NEW YORK – The Plattsburgh State women's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches at the NYU Labor Day Invitational hosted by New York University on Friday in its season openers at the Hunter Sportsplex, falling, 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-23, 25-17), to Skidmore College before dropping another 3-1 (23-25, 25-12, 25-19, 25-14) decision to Rivier University in the nightcap.
 
Plattsburgh State falls to 0-2 with the losses and concludes action at the event tomorrow, facing host NYU at 12:30 p.m. and Keene State at 2:30 p.m.
 
Skidmore 3, Plattsburgh State 1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-23, 25-17)

Buoyed by a .197 (53-22-157) hitting percentage, Skidmore's attack clicked on all cylinders in the victory, though the Cardinals did floor eight aces from the service line.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Sam Colombo (Patchogue, N.Y./Bellport) provided most of the offense against Skidmore, hitting .123 off of 15 kills and eight errors in 57 total attempts. She also completed the double-double with 14 digs. Sophomore setter Sydney Gabriel (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) dished out 32 assists and added 14 digs to complete the double-double, while freshman outside hitter/right side Hunter Grotjohn (Scottsdale, Ariz./Horizon) and freshman defensive specialist Bryanne Yasui (Honolulu, Hawaii/Moanalua) paced the back row defensively, too, with 15 and 11 digs, respectively.
 
Skidmore had four student-athletes reach double figures in kills, led by sophomore outside hitter Allie Dillon and freshman middle hitter Katy Ehnstrom with 11 apiece. Sophomore setter/right side Bailey Hutchens started the match at setter and ended up handing out 28 assists, while senior libero Marcella Familiar-Bolaños led four Thoroughbreds with double-digit dig figures, racking up 20 digs.
 
Rivier 3, Plattsburgh State 1 (23-25, 25-12, 25-19, 25-14)

Plattsburgh State gritted out a set-one victory due in large part to its defense limiting Rivier to .061 hitting. The Raiders bounced back by winning the next three, however, hitting .382 in the second, .262 in the third and .269 in the fourth to come away with the victory.
 
Colombo and Grotjohn each reached double figures in kills with 12 and 10, respectively, while Gabriel dished out 28 assists. Defensively, junior defensive specialist Jordynne Ales (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Beekmantown) and Yasui collected 17 and 16 digs, respectively, while Grotjohn and Colombo each completed the double-double with 13 and 11 digs, respectively.
 
For Rivier, senior middle hitter Dana Mott enjoyed a standout offensive performance, hitting .515 off 20 kills and just three errors in 33 total attempts.