Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 LANCASTER, Pa. – Coming off an excellent opening day, which included the team's second victory over a top-20 opponent, the Ithaca College volleyball team took on another extremely challenging doubleheader against tournament-host Franklin & Marshall and No. 13 Eastern on Saturday afternoon. The Bombers opened the day with a thrilling five-set victory over the Diplomats, but had their nine-match winning streak snapped in the tournament capper, falling in three sets to the nationally-ranked Eagles.
 
Ithaca finishes its most competitive weekend of competition to-date with a 3-1 mark, stretching its overall record to 10-3 on the season.
 
Ithaca 3 – Franklin & Marshall 2 (23-25, 25-19, 25-15, 22-25, 15-11)
 
Ithaca opened the day's action with a five-set thriller against the tournament-host Diplomats. The victory upped IC's record to 1-1 on the year in matches that have gone the full distance.
 
The Bombers battled back from a one-set-to-none deficit to win the next two games by comfortable 25-19 and 25-15 margins. However, Franklin & Marshall extended the match to a decisive fifth set with a 25-22 win in the fourth frame.
 
Ithaca prevailed in final game, jumping out to an early lead. The Bombers maintained the advantage to take the fifth set, 15-11, and the match three sets to two.
 
"We learned that sometimes battling is more important that clean volleyball," head coach Johan Dulfer. "F&M gave us all we could handle in a really tightly contested match. I'm proud of how we battled back anytime we faced some adversity and ultimately found a way to secure the victory."
 
Junior, Joelle Goldstein, had her best match of the season to pace the Ithaca attack. She led the team with 17 kills on 38 attacks (.263 hitting percentage), while she completed the other half of the double-double. The Kings Park, N.Y., native repeatedly came up with the clutch kills to help lift IC to victory.
 
Freshman, Taylor McCarthy, also continued her strong run of play during the weekend. She also picked up double-digit kills with 11, while she notched her first career double-double with 11 digs.
 
Sophomore, Katie Evans, was extremely efficient. She marked seven kills over just one error to post a .429 hitting percentage. Junior, Caroline Gerulskis, added seven kills. Both players finished with a pair of block assists.
 
Sophomore, Amanda Cerruti, continued her stellar defense. She marked two solo blocks and three block assists to pace the Bombers at the net.
 
Freshman, Caitlyn Floyd, had another big game for Ithaca. She led the team with 23 assists, while she frequently kept the Diplomats off-balanced with timely pushes. The rookie marked a career-high six kills on 10 attacks for a team-best .600 hitting percentage in the match. Junior, Kayla Gromen, added 20 helpers.
 
Sophomore, Tara Stilwell, led the Bombers with 26 digs.
 
Ithaca 0 - #13 Eastern 3 (27-29, 18-25, 16-25)
 
Searching for the weekend sweep in the second match of the day, Ithaca ran into a juggernaut in a tough nationally-ranked Eastern squad that entered the match undefeated on the year. After a tight opening set that took six extra points to decide, the Eagles pulled away in the following two sets to snatch the straight-sets victory. The loss snapped Ithaca's winning streak at nine.
 
"Eastern is a very good team that's improved immensely from last year," Dulfer continued. "They hit hard and they blocked very well. In the end, we struggled to contend in the serve/pass battle."
 
Evans and Gerulskis tied for the team-lead with five kills. Evans added three block assists, while Gerulskis finished with four.
 
Sophomores, Kyle Dandrea and Hailey Adler, as well as Goldstein ended the match with four kills. Dandrea chipped in four digs, while Goldstein continued to rack up double-digit digs, finishing with 10.
 
Both Floyd and Gromen posted 10 assists apiece, while Gromen added a pair of kills.
 
"I think it was tough to match Eastern's assertiveness at the net," Dulfer concluded. "Overall, it was a great lesson to learn and we will certainly grow from this experience."
 
Looking Ahead
Ithaca returns to action on Wednesday, September 21, when the Bombers welcome Elmira to Ben Light Gymnasium for the Empire 8 opener. Start time for the match is slated for 6:00 p.m.