WELLESLEY, Mass. – The Ithaca College volleyball team kicked off its two-day road swing to Massachusetts on Friday evening when it took on tournament-host Wellesley College in the opening day of the Wellesley Invitational. The Bombers continued their clinical play over the recent stretch, taking down the Blue in straight sets 26-24, 25-16, 25-22.
 
"I thought we played a focused match today," head coach Johan Dulfer said. "Our challenge this weekend is to overcome the obstacles that have been thrown in our way and find a way to fight. I thought we did that tonight."

Looking to keep up its strong play against non-conference opponents, the Bombers battled through a back-and-forth opening set, which took an eventually took an extra-point to decide. For 15^th time this season IC staked itself to an early lead with a 26-24 win in the opening set.
 
The Bombers snatched an early advantage in the first frame, but Wellesley battled back to tie the match at 11-all midway through the set. The Blue went on to take a lead through the middle stretch of the game, extending it as wide as 16-13, however, Ithaca showed its classic resiliency to battle back. The Bombers strung together a 5-0 run to take back the lead. Junior, Joelle Goldstein, picked up a kill and a service ace to during the streak.
 
The home side did not back down despite getting stung by Ithaca's 5-0 run. The Blue put together a 7-3 run of its own to pull back ahead and nearly push Ithaca to the brink at 23-21; however, in a game of runs, it was IC that got the last laugh. A 5-1 run by the Bombers, highlighted by two kills apiece from Goldstein, and sophomore, Katie Evans, secured the first set for Ithaca.

"Wellesley is a tough team to get out of system and they are not afraid to swing very aggressively," Dulfer continued. "I thought we did a great job defensively making sure we frustrated their offense."
 
Riding the momentum from a strong conclusion to the opening game, the Bombers jumped out to a sizeable lead with six straight points to begin the second set. Sophomore, Amanda Cerruti, jump started the Bombers spurt with two kills and a block assist during the streak.
 
In an almost carbon copy from the previous game, Wellesley again hit back to tie the match at 11-all. However, the Bombers won 14 of the final 19 rallies to take the second set and a stranglehold on the match. Six different players picked up kills over that stretch with Evans pacing the way with two finishes. Evans and junior, Caroline Gerulskis, teamed up on a big block assist to conclude the second frame.
 
In what was a trend throughout the match, the Bombers snatched an early lead during the decisive third set only to have the Blue answer back to tie the match at 11-all midway through frame. The two sides traded points down the stretch, locking to a stalemate at 19-19. A 4-0 run by IC effectively sealed the deal for Ithaca. Although Wellesley was able to stave off two match-points, third time was the charm for IC as Goldstein sent a thunderous cross court kill to the backline to take the match.

"It was great to see us gut out a win against a good team under difficult circumstances and we look forward to two more matches tomorrow," Dulfer concluded.
 
Evans led the Bombers attack on the day, finishing with 11 kills on a team-best .450 hitting percentage. She also chipped in a block assist. Her partner in the middle, Cerruti, had an excellent bounce back from tough stretch of matches last week. She chipped in eight kills on a strong .389 hitting success rate, while the sophomore middle paced IC with a solo block and three block assists.
 
Goldstein finished the match with six kills and 11 digs, while she led the IC servers with three service aces. On the opposite pin, freshman, Taylor McCarthy, added three kills. Gerulskis marked five kills on 11 attacks (.273 hitting percentage), chipping in an additional two block assists. Sophomore, Ruby Dyson, finished with four kills and a block assist.
 
Junior, Kayla Gromen, led IC with 17 assists. Freshman, Caitlyn Floyd, finished with 16 helpers. Both setters added four digs apiece.
 
Sophomore, Tara Stilwell, posted her 12^th match with 20-plus digs with an even-20 on the day. Junior, Marlee Wierda, added a kill and eight digs.
 
Ithaca returns to action tomorrow morning with back-to-back matches at 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. First, the Bombers will face Wesleyan, while they are set to conclude the day against Endicott.