PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State women's volleyball team dropped two closely contested matches to close out the Cardinal Classic at home, falling to St. Lawrence 3-2 (25-23, 25-21, 23-25,18-25, 15-9) before dropping a 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 13-25, 25-20, 15-13) decision to Russell Sage.  

Plattsburgh State falls to 1-2 overall with the losses and is back in action at the Clarkson Classic, first taking on host Clarkson, Friday, Sept. 5 at 3 p.m. St. Lawrence finished the Cardinal Classic 3-0 overall and next hosts the North Country Classic, matching up with Middlebury on Friday, Sept. 5 at 5 p.m. Russell Sage closed out Day 2 of the Cardinal Classic with a 2-1 overall and next travels to Union on Friday, Sept. 5 at 6 p.m.

St. Lawrence 3, Plattsburgh State 2 (25-23, 25-21, 23-25, 18-25, 15-9)

After trailing two sets to none, the Cardinals won back-to-back sets to force a fifth and final set, but the comeback fell short as St. Lawrence held on for a 3-2 win.

Junior Liya Girma (Sachse, Texas / Bishop Lynch) tied for game-high in kills with 15 to go with 13 digs for her second double-double in a row, while junior Darby Collyear (Rockwall, Texas / Rockwall) was next in kills with 12. First-year Emily O'Brien recorded 25 assists, closely followed by sophomore Anabella Almeida (Pine Bush, N.Y. / Pine Bush) with a career-high 24 assists. Defensively, senior Bridget Ryan led the Cardinals with 15 digs, while senior Katie Salphine (Le Roy, N.Y. / Le Roy) collected four blocks.

For the Saints, Araiza Acum-Santos tied for a game-high in kills with 15, while Vanessa Latam had a game-high 47 assists to lead the Saints' offense. On the defensive side, Cassady Smith led all players with 21 digs.

The Cardinals edged out the Saints, hitting .184% (55-26-158) to .171% (56-30-152). St. Lawrence had the edge in digs (70-57) and assists (55-53), but the Cardinals owned the advantage in blocks (8-5). Both teams had six service aces on the day.

The Cardinals used a kill and a service ace from Girma to take an early 3-1 lead in a closely contested contest. The two teams continued to battle for the lead until a 5-0 run from St. Lawrence put them ahead for good, 19-17. The Cardinals responded with a kill from Girma, but another three points from the Saints pushed their lead to 22-18. A late push from the Cardinals put the Cardinals within one, but the Saints won the next point, taking set one 25-23.

After the Saints saw an early 7-4 lead, the Cardinals used a 5-0 surge that saw two kills from Collyear to take a 9-7 lead. However, the Saints responded with a run of their own and retook an 11-9 lead. The Cardinals stayed within striking distance and tied the game at 17 thanks to a 4-0 run capped off by a Mulvey kill. With the score tied at 19, the Saints outscored the Cardinals 6-2 for a 25-21 set win.

The third set saw the Cardinals jump out to a 10-6 lead after Girma put down a kill from O'Brien. The Cardinals followed that up with another four straight points and pushed their lead to 14-7. The Saints didn't go away and used two 3-0 runs and tied the game at 19. After trading points, the Cardinals took a 23-20 lead before ultimately winning 25-23 as Kyleigh Ganz (Phoenix, Ariz. / Seton Catholic Prep) closed the door on the Saints with a kill to end the set.  

The fourth set was a back-and-forth battle until a 6-0 surge, featuring two service aces from Almeida, gave the Cardinals an 18-13 lead. The Saints came within four, but the Cardinals pushed their lead to 22-17 with back-to-back kills from Girma and Lindsay Pedersen (Beacon, N.Y. / Beacon). The Cardinals outscored the Saints 3-1 the rest of the set for a 25-18 win.

After opening up a 6-5 lead, the Saints scored three straight points for a 9-5 lead and then scored four straight points and extended their lead to 13-6. The Cardinals had a late rally, scoring three straight points, but it wasn't enough as the Saints went on to win 15-9, taking the 3-2 match victory.

Russell Sage 3, Plattsburgh State 2 (23-25, 25-21, 13-25, 25-20, 15-13)

The Cardinals fell in a hard-fought five-set match against the Gators, where two matches were decided by two points.

Girma led the team in kills with 13 to go with 12 digs for her third double-double of the season, while Ganz had 11 kills. O'Brien tied for a game-high in assists with 23, and Almeida was right behind her with 19. Ryan tied for a game-high in digs with 19, while Collyear had a career-high six blocks defensively.

For the Gators, Ashleigh Gerkman led all players with 18 kills and collected 13 digs for a double-double. Cassidy Weiher tied for a game-high in assists with 23, while Emma Curry tied for a game-high in digs with 19.

The Cardinals hit .214% (55-24-145) compared to the Gators' .162% (49-25-148) as the Gators had a 12-10 advantage in aces and a 9-8 edge in blocks. The Cardinals defended 68 digs to the Gators' 59 and had 49 assists compared to the Gators' 46.

The Gators had the lead early after a kill gave them an 11-8 advantage, but the Cardinals went on a 5-0 burst using two service aces from Girma to take a 13-11 lead. The Gators responded with a run of their own and took a 15-13 lead. The Cardinals came within one twice, but the Gators went on another run and extended their lead to 20-15. After a kill from Almeida put the Cardinals within two, a 5-0 rally gave the Cardinals a 24-22 lead before ultimately winning 25-23.

The Gators used a 4-0 run to go ahead 10-4 early in the set, but the Cardinals battled back and came within one, trailing 14-13. The Cardinals continued to keep it close as a kill from Girma made the score 21-20 Gators, but Russell Sage outscored Plattsburgh 4-1 to end the set with a 25-21 win.

The third set was all Plattsburgh as the Cardinals took a dominant 10-3 lead thanks to kills from Collyear and Ganz. The Gators couldn't string along any runs to cut into Plattsburgh's lead, and a 6-0 surge that saw kills from Ganz and Girma gave the Cardinals a 25-13 win.

Despite the Cardinals going up 8-3 to start, the Gators continued to battle back and used a 4-0 run to take a 14-13 lead. The Cardinals tied the game at 14 and again at 17 thanks to back-to-back kills from Ganz, but the Gators pulled away to win 25-20 to force a fifth and final set.

The Cardinals took an early lead as back-to-back kills from Salphine and Collyear gave them a 6-2 lead. The Cardinals followed that up with four more points with kills from Mulvey and Pedersen and extended their lead to 10-3. However, the Gators didn't go away, and after a kill from Girma made the score 12-7 Cardinals, the Gators countered with a 7-0 run and took a 14-12 lead. A kill from Ganz stopped the run, but it was too late as the Gators responded with a kill of their own for the 15-13 set win to secure the 3-2 match victory.