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Cortland Wins Five-Set Nailbiter vs. Case Western in NCAA Opener
FROSTBURG, MD. – Junior outside hitter Ashley Coyle (Mt.
Hope/Minisink Valley) recorded a career-best 27 kills and sophomore
setter Kristen Guercio (Smithtown/Smithtown East) dished out a
career-best 68 assists as Cortland outlasted Case Western Reserve
University, 3-2, in the opening round of the NCAA Div. III
tournament.
Cortland won the first two sets, 26-24 and 25-18, but the Spartans
came back to win the next two sets, 25-23 and 25-17. The Red
Dragons scored the final four points of the fifth set to win
15-11.
The Red Dragons (34-7), seeded third in the eight-team regional
hosted by Frostburg State, will face either the host Bobcats or the
University of Pitt-Bradford in the second round Saturday at 6 p.m.
Case Western, seeded sixth, finishes its season with a 24-11
record.
Guercio has established a school single-season record with 1,595
assists. She also had nine digs and four kills. Coyle tallied 16
digs along with her 27 kills. She has 592 kills this season, seven
shy of tying the school single-season record of 599 kills set by
Michelle Gaufman in 2008.
Junior middle hitter Sheena Asibey (Brentwood) added 15 kills and
a game-high five blocks for the Red Dragons. Junior middle hitter
Kaitlyn Cooper (Webster/Webster Schroeder) had 13 kills and two
blocks and freshman outside hitter Aubrey Barrett (Liverpool)
chipped in with a career-best nine kills. Sophomores Katie Wick
(Cortland/Homer) and Erin Carrino (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker)
registered 14 and 13 digs, respectively.
Rachael Suchy and Tricia McCutchan led Case Western with 19 kills
each. Allie Palmer finished with 12 kills and Breana Freeman
totaled 52 assists. Rachel Gulasey led the Spartans with 25 digs
and McCutchan served four aces.
Cortland trailed the entire first half of the opening set. Down
15-12, the Red Dragons went on a 7-0 run, led by three Asibey
kills, to take a 19-15 lead. Case came back to tie the match at
19-19, but a Coyle kill and Asibey block put Cortland up 21-19.
Case again tied the match with two straight points, and the teams
then alternated the next six points to stay tied at 24-24. A Coyle
kill and a Case attack error gave the Red Dragons the win.
With the teams tied 17-17 in the second, Cortland scored three
consecutive points on kills by Guercio, Coyle and Barrett. The
Spartans got one point back, but the Red Dragons tallied the final
five points – two coming on a Cooper kill and block and the
final point on a Wick ace.
The third set was tied 15 times, the last at 23-23 after a Case
kill by Suchy. Palmer scored the Spartans’ final two points
on a block and a kill to end the set. Case used a 5-1 run in the
fourth set to turn an 11-10 lead into a 16-11 advantage. The lead
was at least four the rest of the set.
In the fifth set, Cortland trailed 3-1 early, but scored the next
three points. The teams were tied at every interval from 4-4 to 9-9
before a Coyle kill and a block by Jenna Davies (Brewerton/Paul V.
Moore) and Cooper gave the Red Dragons an 11-9 lead. Case scored
two straight to tie the set at 11. From that point, Coyle’s
kill put Cortland up 12-11 and Asibey’s solo block extended
the lead to 13-11. Cortland also scored on a bad set by the
Spartans, and Davies put down a solo block to end the match.
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