ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's volleyball team entered the final weekend of Liberty League play looking to cement their place in the postseason when they took to the court at Ben Light Gymnasium on Friday night. Already sitting in strong position to clinch their berth to the tournament, the Bombers did not leave things up to the final day of League competition, powering past fourth-place Skidmore in straight sets (25-20, 25-19, 25-21) to move to 5-1 in League action.
 
With the victory, IC now sits in second-place and can finish no lower than second in the League standings with a win in tomorrow's League finale against Union. With Vassar and Clarkson all still in the mix for hosting rights for the League Tournament, Saturday promises to be an exciting day with much on the line.
 
Although the Bombers got off to a slow start on Friday, the team quickly rounded into form following a swift regroup in the opening set. IC firmly established itself as the more clinical team throughout the course of the match. Ithaca out-paced Skidmore 42-to-20 in kills in the match, holding the Thoroughbreds to a negative hitting percentage in the match.
 
"There are a lot of outside distractions that accompany the final home weekend of the season," head coach Johan Dulfer said. "I think that some of those things had us not quite ready to play our sharpest to start the match; however, I'm really proud of how the team regrouped and found its rhythm as the match continued."
 
Skidmore won eight of the first 10 rallies on the night to race out to an early 8-2 lead in the opening set. After a timeout from Dulfer, Ithaca seemed to find its game. The Bombers responded with six of the next seven points to climb back into the set. Trailing 13-9 midway through the first frame, IC rattled off an 8-0 scoring run to take a lead it would not relinquish. The Bombers scored five of the final six points to close out the opening set 25-20.
 
Junior middle hitter Katie Evans led the way for IC in the first set, scoring a team-best five kills. Freshman Reagan Stone also proved to be dangerous early on with three kills.
 
Ithaca flipped the script in the middle frame, as it was IC that strung together the lengthy early scoring stretch. The Bombers outscored the Thoroughbreds 9-2 to begin the set. Skidmore would get no closer than four points throughout the rest of the second. A 6-0 scoring run, highlighted by one kill and two block assists from junior Amanda Cerruti pushed Skidmore to the brink at 24-13. Although the visitors did not quit, staving off six straight set points to prompt another timeout from Dulfer, sophomore setter Caitlyn Floyd finished things off a with kill down the middle to help IC take firm control of the set.
 
A 9-2 run midway through the third frame proved to be the difference in helping Ithaca close things out in the minimum. Stone and senior outside hitter Joelle Goldstein each marked five kills in the decisive frame, as part of Ithaca's 16-kill barrage in the third.
 
"I thought tonight gave us several lessons that we will take into our match against Union tomorrow," Dulfer concluded. "We did not play at our best tonight, but I was impressed with our team's ability to regroup and tune out some of the early distractions. We will look to build on this effort heading into tomorrow."
 
In what has become common-place during recent weeks, it was Stone that again paced the Bombers' attack. She finished with a match-high 12 kills on .526 hitting. The rookie also added one assist and one block assist. Evans also hit double-digits in the match, marking 10 kills on .368 hitting, while adding a solo block and two digs.
 
On the outside, Goldstein finished with nine kills on 14 attacks (.500 hitting), bringing her career total to 1,323 kills. The senior hit another milestone in the match, finishing with 11 digs to bring her career total to 1,005. Live Evans, she also added one solo block.
 
Also marking kills at the pins were senior Caroline Gerulskis and sophomore Taylor McCarthy. Gerulskis posted three kills and three block assists in the match, while McCarthy added one kill, one block assist and three digs coming off the bench in the third set. Junior Hailey Adler chipped in a pair of service aces and three digs.
 
Cerruti posted two kills, while she keyed Ithaca's defense at the net with two solo blocks and six block assists.
 
Floyd hit the 30-assist mark for 12^th time this season and eighth time in her last nine matches. She finished with an even 30, while also marking five kills on .500 hitting. The sophomore also contributed defensively with six digs and one block assist.
 
Junior libero Tara Stilwell led the Bombers with 12 digs. Senior Kayla Gromen added four digs, while senior Marlee Wierda finished with three.
 
Ithaca returns to action tomorrow afternoon when it hosts Union in the Liberty League finale at 2:00 p.m. The Bombers will celebrate its five senior members in a pre-match ceremony.