Jessica Allen (#23) finished with four kills and five blocks and Courtney Silberer (#14) led the Red Dragons with six kills (Darl Zehr Photography)
GENESEO, N.Y. - Grace Cergol and Abby May combined for 26 kills as Geneseo defeated visiting Cortland in straight sets in the SUNYAC Women's Volleyball Tournament quarterfinal round.
The third-seeded Knights (23-10) won by scores of 25-19, 25-15 and 25-16 and advance to play second-seeded Fredonia in the semifinals Friday at Brockport.
Sixth-seeded Cortland closes the season 13-17 after making its 33rd SUNYAC tournament appearance in the 34-year history of the event.
Courtney Silberer (Centereach) led the Red Dragons with six kills and Jessica Allen (Syracuse/West Genesee) added four kills and five blocks. Nicole Silberer (Centereach) and Nadia Moore (Durham, NC/Durham School of the Arts) also totaled five blocks apiece (two solo, three assists) as Cortland ended the match with 11 team blocks. Gabby Amelio (Pine Bush) registered three aces, 17 assists and 11 digs and Alexandra Graff (Apex, NC) led the team with 14 digs.
Cergol paced the Knights with 14 kills and a .257 attack percentage. May had 12 kills and Alexandra Frank added six kills and 15 digs. Emily Ast dished out 34 assists and Sam Mendelsohn totaled 24 digs.
Geneseo grabbed an early 9-3 lead in the first set and led 20-14 before scoring three straight to take a 23-14 advantage. Cortland responded with five straight points in a run that featured two kills and a block from Allen to force a Geneseo timeout. Following the stoppage, Geneseo closed the set on a Cergol kill and a Kiersten Colvin ace.
The hosts went up 6-1 early in the second, extended the lead to 17-6 and were never seriously threatened. The closest Cortland got from that point was seven at both 18-11 and 20-13.
Cortland led 11-7 to start the third set after a block by Nicole Silberer and Allen. The Red Dragons led 14-11 on another Nicole Silberer kill, but Geneseo rattled off six straight points to go up 17-14. Cortland briefly recovered after a Geneseo attack error, but the hosts put together a 7-0 string to take a 24-15 lead, and May's kill two points later ended the match.
