Canton, NY – The SUNY Canton women's volleyball team split a pair of matches on the opening day of the Canton Classic on Friday evening at St. Lawrence University.

The Roos fell to the host Saints 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 17-25, 12-25) before bouncing back with a 3-1 (25-22, 25-14, 19-25, 25-18) victory v. Hartwick College in the nightcap.

Match 1

The Roos jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead in the opening set but St. Lawrence battled back to tie the set at 12 apiece. The Saints opened up their first advantage at 18-17 and extended that to 22-18 after a Marissa Parker kill. After a SUNY Canton timeout the Roos responded with three straight points including a pair of service aces from Morgan Wicks (Hartford, NY), to get within one. However, the hosts tallied the final three points to earn the first set win.

After a back-and-forth start to the second set SUNY Canton opened up a 14-9 advantage and led by as many as seven at 20-13 en route to the 25-18 win. St. Lawrence trailed just once in the third set although it was tied 14-14 midway through before the Saints rattled off eight consecutive points to cruise to a 25-17 victory. The hosts jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the fourth frame securing the win, 25-12 in the final set.

Kelsy Cornish (Honeoye, NY) and Shea Norton (Batavia, NY) posted match-highs of 12 kills each, while Haley Riley (Lowville, NY) added nine kills and nine digs. Jenna Roat (Penfield, NY) totaled a team-best 22 digs, while Peyton Robinson (Bloomfield, NY) dished out 30 assists to go with her 10 digs. Wicks, Cornish and Jocelyn Racette (Port Kent, NY) combined for seven aces from the service line.

Match 2

SUNY Canton opened up a 14-8 advantage in the opening set but the Hawks battled back to knot the set at 18 apiece. With the Roos leading 23-22 Riley and Norton finished the first frame with back-to-back kills.

The Roos used their first set momentum to open up an 18-9 edge on its way to the second set win. Hartwick responded with an early 12-3 advantage in the third set securing a 25-19 win to get within one set. SUNY Canton used a key four point stretch in the fourth frame to turn a three point lead into a seven point advantage at 16-9 to win the match. Riley had a pair of kills along with a service ace from Robinson during the key run.

Cornish led all players with 17 kills to go with her 18 digs, while Riley posted 16 kills and nine digs. Norton added another double digit kill performance with 11, while Roat recorded a match-best 35 digs. Robinson was the catalyst offensively assisting a season-high 51 kills to go with her season-best 22 digs. Jenifer Morgan-Aubin (Hartford, NY) and Wicks also totaled nine digs apiece.

The women's volleyball team returns to action on Saturday when the Canton Classic shifts to the Roos House at SUNY Canton. The Roos square off with Elmira College at 10 a.m. before a 4 p.m. matchup with Keuka College.