ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's volleyball team was back on the court for the second time in 24-hours when it returned to Ben Light Gymnasium for the final time this season to face St. Lawrence to close out the Liberty League slate. The Bombers bounced back in a big way from yesterday's defeat at rival Clarkson, racing past the Saints in three sets (25-13, 25-17, 25-19) to finish the regular-season with a 6-1 record in Liberty League action. The win improves IC's overall record to 16-8 heading into the final week of the regular-season, while it also clinched the second seed for the upcoming Liberty League Tournament, which will be hosted at Clarkson in two weekends from now.
 
Ithaca played a sharp match throughout on its home court this afternoon, definitely shaking off any lingering effects from yesterday's match. IC cleaned many of the issues, especially in the service game, as the Bombers limited errors. Offensively, Ithaca was razor sharp in racking up 42 kills on spectacular .333 team hitting success. Other aspects of Ithaca's game were strong as well, as IC held advantages of 6-to-3 in service aces, 7.0-to-4.0 in total blocks, and 49-to-39 in digs.
 
"I'm really proud of the way that we were able to bounce back this afternoon and really deliver a sharp and purposeful effort," head coach Johan Dulfer said. "We never lost our focus and brought great effort and intensity throughout the match. It was a good way to close out the Liberty League schedule and we will look to continue to build in our final week before the postseason begins."
 
The Bombers celebrated Senior Day prior to the match, honoring St. Lawrence's six senior members, as well as their lone senior in setter Caitlyn Floyd. The reigning All-American ran an efficient and precise attack when play got underway. She capped the day with 35 assists to climb over 900 for the season. She also chipped in nine digs, two service aces, one block assist, and one kill on the day.
 
Junior right-side Reagan Stone and sophomore outside hitter Alison Lipton headlined the IC attack at the pins. Stone finished with a match-high 13 kills on .258 hitting success, while also adding two block assists and four digs. Lipton posted her second straight double-digit kill outing with 11 on a .346 hitting percentage. She also added one dig and one solo block. Junior Sarah Jennison aided the attack outside with four kills on 15 swings (.200 hitting).
 
In the middle, Ithaca received some fantastically efficient performances from first-year Jennifer Pitts and junior Katie Basey. Pitts led the duo with eight kills on scintillating .583 hitting success. Basey was even more efficient amazingly enough, racking up five kills on just seven total attacks for an absolutely scorching .714 hitting clip. Defensively, the duo accumulated three solo blocks and three block assists. Pitts tallied two solos and two block assists to add to her team-leading total, while Basey delivered one apiece.
 
Sophomore libero Jordyn Lyn Hayashi keyed Ithaca's work along the backline. She hit the 20-dig mark for the ninth time this season, finishing right on the number, while also adding two service aces and four assists. First-year Grace Isaksen finished with six digs, while classmate Hannah Hughes marked four digs, two service aces, and one assist. Junior Delaney Runyon, as well as second-year talents Jaelyn Hershberger and Laura Severance also saw action in specialist roles on the day, providing some steady passing and service work to aid the Bombers dominant win.
 
Ithaca could not have asked for a better start to the match, as the Bombers began the day with a 9-0 run to jump out to a commanding lead. Lipton and Stone delivered two kills apiece during the stretch, while Basey contributed one kill and one solo block during the latter part of the scoring run. A subsequent 6-0 surge, keyed by kills from Stone and Jennison as well as a pair of combo blocks from Pitts and Stone, helped widen the lead to 16-3. St. Lawrence never truly threatened down the stretch, as Pitts and Stone added two kills apiece over the back half of the frame to close out a 25-13 set win.
 
Another lengthy scoring run for the Bombers helped blow things open to begin the second set. IC rattled off a 10-1 scoring stretch during which Jennison, Stone and Pitts each recorded a kill. Hayashi's strong serving powered the run, as she marked one service ace, while she repeatedly kept St. Lawrence out of rhythm.
 
Although St. Lawrence eventually began to find its footing during the latter stages of the set, the Saints never closed any closer than a four-point margin down the stretch. The Bombers capped the set with a 4-0 scoring run that featured kills from Pitts, Lipton and Stone to close out the 25-17 set win and a 2-0 stranglehold on the match.
 
The third set was the closest of the match, but IC still led it wire-to-wire to clinch the three-set win. Fittingly, the frame started with a service ace from Floyd. Stone added three early kills, as Ithaca established an early multi-point lead at 9-4. The Saints rallied to close the deficit within two points as the frame entered the midway point; however, a 4-1 scoring stretch that featured two kills from Pitts, as well as a scoring finish from Stone and a service ace from Hughes gave IC just enough breathing room at 20-15. The two sides traded points for the duration of the set, with Basey helping closing things out with two kills late.
 
Ithaca will be back in action on Friday, November 1, when the Bombers begin the final road trip of the regular-season. IC will face Johnson & Wales in a 6:00 p.m. clash in Providence, R.I.