Utica, NY – Sarah Balcom floored a career-high 12 kills, Kaylee Clark provided a career-best 34 digs and Sammie Frank nearly recorded a triple-double to lead the SUNY Canton women's volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-23, 25-20, 17-25, 25-16) win at SUNY Poly on Friday evening in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) opener for both teams.

THE BASICS

• Result:  SUNY Canton 3, SUNY Poly 1
• Location: SUNY Poly Wildcat Field House – Utica, NY 
• Records: SUNY Canton (4-12, 1-0 NAC) | SUNY Poly (2-13, 0-1 NAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Play was extremely even in the opening set with the teams knotted at 14 apiece, 17 all and tied once again at 20. The Roos took a three point lead (23-20) after a pair of Wildcat hitting errors along with a service error. Canton had set point after another Poly service error, but back-to-back kills from the Wildcats got them within 24-23. Cadin Taggart closed out the first frame with a kill.
• The Roos jumped out to a 16-11 lead in the second stanza. Poly closed the deficit to 21-19 before Canton tallied four of the next five points for the 25-20 win. The team closed out the set with block assists from Emily Dreyer and Hannah Lombardi.
• The third frame was another tight one as the teams were tied at 9-9 and later 14-14. Poly scored six straight to take a 20-14 lead and closed out the frame strong for a 25-17 win forcing a fourth set.
• Poly led early 5-3 in the fourth but from there it was all Canton as they opened a 19-11 advantage en route to a 25-16 victory to close out the match.

 
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Balcom's 12 kills surpassed her career-best of 10 earlier this season. The junior finished with a .375 hitting percentage (12-3-24). The 34 digs were a career-high for Clark surpassing her career-high of 28 from last season against Cazenovia. Frank stuffed the stat sheet coming up just one kill short of a triple-double posting 31 assists, 14 digs and nine kills. Bria Hunter chipped in seven kills and 14 digs. Sarah Towles also provided 14 digs defensively.
• Brennah Durfee paced Poly with 14 kills and 12 digs.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Roos are back in NAC action on Saturday when they square off with SUNY Cobleskill and Eastern Nazarene College at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. Both matches will be played at SUNY Cobleskill.
   

About SUNY Canton
As Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and professional certificate programs, SUNY Canton delivers quality hands-on programs in digital design, engineering technology, health, management and public service. Faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. As SUNY's leader in online education, SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as 23 online degree programs. The college placed first in 14 categories in a SUNY-Wide Student Opinion Survey, most notably in career services, tutoring, library resources, and classroom facilities. The SUNY Canton Kangaroos 15 traditional athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division III level as part of the North Atlantic Conference. SUNY Canton also features varsity esports and cheerleading.