GENESEO, N.Y. – It's been 10 years, but the Plattsburgh State volleyball team is finally going back to the SUNYAC Volleyball Championship Tournament. 

The Cardinals (12-13, 5-3 SUNYAC) made sure of that as they dispatched Oneonta State in four sets as part of a league split in Geneseo on Friday night. Even if the Cardinals drop their final league match of the year on Saturday, they can finish no worse than sixth in the conference - guaranteeing them a spot in the six-team tournament. 

MATCH ONE: Fredonia State 3, Plattsburgh State 1 (26-24, 23-25, 25-18, 25-23)
The first evenly-played match of the day saw the Cardinals run into a Fredonia State squad that had four players finish with at least 10 terminations.

A final statistical analysis from the match revealed numbers that were just about even along the board for the two teams. Plattsburgh State was outhit .185 to .123, but each team finished with six blocks.

With the squads vying for important playoff positioning, it was the Blue Devils who came out strong early on. Plattsburgh State fell behind 13-6 and 20-13 before storming back and making a bid to capture the set.

Down by as many as seven points, the Cardinals employed a 10-3 run to knot things at 24 before a termination by the Blue Devils followed by an attack error by junior Maggie Schrantz put the Cardinals at a 1-0 disadvantage.

Once again, the Blue Devils emerged as the aggressors early in the second frame, but the Cardinals didn't wait as long before providing an appropriately strong response with their offense. Trailing 6-2, Plattsburgh State used a 12-3 surge to take control of the set for good.

During the run, Rosi Cummings, Laura Diehl and Jeanette Braun all came up with terminations and the Cardinals received eight points off of an assortment of Fredonia State miscues.

The Cardinals saw their lead grow to as many as eight points before a late 6-0 run by the Blue Devils put a scare into the designated visiting squad. Fortunately, a service error by Fredonia State capped off a 25-23 set two victory for the Cardinals.

Unfazed by the Cardinals win, Fredonia State opened up a 13-3 lead to kick off the third frame. That set the tone for the remainder of the set, and the Cardinals were never able to get closer than five points away from the Blue Devils.

In the deciding frame, no team was able to string together points on a consistent basis until the Blue Devils came up with five in a row to get some breathing room. After a kill from Cummings gave the Cardinals a 15-14 edge, the Blue Devils embarked on their run. The Cardinals came back to tie the set at 23, but Fredonia State was able to grab the final two points to come away with the triumph.

Cummings and Schrantz each had 12 kills as well as 17 digs for the Cardinals, but Jess DiChristopher (14 kills, .370) and Sara Madison (12 kills, .429) were seeming able to terminate at will for the Blue Devils.

MATCH TWO: Plattsburgh State 3, Oneonta State 1 (25-23, 25-19, 21-25, 25-23)
Although the Red Dragons hit just .024 in the opening frame, the Cardinals had to claw their way back into the thick of things in order to come out on top.

Cummings hammered down a trio of terminations as part of a 6-3 Plattsburgh State spurt to begin the match before Oneonta State employed their service game to go on a sizable run of its own. A 9-0 scoring run by the Red Dragons featured four service aces and put the Cardinals in a 12-6 hole.

Oneonta remained in control of the set, taking a 15-9 lead, before the Cardinals were able to regroup and make things interesting. Plattsburgh State hit back by reeling off four consecutive points, culminating with a pair of kills from the hand of Diehl. After Oneonta claimed the next trio of scores, a 5-0 run by the Cardinals that featured a service ace from Clifford and another two terminations from Diehl knotted the first set at 18.

In the home stretch of the set, the Cardinals were able to benefit from a bevy of errors by the designated visiting team. Trailing 23-20, Jeanette Braun floored her second kill of the set before a trio of Oneonta attack errors and an additional ball-handling miscue by the Red Dragons gave the Cardinals a 25-23 win.

Seizing the momentum, Plattsburgh State came out firing in the second frame. In a 7-3 run to open the frame, Diehl connected for four more kills and set the tone for the entire set. The Cardinals never relinquished their lead in the set, and saw their lead grow to as many as seven points. Back-to-back kills by Schrantz and Diehl capped off a 25-19 win for the Cardinals who hit .419 as a squad during the frame.

Denying Plattsburgh State a sweep, Oneonta used a 7-0 surge midway through the third set that gave the Red Dragons a 14-10 advantage. That slim lead turned out to be enough, as Oneonta took the set 25-21.

Early on in the deciding set, it appeared as though the play of the Oneonta State front row players would set the match to a winner-take-all fifth frame. Using the strength of its front line, the Red Dragons came up with a trio of blocks in a 13-5 run to open the frame. From there, the Cardinals used a good mix of offense and various errors by the Red Dragons to even things up.

Trailing 15-8, the Cardinals embarked on a 7-0 run that saw Cummings come up with a pair of service aces. Oneonta State errors accounted for four Plattsburgh State points during that particular stretch.

With the scoreboard reading 15-all, a back-and-forth battle commenced with the squads combining for six additional deadlocks before the Cardinals stood strong for the victory.

Down 23-22, the Cardinals tallied the final three points of the match as the Red Dragons committed yet another service error before Marchisotto registered a service and Braun floored the final kill of the match to give Plattsburgh the win.

Cummings finished the four-set bout with a match-high 17 kills and completed her double-double with 14 digs. Diehl joined Cummings in double-digit kill territory with 12. Wickers provided a match-high 18 digs while Marchisotto passed out a match-high 24 assists. Clifford added 16 helpers and two of the five Plattsburgh State service aces.

Erica Darpino amassed 13 kills for Oneonta, who hit .135 compared to .151 by the Cardinals.

An early-morning test awaits the Cardinals, who currently occupy fourth place in the SUNYAC standings. In their final regular-season conference match of 2013, the Cardinals will face off against host institution SUNY Geneseo at 10 a.m. on Saturday. After all of the SUNYAC Pool Play matches have concluded, the conference will announce the playoff bracket. Depending on what happens in their match and around the conference, the Cardinals can finish the regular season in fourth, fifth, or sixth place.