Box Score

Wellesley, Mass. -- The Ithaca (13-10) volleyball team took an edge-of-the-seat five-set match from New Paltz (19-7), 3-2 (25-15, 19-25, 25-22, 24-26, 16-14), on day one of the Wellesley Invitational.

Ithaca, who previously dropped a 3-1 decision to the Hawks in September, won the first, third and fifth sets of the match to knot the 2010 series at 1-1, a series that will be decided on Oct. 29 at the Skidmore Classic.

Three career highs highlighted the night's match as did 27 knotted scores and nine lead changes.

The Bombers dominated the first set, taking five unanswered points to open play and never looked back. Ithaca led the entire frame which included an 11-5 streak that awarded the Bombers a 25-15 victory.

Game two was at a 3-3 stalemate before the Hawks went on to lead, 6-3. New Paltz continued to hold the advantage and eventually pulled away from a 21-18 edge to knot the series at 1-1 on a 25-19 set-two victory.

The third stanza which was tied on nine occasions, finished in Ithaca's favor, 25-22. Ithaca went ahead 21-16 late in the stint, but the Hawks brought the match within two, 21-19, before the Bombers put themselves ahead, 2-1, by edging the opponent with a 4-3 point tally.

After falling behind on a 6-1 count, the Bombers recovered to take a 12-11 lead, but New Paltz pushed the match to five taking the fourth set, 26-24. Ithaca had its chance, leading 24-23, but dropped three consecutive to end the set.

The fifth and final set, like much of the match, was tight. It was knotted six times, though the score was separated by as many as four points with Ithaca claiming a 10-6 cushion before New Paltz surged to tie the match at 11-11. The set was also deadlocked at 12, 13 and 14 before junior Chelsea Hayes (Northern Valley Regional/Haworth, N.J.) tallied a kill to lead 15-14. It was an ace from senior Tina Orlandini (Flintridge Sacred Heart/Altadena, Calif.), one of her match-high four that finalized all scoring to secure the Bomber's victory.

Hayes and junior Jessica Hoeffner (Hauppauge/ Hauppauge) each notched career-highs of 19 kills, while junior Kate Thoene (Voorhees/High Bridge, N.J.) also added 15. Behind their efforts were sophomore Marissa Woodcome (Pittsford-Sutherland/Pittsford) and freshman Sydney Folk (Long Beach/Long Beach) who split the setting duties, recording 23 and 21, respectively.

Senior Taylor Horton (Lakeridge/Lake Oswego, Ore.) led the Bombers with 25 digs while Folk, Woodcome, Hayes, and Orlandini also tallied double-digit dig performances.

Thoene also padded her stats with five solo blocks.

The Bombers will face host Wellesley on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 10 a.m. before taking on Endicott at 2 p.m.