CORTLAND, N.Y.—Three Herons put down double-digit kills as the William Smith volleyball team defeated non-conference foe, SUNY Cortland, this evening 3-1 on the road. With the win, the Herons improved to 10-2 on the season, while the Red Dragons fall to 6-6 overall.
The thrilling non-conference battle saw both William Smith and Cortland put up impressive numbers. The Herons tallied 47 kills (.175) in the win, while the Red Dragons combined for 41 kills (.145) through four sets. William Smith held a 45-37 advantage in assists and a 78-69 edge in digs in the win. The Herons combined for 11 aces as a team compared to Cortland's nine, while the Red Dragons tallied eight blocks to the Herons' six.
First-year Cassidy Breuer led William Smith with 14 kills (.135) in the win. Breuer added seven digs, one block and one service ace for the Herons. Senior Maren Hunt continued to impress, chipping in a season-high 11 kills (.217) and adding one dig and one solo block. Junior Emily Fulton added 10 kills (.182), 16 digs, three service aces and one block in the win. It was her fifth double-double of the season. Defensively, William Smith was led by junior libero Kali Vanderhoof's 23 digs.
Cortland was led by Reese Chudoba (.233) and Sanaiya Whitted's (.368) nine kills each. The duo combined for six digs and four blocks as well. Lily Coan tallied a team-high 16 assists in the loss.
MATCH MOMENTS:
- The thrilling matchup saw the two sides trade the early momentum in set one. William Smith combined for 10 kills (.167) as a team compared to Cortland's 11 (.081). The Herons closed the opening set on a 7-2 scoring run to grab a 25-19 win to open the match.
- William Smith continued on its momentum into the second set, putting down a match-high 13 kills (.276), while holding the Red Dragons to a match-low seven kills (.172). A kill from Hunt and a big block from junior Arielle Newsome and first-year Senya Dorny would close out the second set in favor of the Herons, 25-17.
- Cortland responded well in the must-win third set, putting down 10 kills (.276) on only two errors in the set. William Smith combined for 11 kills (.108) but racked up seven hitting errors, handing the Red Dragons a 25-19 win in set three.
- The back-and-forth battle continued in the fourth set as both William Smith (.170) and Cortland (.100) tallied 13 kills in the set. The Herons took an early lead before the Red Dragons stormed back late in the set. A Vanderhoof service ace would end the comeback and close out the non-conference battle with a 25-23 win in set four.
MATCH STATS:
- Breuer led the Herons with 14 kills (.135), while Hunt added 11 (.217) out of the middle. Fulton chipped in 10 kills (.182), while Dorny added six kills (.167) on the right side. Newsome tallied four kills (.444) in the win, while Vanderhoof (.500) and junior Delainy Williams added one kill each.
- Williams tallied a season-high 40 assists in the win and added 12 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. She chipped in two service aces, one block and one kill as well in the four-set win.
- The Herons combined for 78 digs as a team and were led by Vanderhoof with 23. Fulton chipped in 16 digs, while Williams added 10 and sophomore Madilyn Kresl added a season-high 10. Breuer tallied seven digs this evening, while Dorny added six and Newsome chipped in three.
- William Smith served up 11 aces in the non-conference win and were led by three aces each from Dorny and Fulton. Williams chipped in one ace, while Breuer, Vanderhoof and Newsome added one ace each in the win.
- The Green and White combined for six blocks in the win and were led by Newsome with five. Hunt, Fulton, Williams and Dorny added one block each for William Smith.
COACHES CORNER:
"We're really happy to come back to Geneva with a win!" said Head Coach Derryk Williams. "Today was a great learning experience for our team. Midweek matches are hard and we handled it really well. We're super excited to continue conference play this weekend at Clarkson and have to get prepped at a high level!"
UP NEXT:
William Smith will be back in action Saturday, Oct. 3, when it travels to Potsdam, New York, a Liberty League matchup with Clarkson. First serve between the Herons and the Golden Knights is set for 2 p.m.
