POTSDAM, N.Y. – Battling well into the late hours of the night, the Plattsburgh State volleyball team was finally able to put the brakes on its eight-match losing streak by taking down Utica College 3-2 (25-11, 25-21, 21-25, 15-25, 15-9) in the second match of the 2014 Golden Knight Invitational hosted by Clarkson University.
 
Thanks to the win, Plattsburgh State sees its record move up to 5-12 while the Pioneers drop to 8-17.
 
A big part of the Cardinals' latest triumph was the play of junior Emily Miller who struck for a match-high 16 kills to go along with three solo blocks and a pair of block assists. The AuSable Forks, N.Y., product registered a hitting percentage of .308 to lead the way.
 
Coming out of the gates in the strongest of fashions, the Cardinals put down 14 kills on 36 swings en route to a set one win. After factoring in a pair of attack errors during the frame, Plattsburgh State's attack percentage moved to .333.
 
Utica proved almost powerless to slow down the Cardinals in the second set, too. Although Plattsburgh State's attack percentage was .044 in the set, the Cardinals' defense limited the Pioneers to a mark of -.138.
 
In search of its first three-set triumph since September 12, Plattsburgh State instead let Utica get back into the conversation by surrendering a 25-21 score. With the momentum clearly in its corner, the Pioneers didn't let their attack slow much in the fourth frame.
 
Plattsburgh State suffered from a poorly-timed offensive outage as it registered an attack percentage of -.089.
 
The Cardinals' offense, though, came back stronger than ever in the fifth and deciding set. On 20 attack attempts, the Cardinals hammered down seven kills and a pair of attack to earn a 15-9 win and clinch the match.
 
In addition to Miller's great game, Plattsburgh State also got double-digit kill contributions from freshman Miranda Sheffer (11) and senior Maggie Schrantz (10). Both Schrantz and Sheffer put the finishing touches on double-doubles by racking up 23 and 22 digs respectively.
 
Sheffer and Jordynne Ales each chipped in three of the Cardinals' nine service aces while senior Meghan Clifford recorded a match-high 44 assists.
 
For the Pioneers, Samantha Hoerning led the way with 11 terminations while Briona Enny tallied a team-high 21 digs.
 
Plattsburgh State will shoot for back-to-back victories on Saturday when it crosses paths with SUNY Canton at 2 p.m. The Cardinals will wrap up their three-match weekend with a meeting against host and No. 16-ranked Clarkson at 4 p.m.