CANTON, N.Y. – The Ithaca College volleyball team opened the 2016 season on Friday, as the Bombers traveled to the North Country for a pair of matches at St. Lawrence University. IC began the day with a difficult matchup, falling in straight sets to SUNY Brockport. The Bombers rebounded in a big way in the night cap, securing the first win under first-year head coach Johan Dulfer with a three-set sweep of host St. Lawrence.
 
Ithaca 0 – SUNY Brockport 3 (17-25, 16-25, 16-25)
 
The opening match of the day was a marquee matchup between two squads coming off 30-plus win seasons a year ago, as Ithaca took on a scrappy SUNY Brockport squad. The Lakers presented a unique challenge to the Bombers, who were seeing their first outside competition of the season.
 
Brockport made a concerted effort to funnel its attack through the interior, using aggressive setting to its middle hitters. IC struggled to find solutions to stymie the Lakers attack, falling in straight sets.
 
"Our team had a good mindset coming into the contest, but in that first match I think we tried to do a little too much," Dulfer said. "That first match always is accompanied with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm. I think we played perhaps a bit too aggressive, which led us to overplay in our offensive sets."
 
Joelle Goldstein paced the Bombers with six kills, while Katie Evans and Amanda Cerruti added five kills apiece. Cerruti was Ithaca's top hitter in the opener, swinging at a 0.267 success rate. Running a six-two rotation with its setters, freshman Caitlyn Floyd collected 13 assists, while Kayla Gromen added 12 assists. Tara Stilwell paced IC with 13 digs.
 
"Brockport is a talented team," Dulfer continued. "They presented a unique challenge with a fast attack through the middle, which we were unable to really simulate effectively in the preseason. I think we started to shake some of those first-game jitters out, which helped us later on in the day."
 
Ithaca 3 – St. Lawrence 0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-14)
 
Using the period between matches to regroup, the Bombers charged out of the gates with a fast start against the day one tournament hosts. The Bombers battled through two hard fought set wins, before running away with the decisive third frame by a 25-14 margin.
 
"After the opening match we talked about staying within ourselves and not trying to do too much," Dulfer explained. "We had an excellent warm-up before the match against St. Lawrence and carried that over into the match."
 
While there might have been a little rust on the swinging arms of the Bombers in the opener, IC looked like a well-oiled machine in the night cap. Ithaca improved its hitting percentage from 0.100-to-0.267, racking up 41 total kills as a team in the victory.
 
Five Bombers collected six-or-more kills, while three finished with attacking percentages above 0.300. Joelle Goldstein again led the way for IC with nine kills on 24 attacks. Caroline Gerulskis had a very effective match against the Saints, finishing with eight kills on 16 attacks, marking a team-best 0.375 hitting success rate.
 
Kayla Gromen and Caitlyn Floyd both played well in facilitating the Ithaca attack. Gromen finished with a team-leading 20 assists, while Floyd added 16 helpers.
 
Tara Stilwell directed a fantastic defensive effort, finishing with 23 digs.
 
"I felt like we really began to find our rhythm in the match against St. Lawrence," Dulfer said. "The team did not try to overcompensate after the tough start to the day. We played with purpose and executed the kind of volleyball we know we are capable of."
 
Looking Ahead
Ithaca returns to action tomorrow afternoon, as it completes the two-day North Country swing in Potsdam, N.Y. First, the Bombers will do battle against No. 3 Juniata College at 3:00 p.m. IC rounds out the opening weekend with a 5:30 p.m. clash against Dulfer's former team in No. 20 Clarkson.
 
"It certainly does not get any easier tomorrow," Dulfer finished. "I think the improvement from the first match to the second match today was encouraging. We are going to play aggressive and with purpose. The team gained some confidence from how we finished this evening and we are going to look to bring that confidence to some challenging matches tomorrow."