Box Score Post-Match Press Conference | Match Highlights

POTSDAM, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's volleyball team tipped off its NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon when action got underway in the Potsdam, New York, Regional at Clarkson University. The Bombers got off to the strong start they were hoping for, dispatching Morrisville State in three sets (25-19, 25-23, 25-10) to advance to Saturday's Second Round and a rematch against Wesleyan (Conn.).
 
The Bombers put together a convincing performance against the Mustangs, making it known to the regional pod that the two-time defending New York Regional Championships are not intent on relinquishing that title anytime soon. Ithaca nearly doubled up the Morrsiville State 42-to-23 in kills, finishing the match with an even-.300 hitting percentage. Ithaca also held significant advantages in service aces (8-to-5), digs (44-to-27), as well as a narrow 5.0-to-4.0 edge in total blocks.
 
"I'm really proud of the intensity and focus we brought to the court today," head coach Johan Dulfer said. "When you get to this point in the season, every opponent is talented and that was certainly the case today. Morrisville was a team playing with a lot of confidence and had several different attacking options that can hurt. I thought we did a great job as a team of asserting our tempo and influence on the match. We wanted the challenge and we embraced it and I'm really happy of how we rose to the occassion and got the job done today."
 
Junior right side Reagan Stone led the way for Ithaca with 15 kills on .258 hitting success. First-year outside hitter Camryn O'Leary also was phenomenal in her return to the IC lineup on Friday after recovering from an illness that has held her out of competition for the better part of the past two weeks. She racked up 10 kills on a scintillating .429 hitting clip, while also adding two digs.
 
Aiding the production at the pins was the sophomore duo of Alison Lipton and Monet Peoples. Peoples finished the match with four kills and two block assists, while Lipton chipped in three kills.
 
In the middle, first-year Jennifer Pitts hounded the Mustangs with her powerful swings both at the net and from the service line. She finished the match with six kills on just eight attacks (.750 hitting), while also posting two service aces. Junior Katie Basey contributed two block assists, defensively. The pair keyed an entire team effort in holding Morrisville's dynamic attacking threat in the nation's kills per set leader Megyan Merrill to just five kills on negative hitting for the match.
 
Senior setter Caitlyn Floyd – fresh off being named an AVCA All-New York First Team honoree along with Stone – had a fantastic all-around match. She tipped off her final NCAA Tournament run with 30 assists, as well as a perfect 4-for-4 mark in kills (1.000 hitting), while she also delivered six digs and three block assists, defensively.
 
The backline was led by first-year defensive specialist Hannah Hughes, who finished with 12 digs and two service aces. Sophomore libero Jordyn Lyn Hayashi added 11 digs, while she nearly collected a double-double with eight assists. First-year Grace Isaksen added eight digs and two service aces. Sophomore Jaelyn Hershberger amassed four digs.
 
Despite taking the match in the minimum three sets, it was by no means an easy ride during the early portions of the match. The opening set feature a bit of a shaky start for IC, as the Mustangs jumped out to an early 6-3 lead to prompt and early timeout by the Bombers. Eventually, Ithaca was able to settle in quite nicely, going on to post a 15-kill opening set on .387 team hitting.
 
It was a 5-0 scoring run midway through the opening set that gave Ithaca its first separation in the frame. It was Hughes strong serving that powered the run. The rookie notched one ace during the stretch, while her serves kept the Mustangs largely out of system. Floyd, Pitts and Stone each added kills during the scoring run. A subsequent 3-0 run that featured a kill from Stone and a service ace from Floyd widened the margin to six-points at 18-12. The Mustangs never truly threatened down the stretch, as IC capped the set on a 3-0 scoring run that featured another service ace from Hughes, sandwiched between kills by O'Leary and Stone.
 
The second set was the closest of the day. The middle frame again began with a hot start for the Mustangs, who jumped out on an early 3-0 surge. However, Ithaca responded with some strong play to take significant edge at the set's midway point. On the strength of a 7-1 scoring run, which featured two kills from O'Leary and Peoples, as well as scoring swings from Stone and Pitts, helped stake IC to an 11-6 advantage.
 
Morrisville State and Ithaca traded shorter scoring runs through the majority of the rest of the set. All square at 18-all, IC delivered another push with Peoples powering a 3-0 run with a kill and combo block along with Pitts. After a Mustang side-out, a couple IC rookies delivered in the clutch with Pitts and O'Leary marking back-to-back kills to widen the margin to four points. It would prove crucial, as Morrisville rallied with four of the next five points to close the deficit to 24-23. The Bombers turned to their lone senior for the clinching kill, as Floyd slipped a perfect dump into the soft spot of the Morrisville defense for the clinching kill in the 25-23 set win.
 
Holding off the Mustangs for the two-set advantage seemed to take the wind out of Morrisville's sails and IC used the lapse to jump on top early in the third set. Isaksen and Pitts combined for three service aces, while Stone added a kill during a 6-1 start to the set in favor of the Bombers. Although the Mustangs hung within the fringes of striking distance over the ensuing stretch, a lengthy 11-1 run by the Bombers blew matters open. Pitts marked two kills, while Floyd and O'Leary added one each during the first half of the scoring run. Stone posted two kills, while O'Leary added another scoring finish and Isaksen posted a second service ace of the set during the back half of the scoring stretch. Stone posted three additional kills down the stretch to clinch the runaway 25-10 win in the third set to secure the match.
 
Ithaca will return to the court at Alumni Gymnasium tomorrow afternoon when it faces third-seeded Wesleyan (Conn.) at 2:30 p.m. The match will be a rematch of the regular-season finale played on November 2, in which Ithaca stormed back from a two-set deficit to steal a win in five against the talented Cardinals.