COLCHESTER, Vt. – The Plattsburgh State women's volleyball team traveled to Division II Saint Michael's on Tuesday evening and fell 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-16) in non-conference action.

Junior Liya Girma (Sachse, Texas / Bishop Lynch) paced the Cardinals with a game-high 10 kills while first-year Emily O'Brien (Monroe, N.Y. / Monroe-Woodbury) set up the attack with 13 assists. Girma also led all players in digs with 12, and up top, senior Kyleigh Ganz (Phoenix, Ariz. / Seton Catholic Prep) and first-year Lindsay Pedersen (Beacon, N.Y. / Beacon) had a block assist each.

For the Purple Knights, Ella Patterson led the offense with nine kills and the defense with seven digs. Ashley Marshall set up the Purple Knights' attack with a game-high 32 assists, and Rory Tower was a presence in the front row with a game-high five blocks.

The Cardinals had a 44-38 advantage in digs, but the Purple Knights won the battle in the front row with seven blocks to Plattsburgh's one and had a 12-3 edge in aces.

Plattsburgh State drops to 3-6 overall with the loss and is back in action on Saturday, Sept. 20, at Skidmore for a pair of matches, starting with an 11 a.m. match against host Skidmore before a 1 p.m. match against Manhattanville. Saint Michael's moves to 2-6 overall and is back in action on Saturday, Sept. 20, at Post.

After Anabella Almeida (Pine Bush, N.Y. / Pine Bush) opened the scoring with a service ace, both teams went back and forth until the Purple Knights used a 6-0 rally to take a 21-14 lead. The Cardinals followed with back-to-back points but were outscored 4-2 the rest of the way as the Purple Knights claimed a 25-18 set win.

The second set saw the same even play to start as the Cardinals put down back-to-back kills from Ganz and Girma that made the score 9-8 Purple Knights. Plattsburgh continued to keep it close, but a 6-0 surge from the Purple Knights made the score 23-15 as Saint Michael's went on to win the second set 25-17.

Neither team could create distance until two 4-0 runs from the Purple Knights gave them a 15-7 lead. The Cardinals tried to battle back and used a 3-0 outburst featuring two kills from Girma to get back in the match, but the Purple Knights swung the momentum with six straight points and pulled away to win 25-16 to secure a 3-0 match victory.