Cortland Women's Volleyball Falls in Four Sets to Carnegie Mellon in NCAA First Round
Cortland Athletic Communications
BALTIMORE, MD. – The Cortland women's volleyball season came to a close as the fourth-seeded Red Dragons lost to fifth-seeded Carnegie Mellon University in four sets in the opening round of the NCAA Division III playoffs at Johns Hopkins University.
Carnegie Mellon (20-11) defeated the Red Dragons, 25-13, 21-25, 25-20, 25-19. Cortland, making its fourth straight NCAA playoff appearance and 28th overall, ends the year with a 26-6 record. CMU will face either Johns Hopkins or Bridgewater State in the second round Friday evening. Both the Red Dragons and Tartans were among the "others receiving votes" section in the latest AVCA Division III national poll.
Kyrah Wilbur (Syracuse/Baldwinsville) led Cortland with 25 kills, the most by a Red Dragon since Ashley Coyle's 27 in an NCAA first-round win over Case Western Reserve in 2010. Wilbur finished with a .309 attack percentage, three aces and 16 digs.
Anna Pilkey (Ballston Spa) ended with seven kills and 11 digs and Alexa Guedez (Mamaroneck/Rye Neck) had four kills and five blocks. Guedez finished her four seasons at Cortland with 401 career blocks, only the eighth player in school history to reach the 400-block mark.
Emma Reilly (Massapequa Park/Massapequa) finished with four kills and no errors in six attempts. Ryan Hinshaw (Aurora, IL/Joliet Catholic Academy) had 21 assists, Samantha Rodriguez (Camarillo, CA/Adolfo Camarillo) totaled 16 assists and seven digs, Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) led the Red Dragons with 24 digs and Kira Pirrera (Hauppauge/Smithtown West) had three blocks. Cortland finished the night with a .124 attack percentage (45 kills, 27 errors in 145 attempts).
CMU was led by Laura Reichard with 12 kills. She also posted 13 digs. Bella Woodard had 10 kills and one error in 22 attempts (.409) and Julianna McFarland finished with nine kills and one error in 21 attempts (.381) along with seven blocks. Neha Tummala registered 42 assists, four aces and five blocks and Abby Chen had 21 digs. Elizabeth Phillips contributed six blocks. The Tartans hit at a .209 clip for the match with 47 kills and 16 errors in 148 attempts.
CMU went on a 12-4 run in the first set to turn a 12-7 lead into a 24-11 advantage. Cortland never trailed in the second set, but CMU did close a 12-5 deficit to 22-20 before the Red Dragons scored three of the final four points, two on combined blocks by Guedez and Emalee Ballou (Eden).
Cortland was within 19-17 in the third but CMU scored the next two points and eventually won the set on a block by Woodward and Phillips. In the fourth set, Cortland trailed 14-10 before rallying to tie the score at both 14-14 and 15-15. The Tartans, however, scored the next four points, three on Cortland misplays, to go up 19-15. Cortland scored two straight on a service error and a block, but CMU scored five of the next six points and eventually won the match on a Reichard kill.
