Volleyball Splits Tri-Match at Cobleskill

COBLESKILL, N.Y. – The Mitchell College women's volleyball team came away with a split against Keuka College and SUNY Cobleskill on Saturday afternoon at Iorio Gymnasium.

The Mariners topped Keuka 3-2 to start the day, winning by set scores of 25-19, 21-25, 25-18, 21-25 and 15-10. Mitchell then dropped a 3-1 decision to the host by finals of 16-25, 20-25, 25-23 and 22-25.

Mitchell (3-5 overall) will next host Trinity College on Tuesday, September 21 at 7 p.m.

Game 1 – Mitchell 3, Keuka 2

Bree Rudolph paced the Mariners with a career-high 15 kills and 20 digs to go along with three service aces. Ciera Moore and Molly Steel-Miller added nine kills apiece, and the former contributed six blocks while the latter had two. Claire Binfield handed out a match-high 36 assists and also chipped in nine digs.

Rudolph started the match hot with three kills as the Mariners jumped out to a 6-0 advantage. While Mitchell never trailed in the set, a late push by Keuka narrowed the margin to 21-18. However, Steel-Miller came through with a pair of kills to help close out the first-set victory.

A similar narrative played out in the second set, this time with Keuka in the driver's seat. Mitchell never led but rallied late for three straight points to narrow the gap to 22-21. Keuka responded by winning the next three points to even the match at a set apiece.

The Mariners grabbed control of the third set behind a 7-1 start but saw Keuka fight back to even up the score at 12-12. On the ensuing point, a kill by Rudolph gave Mitchell the lead for good. The Mariners went on to score eight of the final 10 points in the set to go up 2-1 in the match.

Midway through the fourth set, a 6-0 spurt put Keuka up 16-12. The Wolves never trailed again, forcing Mitchell to play a fifth set for the first time this season.

Kills by Megan Pardee and Rudolph helped the Mariners to a 4-0 start in the fifth. Later, with the score knotted at 9-9, Allison Blum put Mitchell in the lead for good with the second of two late kills. After Rudolph's final kill of the match made it 13-10, Keuka committed two attack errors to end the contest.

Game 2 – Cobleskill 3, Mitchell 1

Blum led Mitchell with a season-high 10 kills in the second game and also added 12 digs. Moore had another solid game with nine kills while Binfield finished with six kills, 30 assists and 18 digs.

Following the five-set marathon against Keuka, Mitchell came out sluggish and dropped the first two sets. After falling behind 9-2 in the third, the Mariners trailed by as many as eight before working their way back. Down 20-15, Mitchell closed the set with a 10-3 run to complete the comeback. Blum had three kills and two aces during the stretch while Rudolph chipped in three kills.

In the fourth, a 6-0 run gave the host a 19-11 advantage. Once again the Mariners fought to the end, closing the gap late to make the Tigers sweat. Mitchell staved off a pair of match points before Cobleskill earned the final point on a block error.