CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State women's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-17) decision to three-time defending State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) champion The College at Brockport to open up conference play on Friday afternoon at SUNY Cortland's Corey Gym.
 
The Golden Eagles hit .167 for the match and held the upper hand in service aces (10-4), blocks (8-3) and digs (53-46).
 
Plattsburgh State drops to 3-10 overall (0-1 SUNYAC) with the loss and will look to get back in the win column tomorrow when it wraps up its first SUNYAC pool play against host Cortland (12 p.m.) and Buffalo State (5 p.m.). Brockport rises to 7-7 overall (1-0 SUNYAC) with the win and takes on Fredonia (12 p.m.) and SUNY New Paltz (2:30 p.m.) tomorrow.
 
While a Golden Eagle attacking error and a kill by sophomore middle blocker Michelle Simmons (Riverside, Calif./Riverside Poly) handed the Cardinals an early 2-0 lead in the first set, Brockport went on a four-point tear and never trailed the rest of the stanza. Plattsburgh State drew within one at 9-8 on back-to-back kills by freshman setter/opposite Lauren DeVoe (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Valley), but Brockport pulled away by scoring six of the next seven points.
 
In the second set, the Golden Eagles reversed a 9-7 Cardinal lead into a 14-9 Brockport advantage, and they held a multi-point lead until the Cardinals won six consecutive rallies to draw even at 21-all. Brockport got the serve back on a service error before junior outside hitter Megan Hyde (Schenectady, N.Y./Schalmont) countered with a kill to make the score 22-all once again. The Golden Eagles finished the set with three straight points to capture a 25-22 victory in the frame.
 
A pair of large runs helped Brockport pull ahead in the third, as it took a 10-6 lead on a 5-0 spurt before building a 17-9 cushion on a 6-0 surge. The Golden Eagles wound up clinching the match with a 25-17 win in the set.
 
Simmons paced the Cardinal offense with a .368 hitting percentage, which she achieved on nine kills and two errors in 19 total attempts, and she also recorded three service aces. Despite the loss, the Riverside, Calif., native remained the SUNYAC leader in hitting percentage, as Simmons is hitting .404 for the season. DeVoe dished out 17 assists, while sophomore defensive specialist Maddy Zophy (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) defended 19 digs.
 
For Brockport, freshman middle blocker Lauren Hess led the way with 11 kills, while senior setter Emily Orminski distributed 32 assists. Defensively, senior defensive specialists Abbey Manning and Maddy Taylor tallied 13 digs apiece, while Hess posted four block assists. At the service line, junior defensive specialist Christa Mickol ignited the Golden Eagles with four aces.