PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Despite winning the fourth set convincingly to force a deciding frame, the Plattsburgh State women's volleyball team ended up falling, 3-2 (25-17, 21-25, 25-19, 17-25, 15-11), to Skidmore College in a non-conference match on Tuesday evening at Memorial Hall. It served as the Cardinals' final home match of the year.
 
The Cardinals hit their offensive stride in the fourth set, hitting .306 with 14 kills and three errors in 36 total attempts. After Plattsburgh State weathered several long rallies early in the fifth, Skidmore's attack proved too powerful, as the Thoroughbreds put up 11 kills in the deciding frame.
 
Plattsburgh State drops to 11-14 overall with the loss and next visits SUNY Cortland for the final State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Pool Play weekend of the season from Friday-Saturday, Oct. 21-22. The Cardinals open up the weekend with a 7 p.m. match against host Cortland on Friday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. Skidmore rises to 12-13 overall with the win and next faces Bard College and Clarkson University in Liberty League action on Friday, Oct. 21.
 
Skidmore built an early lead in the first set, using a 7-0 run to construct an 18-11 advantage. Sophomore outside hitter Sam Colombo (Patchogue, N.Y./Bellport), sophomore setter Sydney Gabriel (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) and freshman middle hitter Tatyana Barlow (Palmdale, Calif./Pete Knight) all registered kills to draw the Cardinals within 18-14, but that would be the closest Plattsburgh State would get the rest of the frame, as the Thoroughbreds won the first, 25-17.
 
Plattsburgh State appeared to have the second set in hand midway through the stanza, as a kill by freshman outside hitter/right side Hunter Grotjohn (Scottsdale, Ariz./Horizon) gave the Cardinals a 17-11 lead. Skidmore started chipping away until a 4-0 spurt staked the visitors to a 21-20 edge. Plattsburgh State retaliated, though, with five straight points to end the set, and a service ace by freshman defensive specialist Bryanne Yasui (Honolulu, Hawaii/Moanalua) gave the Cardinals a 25-21 victory in the set.
 
In the third, the Thoroughbreds used a 7-1 tear to open up a 15-9 lead, and the Cardinals were unable to score more than two consecutive points the rest of the way in a 25-19 victory for Skidmore in the frame.
 
The two teams traded momentum swings early in the fourth set before the Cardinal attack started heating up, scoring points in bunches. The high-water mark for Plattsburgh State in the set came late, as the Cardinals went on a 6-1 run to seize a 22-14 advantage. Both teams sided each other out until Barlow delivered the decisive blow with a set-clinching kill. The Cardinals won the set, 25-17.
 
Both teams went point for point during the first six rallies of the fifth set, but Skidmore scored four straight to take a 7-3 lead. After Colombo broke up the run with a kill, junior right side/middle hitter Rachel Licata found the floor for Skidmore to give the Thoroughbreds an 8-4 edge at the switch. Following a Skidmore point, Plattsburgh State scored four of the next five points to draw within 10-8, and after a Thoroughbred kill, the Cardinals benefited from two Skidmore attacking errors to make it a one-point deficit (11-10). Sophomore setter/right side Bailey Hutchins registered a termination to put the Thoroughbreds back up by two, while Grotjohn buried a kill to bring Plattsburgh State within one again. Skidmore scored the final three points of the set to post a 15-11 match-clinching triumph in the fifth.
 
Skidmore wound up with a .209 hitting percentage compared to the .149 clip fashioned by Plattsburgh State, and the Thoroughbreds also outblocked the Cardinals, 8-2. Plattsburgh State did, however, land seven service aces to Skidmore's six.
 
Grotjohn keyed the Cardinal attack with 15 kills and a .224 hitting percentage (15-4-49), and she completed the double-double with 22 digs. Colombo also achieved a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs, while Gabriel distributed 40 assists. Freshman middle hitter Dani Borunda (Salt Lake City, Utah/West) had one of her strongest matches of the year, finishing with 11 kills and a block assist. Yasui paced the back row defensively with 30 digs.
 
For Skidmore, freshman middle hitter Katy Ehnstrom hit .433 off 16 kills and three errors in 30 total attempts, while sophomore outside hitter Caite Canfield and Licata recorded 14 and 12 kills, respectively. Hutchins and freshman setter/right side Lauren Wolters combined for 53 assists running a 6-2 offense, while senior libero Marcela Familiar-Bolanos defended a team-high 22 digs. Canfield completed the double-double with 17 digs, while Licata fortified the Thoroughbreds' front-row defense with five total blocks (one solo, four assist).