SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The No. 8 Ithaca College women's volleyball team hit the road for the first time in 2018 on Friday when it kicked off the first day of action at the Wittenberg Fall Classic with a pair of challenging contests against Heidelberg and the nationally-ranked event hosts. In a day that featured several crazy twists and turns, the ball just did not bounce in IC's favor with much regularity. The Bombers dropped both contests, falling to Heidelberg in three sets (21-25, 22-25, 17-25) and No. 4 Wittenberg in a heartbreaker four-set contest (13-25, 18-25, 25-21, 24-26). The two losses lowers Ithaca's record to 5-3 on the season.
 
"Today was a frustrating day on several different levels," head coach Johan Dulfer began. "In preseason one thing we talked about extensively is tuning out the outside noise and controlling what we can control. Today was certainly one the greatest tests of that philosophy that I have ever seen in my 16 years as a head coach. I think that we kind of let some of these outside factors affect us during the first part of the day; however, I'm really proud of how the team fought through it in a very difficult environment and put together a couple of strong sets to close out the day. We will certainly hang our hats on that heading into what we hope is bounce-back day tomorrow."
 
No. 8 Ithaca 0 – Heidelberg 3 (21-25, 22-25, 17-25)
The Bombers opened the day's action with crazy match against Heidelberg that featured several twists and turns. Playing the first match of the day on Wittenberg's secondary court, there were some concerns during warmups that the surface may not be suitable for competition play. Fears became reality in an exceedingly sloppy opening set for both sides, as slippery conditions had players off-balance and sliding all over the court in a 30-28 Heidelberg win in the first set. After consultation with officials, coaches and tournament staff, the contest was deemed to be irreparably impacted by the court conditions and play was moved to the main court with the match getting restarted at 0-0.
 
Once play finally resumed after nearly an hour delay, more questionable situations occurred as it was deemed that senior middle Katie Evans would be unavailable to participate in the match for Ithaca due to an injury sub ruling during the subsequently washed out set. Without both of their senior middles, the Bombers really struggled to generate much momentum in a deflating three-set loss to the Student Princes. Ithaca's passing troubles, which were prevalent in the opening weekend of action, again reared their ugly head in this one, while IC struggled to generate quality attacking plays without its two most experienced central hitters.
 
As much as IC difficulties may have come from some extenuating circumstances, much of the credit also is due to Heidelberg. The Student Princes came out aggressive and never let their foot off the pedal in an impressive display. Heidelberg hit .232 for the day, which included an other-worldly .464 success clip in the third-set.
 
"Today's first match was one of the wildest set a circumstances I have encountered," Dulfer explained. "At the end of the day though, we really have to credit Heidelberg. They were a buzz saw and played with incredible poise and purpose. Hats off to them for how they played in that match."
 
Leading the way offensively for IC was a trio of players with seven kills apiece. Junior outside hitter Taylor McCarthy posted seven on .385 hitting, while sophomore Reagan Stone added seven kills on .190 hitting, also posting three solo blocks and three digs. In the middle, sophomore Katie Basey amassed a career-best seven kills on .188 hitting success.
 
Junior setter Caitlyn Floyd finished with 27 assists and five digs in the contest. Senior libero Tara Stilwell paced IC with nine digs, while senior defensive specialist Hailey Adler posted seven digs and two service aces.
 
No. 8 Ithaca 1 – No. 4 Wittenberg 3 (13-25, 18-25, 25-21, 24-26)
Looking to rebound from the discouraging defeat in today's opener, the Bombers faced perhaps their biggest challenge to-date this season when they retook the court for the final match of the evening against the fourth-ranked Tigers. In front of a raucous and extremely hostile crowd of nearly 1,200, the youthful Bombers gave Wittenberg all it could handle in an inspired comeback that nearly went the distance after another tumultuous start. Unfortunately, Ithaca was not able to find the breaks, as the Tigers held off IC's charge to win in four sets.
 
"I'm really proud of how our team came together through the course of this match," Dulfer said. "It was a tough start for us and it was a very tough environment playing in front of a huge crowd in their building. However, we really started communicating and showing that confidence and belief as the match went along. Our upperclassmen stepped it up in a big way and I thought our younger players took a big step tonight in their evolution as well. Although the result was not in our favor, I really believe this experience will benefit us moving forward this season."
 
The early portions of the match certainly seemed like a carry-over from the first match of the day. Ithaca looked out of sorts in the first set and Wittenberg repeatedly made IC pay in a runaway set win 25-13. Although IC started to come around in the second frame, the Tigers pulled away late, ending the frame on a 6-1 scoring run to take a commanding two-sets-to-none lead.
 
Staring at a big uphill battle, IC did not shy away from the challenge and turned in an inspired effort in the third set. The Bombers racked up 14 kills in the game and held the Tigers to just nine successful swings to extend the match to a fourth set with a 25-21 victory.
 
The Bombers kept on coming during the early portions of the fourth set. IC raced out to an early 8-4 advantage to prompt a Wittenberg timeout, while it grew the lead to 12-6 to force the Tigers to exhaust their timeouts early in the frame. Unfortunately, Ithaca seemed to run out of steam as the set continued. With the lead 13-6 at its largest margin, Wittenberg began to whittle away at IC's advantage down the stretch. However, Ithaca was still able to keep Wittenberg at arm's distance down the stretch.
 
Leading 24-20, Ithaca had several large swings to extend the match to a winner-take-all fifth frame. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be as Wittenberg showcased amazing defense to dig out countless quality Ithaca attacks down the stretch. The Tigers tallied six straight points to clinch the match with a 26-24 set win.
 
Three Bombers registered double-digit kills in the contest. Freshman Alison Lipton led IC with 12 kills, while also adding six digs and one block assist. Senior middle Katie Evans returned to the lineup and had her strongest performance of the season, notching 11 kills and two block assists in an inspired effort. Stone posted her first double-double of the season with 10 kills and 11 digs, while also adding three block assists and a service ace.
 
McCarthy had a solid outing with eight kills on .268 hitting, while also chipping in two block assists and three digs.
 
Floyd posted three kills, 38 assists and nearly notched the double-double with nine digs.
 
In the middle, freshman Monet Peoples turned in a strong defensive effort with one solo block and four block assists.
 
Behind the block, Stilwell had a strong match with 11 digs and two service aces. Adler turned in a team-best 12 digs and two service aces, while freshman Jordyn Lyn Hayashi finished with three digs and one service ace.
 
Looking Ahead
Ithaca returns to the court tomorrow morning for a pair of early matches. First, IC will face Mary Washington at 10:00 a.m. The Bombers will wrap the weekend during the noon window when they face No. 17 Hope.