ONEONTA, N.Y. – Senior outside hitter/opposite Meghan O'Brien (Marietta, N.Y./Marcellus) and junior outside hitter/opposite Jenn Braun (Garrison, N.Y./Walter Panas) each floored 10 kills in the Plattsburgh State women's volleyball team's 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-19) State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) loss to SUNY Oneonta on Saturday afternoon at Dewar Arena.
 
The Cardinals finished with a .128-.126 edge in hitting percentage, while the Red Dragons had the upper hand in service aces (12-7) and digs (73-66). Both teams finished with five blocks.
 
Plattsburgh State slips to 6-7 overall (1-2 SUNYAC) with the loss and next squares off with non-conference SUNY Canton on Wednesday, Sept. 29, at 5 p.m. Oneonta rises to 3-9 overall (2-1 SUNYAC) with the win and next visits Morrisville State College on Wednesday, Sept. 29, at 6 p.m.
 
After back-and-forth play dictated the early going of the first set, three straight Cardinal points, which included kills by Braun and sophomore defensive specialist/outside hitter Payton Zophy (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa), gave Plattsburgh State an 11-9 lead. Oneonta eventually took a 15-13 advantage following five unanswered points, but a 4-0 Cardinal spurt staked the visitors to a 20-17 cushion. Each team sided each other out the rest of the set until a Red Dragon service error handed Plattsburgh State a 25-22 win in the first.
 
Plattsburgh State appeared poised to take a 2-0 lead in sets won, as a service ace by senior middle hitter Ann Beauchamp (Potsdam, N.Y./Potsdam) handed the Cardinals a 20-15 advantage. The Red Dragons stormed back with 10 unanswered points to close the set, and a kill by sophomore outside hitter Isabella Fabrizio gave Oneonta a 25-20 triumph in the second.
 
Oneonta never trailed in the third, hopping out to a 10-4 advantage. The Cardinals chipped away at the lead, and a block assist by senior opposite Kaitlyn Bjelko (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Beekmantown) and senior middle hitter Alicia Fisher (Brooklyn, N.Y./Science Skills) capped off a 6-1 scoring spree that drew Plattsburgh State within 17-16. The Red Dragons broke the set open with a five-point run, and while an O'Brien kill, two service aces by sophomore setter Emma Rivers (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown West) and a setting error trimmed the gap to two, sophomore middle blocker Ashanti Davis floored a kill to give Oneonta a 25-22 win in the third.
 
The difference in the fourth set was a 7-0 Oneonta run that reversed a 5-4 Cardinal lead into an 11-5 Red Dragon cushion. Plattsburgh State scored consecutive points just three more times the rest of the set, and Oneonta clinched the match with a 25-19 victory in the fourth.
 
In addition to O'Brien and Braun, Rivers and senior setter/defensive specialist Olga Muka (Hicksville, N.Y./Holy Trinity Diocesan) powered the offense with 19 and 16 assists, respectively, with Muka completing a double-double with 11 digs. Zophy reinforced the back row defensively with 17 digs.
 
For Oneonta, sophomore opposite Caitlin Christie posted 12 kills, while Fabrizio and Davis notched 10 terminations apiece. Freshman setter Haileigh Deming and junior setter Kayla Rende combined for 34 assists, while junior defensive specialist/libero Carsyn Rachuta defended a match-high 28 digs.