ITHACA, N.Y--Behind a career night from junior Rachel Busch )(Hoover/North Canton, Ohio), Ithaca volleyball edged Hamilton in a wild five set match to take its second match in the Bomber Invitational. Despite needing to go to a fifth set for the first time this season, the Bombers (5-1) extended their win streak to five matches with the 25-14, 24-26, 22-25, 25-8, 15-12 victory. The win sets up a semifinal meeting with Widener Saturday morning.

Busch totaled 19 kills and nine digs for the Bombers, eclipsing her previous bests of 16 and six, respectively. Fellow junior Jen Heberton (Darien/Darien, Conn.) continued her strong start to the season with 19 kills and 17 digs.

 

In the decisive fifth set, Ithaca rallied back from a 6-0 deficit behind strong serving and four booming kills from Heberton that brought the score to 11-9. The visiting Continentals would not score again, allowing the Bombers to score the final six points of the match. A Hamilton attack error brought the score to within a point, and a pair of well-placed and well-timed Busch kills found open areas of the Continental court and gave the Bombers their first lead of the final set. Both kills were assisted by Corinna Doctor (Skaneateles/Skaneateles), who tallied 59 in the match. Ithaca forced a pair of Hamilton errors to take the set and match.

 

Hamilton had earlier taken a 2-1 set lead, after the Bombers cruised to an easy win in the opener. The Bombers held late leads in both the second and third sets before allowing eleventh-hour Hamilton rallies in both.

 

Facing elimination, Ithaca opened the fourth set to a 4-4 tie. They then proceeded to go on a 21-4 rout of Hamilton to set up the fifth set. Four Bombers picked up service aces during the run, including sophomore #Tina Orlandini# (Flintridge Sacred Heart/Altadena, Calif.). Orlandini tallied a career-high five of the Bombers' season-high 14 aces.

 

The Bombers' semifinal match against Widener will begin at 11:30 a.m. in the Ben Light Gymnasium on Saturday.

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