Box Score PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Castleton University women's volleyball team dropped its season-opening match on Wednesday night, falling to Plattsburgh State by a final score of 3-1 in road action.
 
The Spartans (0-1) were competitive in each set, but ultimately fell 21-25, 18-25, 28-26, 25-27 in four sets. Plattsburgh held an edge in kills, 40-31; assists, 34-28; aces, 12-9; and blocks 7-3. The Cardinals swung at a .100 rate, while Castleton checked in with a -.008 hitting percentage, making 32 errors with 31 kills.
 
Lizzie Goodrich, Hailey Martinovich and Vanessa LeBrun all logged seven kills in the season-opener, while Jessica Trudeau added six of her own. Martinovich, LeBrun and Jen Halliday all had two aces in their debuts. Halliday also led the Spartans with 13 digs while Bre MacDuff led the team with 19 assists.
 
Plattsburgh had four players with seven-plus kills on the night, led by Meghan O'Brien's 10. Ann Beauchamp had seven kills and five aces for the Cardinals, in addition to her role in four total blocks—one solo and three assisted. Payton Zophy racked up 20 digs, Emma Rivers led her team with 13 assists.
 
Castleton led for the early portion of the opening set, taking advantage of a series of kills and service aces on its way to a 12-8 lead. The Cardinals responded with six consecutive points—four of which came on Castleton errors—to take a 14-12 lead from there. After a Castleton timeout, the Spartans leveled the score at 14-14, but a five-point run later in the set gave the Cardinals a 20-15 edge. The two sides traded points from there as Plattsburgh took the opening frame, 25-21.
 
The second set was more of the same, with Castleton leading 9-7 early on before the Cardinals took 17-10 lead with a 10-1 run. The Spartans tried to battle back, but came up short, 25-18, in the second set.
 
Castleton got on the board in the third set, claiming a 28-26 win after a furious Cardinal comeback. Plattsburgh won the first three points of the set, but a 5-1 run by Castleton put the Spartans ahead 5-4, capped by a kill from Goodrich. The two sides traded points for a stretch before Castleton rattled off six unanswered points, three of which came on kills from the rookie Martinovich, to jump ahead 23-17. The Cardinals answered with six straight points of their own, however, knotting the set at 23-23 before the two sides traded points to a 26-26 score. A kill by Vanessa LeBrun and a Cardinal attack error gave Castleton a 28-26 win in the set and extended the match to a fourth set.
 
The Spartans continued their strong play in the fourth set, but came up just short in the end, falling 27-25 to close the match. The Spartans led for a majority of the final frame, including a 17-14 edge late, but Plattsburgh battled back to level the score at 18-18. The two sides traded points to a 20-20 score before Castleton jumped ahead 22-20. After points went back-and-forth once more, Castleton held a 25-24 lead, hoping to force a fifth set. A service error by MacDuff knotted the score at 25-25, before an ace by Zophy and one final kill by O'Brien ended the match, 27-25.
 
Castleton returns to the court this weekend at Norwich, taking on the Cadets and NVU-Lyndon in a tri match beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday in Northfield.