CORTLAND, N.Y. - The SUNY Cortland women's volleyball team advanced to the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) tournament championship game with a three-set victory over Oneonta at Corey Gymnasium. Cortland won 25-21, 27-25, 25-21 and will face New Paltz in the finals Saturday at 2 p.m., also at Corey Gym. New Paltz defeated Fredonia in Friday's second semifinal in five sets.

Cortland, ranked 18th nationally in Div. III, improved to 38-1 on the season. The Red Dragons will play in the SUNYAC title match for the third straight year and the 15th time in the last 16 years. Cortland won the title last year and lost to New Paltz in 2009.

Senior Ashley Coyle (Mt. Hope/Minisink Valley) paced the Red Dragons in the win with 13 kills and 10 digs. Senior Kaitlyn Cooper (Webster/Webster Schroeder) totaled 10 kills and junior Katie Wick (Cortland/Homer) finished with seven kills, two aces and 12 digs.

Sophomore Aubrey Barrett (Liverpool) and junior Kristen Guercio (Smithtown/Smithtown East) shared setting duties in a 6-2 alignment. Barrett recorded 19 assists and eight digs and Guercio had 14 assists and five digs. Senior Jaclyn Lawrence (Marilla/Iroquois Central) had a team-high 15 digs, while junior Jenna Davies (Brewerton/Paul V. Moore) and senior Sheena Asibey (Brentwood) finished with four and three blocks, respectively.

Erica Darpino led Oneonta (18-20) with eight kills and nine blocks. Bridget McHugh and Kacy Boburka had six kills each and Brittany Calvello finished with 26 assists.

The first set was tied 10 times, the last at 20-20. Cortland scored three straight to go up 23-20 on a Davies kill, a block by Davies and Cooper, and a Cooper kill. Oneonta got one point back before Cortland finished the set with a Cooper kill and an Oneonta error.

The second set featured 15 ties. Cortland scored three points in a row to break a 20-20 tie, but Oneonta answered with three straight, two on blocks, and tied the set at 23-23. With the teams tied 24-24, Oneonta scored on a block by Stephanie Holt and McHugh to take a 25-24 lead. Coyle, however, put down kills for three consecutive points to give Cortland a 27-25 victory.

Cortland led almost the entire third set, but Oneonta hung tough and eventually tied the set at 18-18 and again at 19-19. The guests took their first lead of the set at 20-19 on a block by Darpino and Calvello and forced a Cortland timeout. The host Red Dragons responded by scoring five straight to go ahead 24-20. That run featured three kills by Coyle and a block by Davies and sophomore Ava Hintz (East Aurora). Following an Oneonta point, Cortland clinched the win with a Hintz kill.

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