CORTLAND, N.Y. – After posting a record of 7-4 prior to embarking on its State University of New York Athletic Conference campaign, the Plattsburgh State volleyball team possessed the ability to boast about the fact that it had gotten off to its best start in nearly a decade.
Regrettably, that success did not follow the Cardinals to their first day of SUNYAC play as they dropped a pair of matches to New York conference foes.
MATCH ONE: SUNY Potsdam 3, Plattsburgh State 1 (24-26, 25-14, 25-15, 25-22)
The Cardinals required extra points before emerging victorious in the first set by a 26-24 margin, but would go on to come up on the lesser end of the following three en route to a 3-1 setback to the Bears in the first SUNYAC match for either squad in 2012.
It was difficult for the Cardinals to reach the 15-point mark in the following pair of sets, thanks to seven reception errors and an exceptionally formidable defense erected by the Bears in the remainder of the match. Plattsburgh State would go on to register just 35 kills on 144 attack attempts in the match, and with 18 attack errors its attack percentage wound up at just .118 for the confrontation.
Senior outside hitter Rosi Cummings picked up yet another double-double, leading the way for the Cardinals in kills (10) to compliment her 11 digs. The Plattsburgh, N.Y., product also chipped in a block assist to the cause.
Amanda Wickers contributed a team-high 14 digs to the cause as well as two of the five Plattsburgh State service aces in the match.
Laura Diehl also figured prominently in the Plattsburgh State plan of attack, finishing with nine terminations as well as a service ace, a dig and one of the three solo blocks in the match for the Cardinals.
Dispensing the majority of the passes were Kristen Marchisetto and Kayla Nason who finished with 13 and 12 assists respectively. Marchisetto added a pair of service aces and three digs to the ledger while Nason picked up one kill and a dig.
MATCH TWO: New Paltz 3, Plattsburgh State 0 (27-25, 25-20, 25-22)
Eager to forget about their setback earlier in the evening, the Cardinals once again required extra points in the first set, but this time fell and dropped the next pair of games as well.
Cummings continued her strong day on the court, finishing the match with yet another double-double – this time with team-highs in kills (12) and digs (13). The senior also added a service and a block assist to the scorebook.
Theresa Lilly produced a fine match as well, earning seven kills on 31 swings to go along with 12 digs and a pair of block assists. Diehl was next in line, concluding with five kills and a block assists.
Nason and Marchisetto were the distributors once again, finishing with 11 and 10 assists respectively. Senior Abby Mell picked up two of the three service aces for the Cardinals in the match to compliment her kill and trio of digs.
The Cardinals totaled 15 kills in the first set, but that total would diminish in the following pair of games as the total for games two and three was just 14.
Plattsburgh State will be back in action on Saturday (Sep. 22) as it wraps up the first weekend of 2012 SUNYAC pool play. The Cardinals face off against Oneonta State at noon before tangling with host school SUNY Cortland at 2 p.m.
