ITHACA, N.Y. – The 19^th-ranked Ithaca College women's volleyball team put an emphatic statement on the conclusion of the Liberty League schedule when it returned to Ben Light Gymnasium for the team's home finale against Vassar. With hosting rights to next month's Liberty League Tournament already secured for the Bombers by virtue of results last night, IC entered play on Saturday looking to keep its lengthy winning streak alive, as well as secure the league's outright regular-season title. IC came through in thrilling fashion, staging a comeback to down the talented Brewers in a marathon five-setter (34-36, 25-14, 22-25, 25-20, 15-7). The victory improves Ithaca's record to 18-5 overall, while IC finishes the regular-season league slate with a perfect 7-0 mark.
 
Prior to today's match, the program honored its five senior members: Amanda Cerruti, Katie Evans, Tara Stilwell, Ruby Dyson and Hailey Adler. The 2018 senior class has played a huge role in laying the groundwork for Ithaca becoming not only a major player in the New York Region, but also at the national level. Once the ceremonies concluded, the match began with a bang with an amazingly competitive first set that set the tone for the match. Ultimately, Ithaca came up with the clutch plays when they mattered most, twice coming back from down a set to score the team's 13^th consecutive victory.
 
When the final whistle blew, Ithaca turned in one of its most comprehensive efforts of the season. IC set season highs with 199 attacks, 74 kills, 70 assists, 108 digs, and nearly matched a season-high in service aces with 17. Although the Bombers held hefty advantages in nearly every stat column, it meant little as the Brewers gave IC everything it could handle in a match that went the distance.
 
The opening set began with a flourish by Ithaca, still riding the wave of energy and momentum from Senior Day ceremonies. Ithaca rattled off seven consecutive points to begin the match, as first-year Jordyn Lyn Hayashi picked up two aces. Sophomore Reagan Stone also got off to a phenomenal start to what would be a career match for the second-year talent. She posted two kills and two combo blocks with Dyson during the stretch.
 
Unfortunately, the early lead evaporated as the set continued behind the strong serving of Vassar. The Brewers strung together an 8-1 scoring surge to snag its first lead in the opening game at 17-15. The back-and-forth contest continued late into the game, as a 4-0 surge by IC that featured kills from Evans and first-year Alison Lipton, as well as a service ace from Adler put Ithaca within two points of the set at 23-21. Vassar responded with a 3-0 run that gave the Brewers a chance to serve for the set. Evans came up with a big kill to send the game to extra-points at 24-24, starting the longest run of extra-points Ithaca has faced this season. During the session, Ithaca had three chances to serve for the set, while Vassar had five swings for the set, before the Brewers finally earned the clinching point on an attack error by Taylor McCarthy that landed just outside the end line by the closest of margins. The 36-34 triumph gave the visitors an early 1-0 lead.
 
Ithaca did not get deflated from letting the opening set slip away. The Bombers led wire-to-wire in a dominant second set. IC posted 17 kills on .483 hitting success in the frame, easily surging past Vassar for the 25-14 win. Stone continued her strong play with seven kills in the frame, while classmate Sarah Jennison provided a spark off the bench with four kills in the second. Lipton provided two kills down the stretch, while sophomore Delaney Runyon also notched an ace.
 
The critical third set began ominously for Ithaca, as Vassar got off to a fast start for the first time thus far in the match, racing out to a 7-1 lead. The Bombers slowly began carving into the deficit, closing within two points three separate times during the middle of the set. However, a 3-0 run by the visitors widened the gap back to five points, while a subsequent 3-0 surge shortly after pushed the advantage to six points at 21-15. IC stormed back with a 6-0 run of its own to even the set at 21-all. An Evans ace was accompanied by first-year Jaelyn Hershberger posting a kill during the run, while junior setter Caitlyn Floyd and Dyson combined on a block that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
 
Sadly, Vassar regrouped out of the timeout, picking up two straight points, which proved to be enough separation to see-out the set. Although Hershberger added another kill down the stretch, Stone was stuffed on a combo block by Vassar's Devan Gallagher and Lauren Ninkovich to seal the 25-22 frame and a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Needing a result to push matters to a decisive fifth set, Ithaca found a way to overcome another fast start for the visitors. Behind strong serving and more thunderous kills from Stone and Evans, IC widened the advantage to 15-11 at the midway point. A 4-1 scoring stretch that featured two more Stone kills, one additional finish from Hershberger and a combo block by Stone and Dyson upped the lead to 19-13.
 
Stone and Evans each marked two kills down the stretch, while Floyd put the Bombers on the brink with a beautiful one-touch push kill to the back left corner. Although Vassar's Devan Gallagher was able to stave off two set-points, her third serve was drilled into the net to send things to a fifth frame with a 25-20 win for the Bombers in the fourth.
 
Riding the momentum, Ithaca seized early control behind four kills from Stone. Evans and Hershberger tallied back-to-back kills, followed by an Adler ace that sent IC into the crossover up 8-3. The gap maintained throughout the ensuring stretch, setting the tone for a big finish. The Bombers turned to their sophomore to get the job done and Stone responded with three straight kills to clinch the set 15-7 and the match.
 
Stone finished her career outing nearly amassing a triple-double on the day. She finished with 37 kills on .385 hitting success, while picking up her fifth double-double of the year with 18 digs. The St. Louis native also added a career-high seven service aces, as well as one solo block and five block assists.
 
The offense at the pins accented by a strong host of players. Hershberger and Lipton each finished with six scoring swings, while Jennison added five kills. McCarthy chipped in one kill as well.
 
In the middle, Evans had an excellent outing with 13 kills on .333 hitting success. She added one block assist and two service aces. Dyson contributed two kills and had a huge defensive game with a career-best one solo block and six block assists.
 
Stone was not the only player to post a career effort, as Floyd also reached a career high for assists. She finished with 62 helpers, while she also stuffed the stat-sheet with four kills, 13 digs, and two block assists.
 
The career efforts continued on the backline, as Stilwell had a monster outing as well. She finished with a career-high 40 digs and added five assists in the contest. Adler posted 11 digs and three service aces, while Hayashi marked 10 digs and two service aces. Runyon delivered three aces and one dig as a serving specialist.
 
Ithaca is back in action next weekend when it travels to Pittsburgh, Pa., for the Carnegie Mellon Invitational on Friday, October 26, and Saturday, October 27. The Bombers will tip-off the two-day event against the tournament hosts at 7:00 p.m.