POTSDAM, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's volleyball team was back on the road for the second time in nearly 48 hours on Friday afternoon when it headed to the North Country for a pivotal Liberty League clash at Clarkson. In what was a effectively a battle for the Liberty League regular-season title, it was the Golden Knights that held serve on home court, dealing Ithaca its first Liberty League defeat in four sets (21-25, 26-24, 16-25, 21-25). The loss drops Ithaca's record to 15-8 on the year and 5-1 in league play, while it ensures it also snapped IC's two-year run of regular-season league titles.
 
Friday's contest is certainly one that the Bombers would wish they had back. It was mostly self-inflicted punishment that made up for the margin in the defeat on this day. Although Ithaca held decisive advantages in kills (51-to-44), hitting percentage (.171-to-.099) and blocks (10-to-6), it was critical errors in the serve-receive portion of the match that made up the difference and then some. The Golden Knights dominated that aspect of the contest with 12 service aces, while the Bombers committed a season-high 16 service errors on the day. While IC did well to keep play relatively close throughout much of the match, it was those struggles in crucial moments that made the difference on the day.
 
"We just didn't come to play tonight," head coach Johan Dulfer said following the match. "We had too many unforced errors and they plagued us throughout the entire match. We'll look to put those mistakes behind us and move forward to tomorrow's match at home."
 
The Bombers received a strong effort from junior right-side Reagan Stone. The third-year talent posted one of her finest two-way performances of the season, finishing with a match-high 23 kills on .321 hitting success, while also delivering a season-high eight block assists as well as four digs.
 
At the opposite pin, sophomore Alison Lipton continued her strong stretch run with a 12-kill and seven-dig effort. Junior Sarah Jennison four kills and five digs, while first-year Camryn O'Leary chipped in one kill on the day.
 
In the middle, first-year Jennifer Pitts hit double-digit kills for the fifth time this season. She notched 10 kills on .294 hitting, while also chipping in one solo block and two block assists. Sophomore Monet Peoples also continued to be a strong defensive presence with seven block assists, while also adding one kill.
 
Senior setter Caitlyn Floyd finished the match with 45 assists, while she narrowly missed out on a double-double with eight digs. The performance moved Floyd all-alone into fourth-place on the program's all-time career assists list with over 3,800 for her career.
 
The backline was paced by a 24-dig outing from sophomore libero Jordyn Lyn Hayashi. First-year Hannah Hughes posted 17 digs on the day, while fellow rookie Grace Isaksen finished with 11 digs. Junior Delaney Runyon also saw action as a serving specialist, but was unable to crack the stat sheet, as the Bombers were held without a single service ace on the day for the first time in over a decade of competition.
 
Ithaca's struggles appeared right from the outset of the day, as many of the themes that would characterize today's match were prevalent during the opening set. Although Ithaca's attack hummed to the tune of 16 kills on a .250 hitting clip, it was 11 errors combined in service and receive that lifted Clarkson to a opening-set win.
 
The Bombers did well to battle despite twice falling behind by six-point margins at 13-7 and 17-11. IC raced back to close the deficit to a single-point five times down the stretch, but were unable to get over the hump and bring the set back to level terms. Most of that was due to the struggles from the service line, as IC committed three successive service errors with chances to tie things up late in the opening set. Clarkson closed out the opening set with a 3-0 run, despite finishing with just six total kills in the frame.
 
The Bombers leveled the match during a slug-fest of the second set, which featured 15 kills aside in a more evenly contested game. Although IC was unable to completely shake off the unforced errors issue that had plagued it so heavily in the opening set, the Bombers were able to do just enough to take the game in extra-points 26-24. Six kills from Stone and four from Pitts helped IC in the equalizing set, while Jennison clinched the set with a tip shot down the line.
 
Unfortunately, the momentum IC was able to gain from the second set, quickly evaporated during slow starts to both the third and fourth sets. Three service aces and one serving error gifted Clarkson four points during an 8-2 stretch to begin the third set. Although IC recovered to close the margin to just two points at 9-7, service errors at crucial times jilted the visitor's momentum time and time again. The Golden Knights took control of the momentum-swinging third set by virtue of a 7-1 scoring run that featured four additional errors compared to just three Clarkson kills. The hosts would easily runaway with the third game 25-16.
 
The fourth set had a similar beginning with Clarkson racing out to a sizeable advantage, capitalizing on shaky passing by the Bombers that left the attack repeatedly out of rhythm. The margin widened to as much as double-digits late into the frame, before the Bombers mustered a late surge behind the swinging arm of Stone. The junior clawed IC back into the contest, shaving the deficit to as close as three points two separate times down the stretch. Although she finished with nine kills in the set, it would not be enough, as Clarkson hung on for the 25-21 lead to clinch the match.
 
Ithaca will be back in action tomorrow afternoon when the Bombers celebrate Senior Day at Ben Light Gymnasium, before taking on St. Lawrence in a 4:00 p.m. start. Ithaca will look to clinch the second seed in the Liberty League Tournament with a victory over the Saints.