Tournament Website
Morrisville Box Score
D'Youville Box Score

The Oswego State volleyball team came up empty-handed on day one of the 2011 Oswego State Volleyball Invitational Friday at Max Ziel Gymnasium, falling, 3-2 (24-26, 26-24, 25-14, 21-25, 16-14), to Morrisville before suffering a 3-0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-17) setback at the hands of D'Youville in the nightcap. The Lakers fall to 5-15 and look to rebound tomorrow, as they compete in the Bronze Division. They play Utica at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning before squaring off with Alfred at 2 p.m.

Oswego State lost a heartbreaker in a five-set, defensive battle against Morrisville in the first match of the day, as the Lakers were unable to rattle the Mustangs defensively. For the match, Oswego State took 211 swings, and Morrisville's defense came up big, boasting 114 digs total.

The first set saw eight tie scores and five lead changes. With the score at 24-21 in favor of Morrisville, Oswego State staged a comeback, scoring four straight points to turn the tables and put the Mustangs on the ropes. After a Morrisville timeout, Danielle Groat (Fr., Ballston Spa, N.Y.) floored a kill off a Kara Michelsen (Fr., Lake View, N.Y.) set, which gave the first stanza to the Lakers by a 26-24 score.

Morrisville nearly squandered another large lead at set point in the second frame, leading, 24-18, before Oswego State stormed back with six unanswered points. Morrisville's Meghan Robinson floored a kill and the Lakers committed an attack error, giving the Mustangs the set, 26-24.

The third set unevenly favored Morrisville, as it took advantage of Laker miscues to walk away with a 25-14 triumph. Oswego State forced a deciding game in the fourth, seizing the lead midway through the set and cruising to a 25-21 victory. The Lakers enjoyed a standout set on the attack, hitting at a match-best .243 clip as a team with 13 kills and four errors in 37 total attempts.

The Mustangs hopped out to a 5-1 lead in the fifth set, but the Lakers earned three straight points to pull within one at 5-4. The two sides traded points until Morrisville took an 8-7 lead into the turn. Down 10-8, Oswego State relied on back-to-back kills by Meaghan Puff (So., Newfane, N.Y.) to tie the score at 10-all, and each team continued to vie for the lead down the stretch in the set. A kill by Stephanie Bailey (Fr., Scotia, N.Y.) gave Oswego State match point at 14-13, but Morrisville put together three straight points to finish off the Lakers.

Offensively, Bailey led the way for Oswego State, hitting .281 off 13 kills and just four errors in 32 total attempts. Puff boasted 12 kills, while Groat floored 11. Michelsen dished out the match-high in assists with 37, and five different Lakers had double-digit dig totals: Groat with 25, Kim Grice (Jr., Syracuse, N.Y.) with 14, Samantha Manicone (Fr., Copiague, N.Y.) and Katie Kietzmann (So., Amsterdam, N.Y.) with 13 and Michelsen with 11. Bailey reinforced the front row on defense as well, notching four block solos and one block assist.

For Morrisville, Robinson posted an impressive double-double of 34 assists and 15 digs, while Tiffany Jones-Maxwell accounted for most of the team's offense with a .270 hitting percentage off 25 kills and eight errors in 63 total attempts. Lindsay Easterly nearly joined the 30-dig club with 26 digs on the match, while Jerrae Morgan (19), Alexis Hansen (16), Robinson (15) and Jackie Saddlemire (10) all had double-digit figures in digs. Jones-Maxwell provided the team's blocking with two block solos, and Easterly was strong off the serve with a match-high four service aces.

Against D'Youville, Oswego State was hurt by errors, as the Spartans won in straight sets. Throughout the course of the match, the Lakers took control of the lead on three occasions, and two of those three lead changes happened in the second set. The second frame was the most productive offensively for Oswego State against the Spartans, as it landed 14 kills—the most in a single set for either team during the match.

Bailey keyed the Laker offense with nine kills, hitting .300 in the contest. Grice collected 12 digs, while Bailey once again put up a big block on the front row, gaining four block solos and two block assists. Michelsen assumed the setting duties and distributed a match-high 24 assists.

For D'Youville, Luciana Payne tallied the lone double-digit kill total of the match (10), and Amber Letina handed out 17 assists. Danielle Swanston came up with 14 digs, while Jayde Stevens supplied two block solos. Payne and Stevens each served well, recording four and three service aces, respectively, while going the entire match without a service error.