Press Conference | Regional Portal | Highlights
 
ITHACA, N.Y. – For the second consecutive year, the Ithaca College women's volleyball will be playing during the season's final weekend. The 25^th-ranked Bombers punched their ticket to the NCAA Division III Championship Rounds in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Sunday afternoon with a three-set victory over Carnegie Mellon (25-21, 25-22, 25-23) inside a raucous Ben Light Gymnasium in the Ithaca, N.Y. Regional Championship Match. The victory improves IC's record to 21-7 on the year.
 
"We are incredibly humbled to be able to have this experience two years in a row," head coach Johan Dulfer said following the match. "We have to tip our hats to Carnegie Mellon once again for a fantastically played match. I think the journey to this moment really started two weekends ago when we down to their place and got a pretty big wake-up call of what it would take to compete at this level. I'm incredibly proud of the team to take the lessons that we learned that weekend to heart and be able to put together the winning formula today."
 
Sunday's opponent was certainly no stranger for the Bombers, as the squad dropped a pretty emphatic four-setter during the final weekend of the regular-season. While issues with serve-receive were the main culprit in that defeat, Ithaca may have turned in its best serve-receive and defensive effort of the year at just the right moment on Sunday. The Bombers really did well in limiting the Tartans top options at the pins, posting 64 digs in the three-set win which was a new season high for the squad in a three-set contest this year.
 
"Carnegie Mellon is so strong at making you earn every single point," Dulfer continued. "They're incredibly well coached and really challenge you to be at your best. I'm just so proud of the team and their commitment to out-working the opponent on the other side today. We talk about the mindset of will-over-skill and that was the quality that you need to have when you get to this point in the year. I believe that having that mindset today really helped us during the crucial point in a match that really could have gone either way."
 
Ithaca's focus seemed to be locked in from the outset, as the Bombers roared out to a 12-6 lead in the opening set with a pair of lengthy scoring runs. Sophomore right-side Reagan Stone and first-year pin-hitter Jaelyn Hershberger powered the Bombers during this early stretch, each recording two kills, while Hershberger also added a solo block. Senior Hailey Adler also delivered a service ace during the run.
 
Carnegie Mellon utilized its timeout well to quell the initial momentum and began to find their footing during the middle portions of the frame. The Tartans slowly chipped away at the IC advantage, closing the deficit within a single point at 14-13, before Ithaca again found the response. The Bombers rattled off four straight points, which included back-to-back kills from senior middle Amanda Cerruti. Another kill from Stone a few rallies later helped the Bombers reestablish a six-point edge late in the set. The Tartans did not go down quietly in the opening frame, surging for four consecutive points to again close within two points at 23-21. However, the deficit proved to be too much to overcome, as junior setter Caitlyn Floyd got a big side-out with an out-of-system push kill to the back corner. First-year Alison Lipton sealed the first set win with a kill off the block to clinch the 25-21 win.
 
It was another fast start that got IC going in the second frame. The Bombers opened the set with five straight points to force an early timeout for the visitors. Stone and Cerruti each marked a kill during the stretch. However, much like the opening game, the Tartans showed their resiliency and fight in slowly working their way back into the set. On the strength of a 9-3 run, CMU took its first lead of the match at 9-8, but IC did well to never let the visitors build on the advantage. The middle of the second remained super close with three ties and two lead changes, with little separating the two squads.
 
Finally, Ithaca got the breakthrough late in the second set with a 4-0 scoring run that featured kills from Stone, Lipton and senior middle Katie Evans. The stretch helped IC open up a 22-18 lead in the game. Floyd continued to turn to the middle down the stretch and it responded in a big way with Evans and Cerruti notching kills to put the Bombers in position. IC clinched the crucial second set on an ill-fated off-balanced swing from CMU's Lauren Mueller that ended up in the net.
 
With the blue-print seemingly well-established, the third-set continued much like the prior two with Ithaca jumping on top early and the Tartans playing catch-up. IC strung together 3-0 and 5-0 scoring runs, largely on the excellent play of Stone and Cerruti. The former posted one kill and added two service aces, while the latter tallied two kills during the sequence, which elevated the home side to an 11-3 advantage.
 
Playing to extend their season, CMU once again dug deep and clawed back into it. A 7-2 spurt brought the visitors within striking distance. The Tartans went on to close within a single point three separate times, but each time the Bombers responded with the crucial point to maintain the edge. A 3-0 surge keyed by kills from Evans, Cerruti and Lipton widened the gap to 23-19. Carnegie Mellon launched a last-ditch effort with Erika Foose on serve, again cutting into the IC lead to 23-22; however, a huge solo block from Floyd earned IC a pair of match-point opportunities. Although a thunderous shot by Stone drifted just wide of the left sideline on the first try, the sophomore made good on her second chance to close out the 25-23 win and the match in straight sets.
 
Stone once-again paced the Bomber with her best outing of the weekend. She posted her ninth double-double with 14 kills and 16 digs, finishing with a .229 hitting rate, while also notching two service aces and several other strong deliveries from the service-line throughout the afternoon. She was named Most Outstanding Performer for the Regional Championships.
 
IC's two rookies on the opposite pin were both very impressive on the biggest stage of their young careers. Hershberger posted five kills and added one dig and the solo block in a confident outing for the first-year talent. Lipton added four kills and three digs as well.
 
In the middle, Cerruti continued her resurgence with her best outing since her return to the lineup late in the year. Looking much like her NCAA Tournament form of last season, she registered 10 kills on .353 hitting, while adding one block assist defensively. Evans also was solid when called upon, posting six kills and one dig.
 
The biggest difference from IC's first match against CMU to today came from the backline. Senior libero Tara Stilwell keyed a phenomenal outing for the group. She posted a match-high 22 digs and added one assist. It was just one dig shy of her season-high for a three-set match this season. First-year Jordyn Lyn Hayashi was also phenomenal with 10 digs, several in quite acrobatic fashion, while her strong serves from the end line also kept CMU off kilter. Adler finished one shy of double-digits with nine digs, while also adding the lone ace. Runyon also got into the match with some excellent serving.
 
Floyd distributed excellently once again, registering 36 helpers on the day to bring her total to over 1,100 for the year. She added three kills, two aces, two solo blocks and one block assist in an excellent all-around effort.
 
Stone was named the Regional Championship Most Outstanding Performer, while Floyd and Evans took home All-Tournament Team selections during the post-match award ceremony.
 
Today's victory marks the first time since 1994-1995 that IC has won NCAA Regional Championships in back-to-back seasons. The Bombers will look to equal those historic programs by being the first team to have a chance to reach consecutive Final Four appearances when they return to the court this coming Thursday. The final seeds and Quarterfinal Round matchups for the NCAA Championship Rounds in Pittsburgh, Pa., will be released on Monday morning.