HOBOKEN, N.J. – The 18^th-ranked Ithaca College women's volleyball team kept up its winning ways on Saturday when the Bombers returned to the court at Canavan Arena for the second day of the Stevens Fall Invitational. Ithaca extended its winning streak to 11 consecutive matches, grinded out a pair of hard-fought victories over talented programs in University of Scranton and Arcadia in a grueling back-to-back.
 
Ithaca opened the day with thrilling five-setter against Scranton. The Bombers and Royals battled back-and-forth throughout the day with IC making the crucial plays late to pull out the win over one of the Landmark Conference's top squads (27-29, 25-13, 25-20, 18-25, 15-10). IC kept the good vibes going in the second match of the day, overcoming significant fatigue to best MAC Commonwealth leader Arcadia in a tight four-set match (25-23, 25-22, 25-27, 25-21).

"First of all, we are so grateful for the wins against two quality opponents today," head coach Johan Dulfer said. "More than that, I felt like we learned some very valuable lessons today that should help us down the stretch. We talked about will over skill a lot today and about our two-percent better rule. We are a very good team when we are present and in the moment together. On the court today, I thought we continued to play the big points well, especially from the service line. Winning the battle of the first contact helped us pull out two great wins and we now look forward to applying our lessons to next weekend."
 
No. 18 Ithaca 3 – Scranton 2 (27-29, 25-13, 25-20, 18-25, 15-10)
The Bombers opened the day with one of its most challenging battles of the season against a scrappy University of Scranton side that made IC grind for every single point in a five-set thriller. At the end of the morning session it was the Bombers that prevailed to stretch their winning streak to 10 consecutive matches. The win also gives Ithaca another crucial differentiator from many of its competitors in the region, as the Royals already sported wins over both Vassar and Stevens this season.
 
Returning to the court less than 12-hours after last night's victory over Stockton, the Bombers took a little while to shake off the cobwebs from the quick turnaround. IC definitely was swinging with conviction during the first game, racking up 17 kills; however, the precision that the team displayed yesterday was not quite honed in during the early portion of the match. Despite the struggles, the Bombers had four opportunities to swing for the set down the stretch, but Scranton prevailed in extra points 29-27 to strike first.
 
The next two sets were all about IC's dominance in the serve-receive department. Scranton continued to keep IC off kilter on the offensive, as the Bombers posted just 20 combined kills over the second and third games. However, the Royals had no answer for Ithaca's tough deliveries from the service line. Ithaca posted six aces in the second game, a runaway 25-13 win for the Bombers that evened the match at one set apiece. Ithaca added five more in the third game, a 25-20 triumph for IC, which gave Ithaca its first lead in the match.
 
Ithaca's attacking troubles finally caught up in the fourth set. Looking to seal the match, IC could only muster seven kills and a negative .069 hitting percentage in the frame. The Royals played well fighting to extend the match to a decisive fifth set, widening their advantage as wide as eight points at 19-11. While Ithaca eventually began to find its rhythm down the stretch, the damage was already done with Scranton sending the match the distance with a 25-18 win to tie the match at two sets apiece.
 
Needing a big rally, the Bombers turned to their sophomore standout in pin hitter Reagan Stone in the fifth game. She would deliver in a big way with six kills in the abbreviated set. Riding three kills from Stone and an additional finish from classmate Sarah Jennison, IC jumped out to an early 6-3 lead. It was short-lived, as Scranton showcased its grit with three consecutive points to level the set at 6-6. A big kill from junior outside hitter Taylor McCarthy sent Ithaca to the crossover leading 8-6. Stone tallied three additional kills down the back stretch of the game, helping IC maintain the gap. The Bombers sealed the match with kills from senior middle Ruby Dyson and Jennison to clinch the 15-10 win.
 
Stone led the way for Ithaca in the opener, tallying 24 kills on .308 hitting success in another monster outing. She packed the stat-sheet with five service aces, nine digs, and three block assists. It was her fourth outing of 20-plus kills on the year.
 
Providing complemental offense on the outside were Jennison and McCarthy. Jennison finished with six kills, five digs and one block assist. McCarthy added five kills and three digs.
 
