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PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State women's volleyball team capped off its weekend by winning the Best Western Plus-Ground Round Cardinal Classic title on Saturday at Memorial Hall, defeating Utica College, 3-0 (25-18, 25-8, 26-24), before topping Southern Vermont College, 3-0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-12). The Cardinals went 3-0 for the weekend, as they downed Elms College, 3-0 (25-10, 25-7, 25-13), on Friday night.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Sam Colombo (Patchogue, N.Y./Bellport) was named the Best Western Plus-Ground Round Cardinal Classic MVP, while freshman outside hitter/right side Hunter Grotjohn (Scottsdale, Ariz./Horizon) joined her on the All-Tournament Team. The remainder of the All-Tournament Team included sophomore outside hitter Danielle Redding from Elms, senior middle hitter/outside hitter Brin Goldman from Southern Vermont and senior middle hitter Brandi Blaszak from Utica.
 
Plattsburgh State now moves to 7-5 overall on the year, matching its win total from all of last season with 19 contests left to play on its regular-season schedule. The Cardinals open up State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action next from Friday-Saturday, Sept. 23-24, at a SUNYAC Pool Play pod hosted by SUNY Potsdam. Utica moved to 4-10 with its results on Saturday and next visits Empire 8 foe Hartwick College on Tuesday, Sept. 20, in its conference opener. Southern Vermont moved to 3-8 with its results and next visits SUNY Cobleskill on Tuesday, Sept. 20.
 
Plattsburgh State 3, Utica 0 (25-18, 25-8, 26-24)
 
Plattsburgh State kicked off Saturday's slate of matches with a straight-set win over Utica, hitting .309 for the match while holding a 9-3 edge in service aces. The Pioneers were limited to .125 hitting for the contest but did outblock the Cardinals, 2-0.
 
Momentum changed hands several times in the early goings of the first set, but a 13-0 run, which included four kills by Colombo, staked Plattsburgh State to a 19-7 advantage. Though Utica ended up scoring points in bunches down the stretch, the deficit wound up being insurmountable in a 25-18 set-one win for Plattsburgh State.
 
Set two saw Plattsburgh State hit .565 and Utica hit -.080, which led to a 25-8 Cardinal victory in the stanza.
 
Utica hung tough in the third set, staying within arm's length of Plattsburgh State before going on a 4-0 run to take a 19-16 lead. The Cardinals tied the score at 19-all after a kill by freshman middle hitter Dani Borunda (Salt Lake City, Utah/West), a Pioneer attacking error and a Colombo kill, and the two teams traded points until the Cardinals won two straight rallies to capture a 22-21 advantage. Once again, the two squads sided each other out until a Utica attacking error and a service ace by junior defensive specialist Jordynne Ales (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Beekmantown) handed Plattsburgh State a match-clinching 26-24 win in the frame.
 
Colombo hit .313 for the match with 14 kills and four errors in 32 total attempts, and she completed the double-double with 14 digs. Grotjohn fashioned a .458 hitting percentage off of 12 kills and just one error in 24 total attempts, while sophomore setter Sydney Gabriel (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) dished out 38 assists. Freshman defensive specialist Bryanne Yasui (Honolulu, Hawaii/Moanalua) and Ales joined Colombo in double-digit dig figures with 12 and 10, respectively.
 
For Utica, Blaszak posted a team-high 10 kills, while sophomore outside hitter Hannah Voss defended 10 digs.
 
Plattsburgh State 3, Southern Vermont 0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-12)
 
Plattsburgh State's offense was near flawless in its final match of the weekend, hitting a season-best .462 with 41 kills and just five errors in 78 total attempts in a straight-set victory over Southern Vermont. The Cardinals limited the Mountaineers to .076 hitting and excelled at the service line, flooring 16 aces.
 
Southern Vermont hung with Plattsburgh State in the early stages of the first set, but the Cardinals ended up seizing a 13-5 cushion on the strength of a 5-0 tear. Plattsburgh State kept scoring points in bunches the rest of the frame and ended up taking the first set, 25-10.
 
The Mountaineers capitalized on a slow start by the Cardinals in the second, but Plattsburgh State overcame a 5-3 deficit with a 6-0 run to put itself in the driver's seat the rest of the set. Southern Vermont pulled within seven at 17-10 off a Cardinal attacking error and a service ace by sophomore outside hitter Lizzy Bench, but Plattsburgh State kept extending out its lead before finishing the set with a 25-13 victory.
 
Once again, Southern Vermont hung around early in the third stanza, and the Mountaineers even pulled themselves within reasonable striking distance (19-12) midway through the set. Plattsburgh State, however, finished the match by scoring six straight points, and freshman outside hitter Megan Hyde (Schenectady, N.Y./Schalmont) landed two aces to give the Cardinals a 25-12 match-clinching triumph in the third.
 
Colombo registered yet another double-double, spiking 15 kills and defending 11 digs. She also hit at an efficient rate, making no errors in 27 total attempts. The Mountaineers had trouble with Grotjohn as well, as she hit .727 (8-0-11) for the match. Gabriel doled out 35 assists, while sophomore middle hitter Shelby Bourgeois (Keeseville, N.Y./AuSable Valley) and Borunda were credited with block assists on each of the Cardinals' three blocks.
 
Goldman led Southern Vermont in kills (7) and assists (7) while also posting six digs.