also committed just eight attack errors compared to 15 for the Tigers.
Cobleskill fell behind 9-2 in the opening set before a Gasner kill gave the Tigers a spark. Cortland quickly regained control with five straight points to extend its lead to 16-4. Smart answered with a strong kill off a Kirschberg assist, but the Red Dragons closed the frame with a 6-0 run to take the opener, 25-7.
The Tigers responded with a stronger second set. A Capasso ace evened the score at 3-3 before Cortland used a 4-0 run to move ahead. Cobleskill stayed within striking distance and later put together a 5-1 stretch behind kills from Hinze and Gasner to pull within 15-11. Smart helped the Tigers close the gap to 20-17 with another finish, but Cortland leaned on its experience down the stretch and closed out the set, 25-20.
Cortland opened the third set with a 7-2 advantage before kills from Gasner and Smart helped Cobleskill trim the margin to 8-4. Back-to-back kills from Capasso and Gasner kept the Tigers within reach at 13-8, but the Red Dragons found another gear late and used a pair of decisive runs to close out the set, 25-9.
Up Next:
The Fighting Tigers return to SUNYAC action on Friday, October 30, when they travel to SUNY Morrisville for a 6 p.m. road matchup.