In the middle, senior Katie Evans continued her strong run of play with her fourth consecutive double-digit kill outing. She finished with 10 scoring finishes on .318 hitting success in today's opener. Defensively, she tallied one solo block and three block assists. Dyson continued to provide timely two-way play on Saturday, delivering six kills on .500 hitting and adding a pair of block assists.
 
Junior setter Caitlyn Floyd continued to run an efficient offense for the Bombers. Although IC was not humming at optimum level, she still was able to rack up 48 assists, as well as three kills, three digs, two service aces, and one block assist.
 
The backline delivered much of the serving success throughout the day. Senior libero Tara Stilwell paced the way for IC, finishing with 18 digs and a season-high six service aces. First-year Jordyn Lyn Hayashi tallied 13 digs and two service aces, while senior Hailey Adler tallied six digs and one service ace. Sophomore Delaney Runyon posted three service aces in a specialist role, tying her season high.
 
No. 18 Ithaca 3 – Arcadia 1 (25-23, 25-22, 25-27, 25-21)
With a lightning quick turnaround, the Bombers were back on the court just 40-minutes following the conclusion of their wire-to-wire battle against the Royals. Playing their third match in 14-hours, IC powered through significant fatigue to knock off the Knights in a gutsy effort.
 
The margin in every set was razor thin and the final stats certainly reflected that. The Bombers narrowly out-distanced the Knights in kills 52-to-44 and hitting percentage .166-to-.153. In the end, IC came up with the clutch plays when they were needed to pull out the match in four sets.
 
The opening set was a big one for IC. Trailing 17-13 midway through the game, Ithaca launched its comeback bid with a 4-1 scoring run to close the deficit to one point. While the Knights responded with two points to extend Ithaca's deficit to 20-17, another lengthy scoring run by the Bombers proved to be the difference. IC strung together a 7-1 surge to move within a point of the game. An ace by Hayashi and back-to-back kills from Stone capped the flurry. Although the Knights staved off Ithaca's first two set-point chances, first-year Jaelyn Hershberger connected on a third chance, notching the clinching kill in the 25-23 win.
 
The second set followed a similar path with Ithaca coming up with the crucial plays down the stretch. Trailing 17-16, the Bombers posted a 3-0 surge that was bookended by a kill from McCarthy and a solo block from Dyson. Moments later a 4-0 spurt again put IC in position to take a stranglehold on the match. Stone put the bookend on the run with kills on either side, while Evans added a kill during the stretch. Again, Arcadia did not go down easy, staving off three set-point opportunities, before Stone finished things off with the kill.
 
The third set went the other way with the Knights evaporating a slim IC lead, before extending the match with a 27-25 win in extra-points. The comeback set up a dramatic fourth set. IC gained its first real separation midway through the frame with a 7-1 scoring run that featured two kills and a combo block by Stone, as well as a solo block from Evans and a kill from Floyd. Another 4-0 run that had a kill from Evans and a service ace from Adler widened the lead to 21-15. Arcadia would close the gap to just two points with a  4-0 push back, but a subsequent 3-0 surge by the Bombers put the team on the brink of the win. McCarthy and Dyson posted kills during the response, while Runyon added a service ace. McCarthy sealed the match on the third match-point chance, driving down a cross-court kill.
 
Stone had another monstrous effort, finishing with 21 kills on .264 hitting success to lead the Bombers' attack. She would add six digs, four block assists, and two service aces. It was her 11^th straight double-digit kill outing and her fifth 20-plus kill performance of the year.
 
McCarthy turned in a strong effort opposite the sophomore, marking 11 kills in the match. Hershberger added four kills and three digs in a complementary role.
 
In the middle, Evans tallied seven kills, one solo block, and three more block assists. Dyson tallied three kills, one solo block, and one block assist.
 
Floyd was phenomenal again, amassing 44 more assists and adding six kills on .500 hitting. Defensively, she added seven digs.
 
Stilwell paced the backline with 20 more digs, as well as three service aces and four assists. It was her sixth 20-plus dig outing of the year. Hayashi added 10 digs, one service ace, and one assist. Adler finished with seven digs and one ace, while Runyon posted two aces and one dig.
 
Ithaca returns to action this coming weekend when it concludes its Liberty League action with a pair of home matches at Ben Light Gymnasium. First, Ithaca will face Bard at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, October 19. IC will return to the court the following afternoon when it celebrates Senior Day with a 2:00 p.m. battle against Vassar.