Beverly, MA – The SUNY Canton women's volleyball had a successful second day at the Endicott College Invitational defeating Plymouth State in four sets before taking Roger Williams University to five frames and the final point. The Roos defeated the Panthers 3-1 (25-23, 24-26, 29-27, 25-16) before coming up just short falling to the Hawks, 3-2 (25-19, 27-29, 26-24, 22-25, 15-13).

SUNY Canton vs. Plymouth State

Plymouth State led 17-12 midway through the opening set but a 5-0 spurt led by the service game of Kelsy Cornish (Honeoye, NY) with two aces and kills from Jessica Reynolds (Oakville, ON) and Morgan Bills (Walworth, NY) knotted the set at 17-17. Senior captain Caitlin Grimshaw (Adams, NY) put down back-to-back kills to close out the first set, 25-23.

In an extraordinarily close second set neither team led by more than two points the entire frame. With the match knotted at 24 apiece the Panthers secured the final two points, surviving the second stanza, 26-24.

Trailing 10-9 in the third set, the Roos used a key 5-0 run paced by two service aces from Mackenzie Mynter (Churchville, NY) to open up a 14-10 advantage. The set would once again require extra points as kills from Bills and Cornish combined with a Panther attack error gave SUNY Canton a 29-27 third frame win.

Plymouth State got out to a 12-9 lead in the fourth set but from there the Roos outscored the Panthers 16-4 down the stretch for a convincing win to close out the match, 25-16. SUNY Canton held edges in kills (53-44), assists (51-38) and digs (77-70).

SUNY Canton had three players post double digit kills in its first match in Reynolds (15), Bills (13) and Grimshaw (11). Robyn Carroll (Bowmanville, ON) (22), Mynter (15) and Grimshaw (13) all produced double digit digs. Mynter also assisted a match and season-high 45 kills.

SUNY Canton vs. Roger Williams

Roger Williams jumped all over the Roos taking a 6-0 lead out of the gates in the opening set. Trailing 18-10, SUNY Canton was able to trim the deficit to 20-15 after kills by Reynolds and Cornish followed by a service ace from Cornish. However, the Hawks held on for the 25-19 first set victory.

In the second stanza the Roos trailed 10-6 early but doubled Roger Williams up on a 12-6 run, battling back to take an 18-16 advantage. The match would be knotted at 25 apiece, but kills from Cornish and Grimshaw closed out the set, 29-27.

The first half of the third set was tight before SUNY Canton used a 7-2 spurt to open up a 21-15 advantage. The Roos earned match point at 24-21 but three hitting errors bookended around two Hawk kills gave Roger Williams a 26-24 win.

SUNY Canton showed its mental toughness in the fourth frame turning a 7-4 deficit into an 11-7 lead with seven straight points, including three service aces from Grimshaw. The Roos would lead by as many as seven at 19-12 and held on for the 25-22 victory to force a fifth and decisive set.

The Roos took an 8-5 lead into the crossover but the Hawks would put down seven of the next eight points to take a 12-9 advantage. SUNY Canton fought off one match point but Roger Williams held on for the 15-13 win to take the match.

Grimshaw posted 13 kills and 19 digs, while Reynolds finished with 13 putdowns and 12 digs. Mynter stuffed the stat sheet with 38 assists, 19 digs, seven kills and three blocks. Meanwhile, Cornish tallied nine kills and seven digs, while Bills recorded 10 kills. Carroll was strong defensively with 24 digs.

The women's volleyball team returns home on Wednesday when they host Clarkson University at 7:00 p.m. in the Roos House. The Golden Knights are ranked 17th nationally in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 poll.