Cobleskill, NY – The SUNY Cobleskill women's volleyball team earned its first win of the season on Tuesday night, defeating SUNY Poly 3-1 (19-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-16) inside Iorio Gymnasium. The victory also marked the first career win for head coach
Jillian Nitchman.
Senior setter
Baylee Kirschberg (Lindenhurst, NY) made history in the win, becoming the program's all-time leader in career assists. Kirschberg surpassed Maleigha Ellithorpe's previous record of 1,281 and finished the night with 35 assists, the second-highest single-match total of her career. She also added 13 digs and four kills.
Kathleen Smart (Nashville, TN) turned in a strong all-around performance with a match-high 13 kills, 18 digs and three service aces.
Emma Hinze (Altenburg, MO) added 10 kills, seven digs and four aces, while
Hallie Gasner (Middleburgh, NY) finished with eight kills, three digs and two aces.
Defensively, libero
Jojo Haycock (Bowie, MD) recorded 14 digs while also making an impact from the service line with four aces and adding six assists.
Tori Harrington (Esperance, NY) chipped in three service aces.
Cobleskill controlled several key areas on the stat sheet, finishing with a 46-30 advantage in kills, a 43-26 edge in assists and a 16-5 advantage in service aces. The Tigers also finished with 63 digs compared to 60 for SUNY Poly.
SUNY Poly held a slim 7-4 lead early in the opening set before Cobleskill responded with a 7-0 run fueled by kills from Hinze, Smart and
Ashley Wright (Glenfield, NY) to take an 11-7 advantage. The Wildcats answered and later used a pair of three-point runs to move in front 18-16. Smart pulled the Tigers within one at 19-18, but Poly finished strong and took the opening set, 25-19.
Cobleskill flipped the momentum in the second set as Smart opened with back-to-back kills. A 5-0 run highlighted by a Wright kill and Harrington ace gave the Tigers a 10-7 lead they would not surrender. After Poly cut the deficit to 17-15, Gasner took over from the service line and helped spark an 8-0 closing run that included two aces and back-to-back kills from Hinze, giving Cobleskill a 25-15 set win.
The Tigers came out firing in the third set, jumping ahead 6-0 behind four straight aces from Hinze. SUNY Poly answered with a 6-0 run of its own, and the set remained tight throughout. Cobleskill later built a 15-9 lead before the Wildcats rallied to take a 21-17 advantage. Trailing 22-19, the Tigers mounted a late comeback as Haycock delivered three straight aces to swing the set and lift Cobleskill to a 25-22 victory.
Cobleskill carried that momentum into the fourth set and quickly took control. The Tigers rattled off 12 straight points to build a commanding 14-4 lead, with the run highlighted by a Gasner kill and back-to-back aces from Smart. Kills from Kirschberg and Hinze later pushed the lead to 17-5, and the Tigers closed out the match with a 25-16 set win.
Up Next:
The Fighting Tigers return to action on Friday, September 11, when they travel to the Capital Region for the Union/Russell Sage Crosstown Challenge. Cobleskill will face Union College at Union.
