PRESS CONFERENCE | HIGHLIGHTS
 
POTSDAM, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's volleyball team was back on the court at Clarkson University's Alumni Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon when the Bombers resumed action at the Potsdam, N.Y., Regional with a date against Wesleyan (Conn.) in the NCAA Tournament Second Round. The season will continue at least one more day for this scrappy bunch of Bombers, as IC outlasted the Cardinals in a thrilling five-set victory (22-25, 25-19, 25-22, 18-25, 15-9) to advance to tomorrow's Regional Championship.
 
"Every time we take the court, I could not be prouder of this team and grateful for the opportunity to be its coach," head coach Johan Dulfer said. "This group of players is incredibly hard-working, they never quit, and represent our program and the college in the best way possible. We knew tonight's match was going to be a challenge for every point, especially having just played each other two weeks ago. They are incredibly well-coached and have so much talent. We are grateful we were able to come out on top and will look forward to representing IC in the Regional Championship tomorrow."
 
Tonight's match could not have been more even from a statistical perspective. The two sides were right down the line throughout the match; however, IC dug deep to deliver the final clinching set with a phenomenal fifth set. The Bombers racked up 10 kills, did not commit an error, and finished the final frame with a .500 hitting percentage to punch their ticket to Sunday.
 
For the match, Ithaca out-paced the Cardinals 69-to-61 in kills, 61-to-57 in digs, and 12.0-to-7.0 in total blocks. Impressively, Ithaca finished the match with a .323 team hitting mark that was fourth-best for the Bombers across 30 matches this season. The Bombers had four players finish in double-digits for kills, while three IC players notched 10-plus digs against Wesleyan's high-flying attack that also boasted four players in double-digits in kills.
 
Headlining Ithaca's attack was junior right side Reagan Stone, who once-again delivered a monster performance in postseason play. She finished the evening with 25 kills on scorching .316 hitting success. With the outing, Stone climbed into 10^th-place on the program's all-time career kill list. Defensively, the third-year talent produced six digs and three block assists.
 
Two other IC pin-hitters also hit double-figures. Sophomore Alison Lipton and first-year Camryn O'Leary each finished the match with 11 kills apiece. Lipton added one block assists and one dig, finishing the match with a .320 hitting percentage. O'Leary chipped in one dig and finished with a scorching .346 hitting clip. The pair came up with several huge kills during the decisive fifth set, O'Leary finishing with four of IC's 10 total kills during the frame. Sophomore Monet Peoples added one kill on her lone swing of the match.
 
In the middle, first-year Jennifer Pitts continued to emerge as one of the premier middle threats in the country. She had a monster two-way outing, finishing the match with 15 kills on .400 hitting success, while adding five digs, two solo blocks, and four block assists. The IC rookie also posted one ace from the service line. Junior middle Katie Basey was a strong complement to Pitts defensively. She amassed a season-best six total blocks, finishing with one solo block and five block assists. She also delivered three kills on eight swings.
 
Senior setter Caitlyn Floyd was once-again phenomenal in distributing the ball to Ithaca's attackers. She fueled the Bombers sharp attacking effort with 58 assists, while also posting three kills on .375 hitting. She was the lone IC player to collect a double-double, as she also amassed 10 digs and five block assists, defensively.
 
The backline was paced by sophomore libero Jordyn Lyn Hayashi. The second-year talent finished with 15 digs and six assists. First-year Hannah Hughes also recorded double-figures in notching 10 digs, as well as two of IC's six service aces in the match. First-year Grace Isaksen also posted two aces, while adding seven digs. Sophomore Jaelyn Hershberger added six digs and one service ace.
 
The opening set was a mixed bag for the Bombers. Although IC marked 17 kills and finished with an excellent .364 hitting clip, some struggles in serve-receive allowed Wesleyan to emerge with opening set 25-22. It was a 9-1 Cardinal run midway through the set that made the difference, allowing Wesleyan to open up a 19-12 lead. Ithaca was able to generate some positive momentum during the back stretch of the set, rattling off three subsequent 3-0 scoring runs, the last of which bring the Bombers within two points at 23-21. Unfortunately, the hole proved too big to overcome. The Cardinals took points on two of the final three rallies to secure the set win.
 
It was a huge opening set for Pitts, who finished with seven kills in the first set. Stone was not far behind, finishing with five kills in the opening set.
 
Ithaca definitely shook off the early struggles and delivered a firm counter-punch to begin the second set. Behind the strong serving of Isaksen and four early kills from Stone, IC raced out to a 5-0 edge. The Bombers never looked back in leading the second-set wire-to-wire to even the match. The biggest moment of the middle set was a key 3-0 run keyed by a kill from Floyd and an ace by Pitts that staunched some Wesleyan momentum and opened the margin back out to six-points at 16-10. IC capped the frame with a 3-0 run, which featured two scoring finishes from Stone.
 
The crucial third set was very tightly-contested between the two sides, as Ithaca and Wesleyan traded periods of success throughout. The Bombers biggest sequence came midway through the frame, as the squad strung together a 7-2 surge to pull ahead 12-10. Lipton had two kills and a combo block during the stretch, while Pitts added a kill and block assist and Hughes posted a service ace. A subsequent 4-1 surge that featured a combo block from Floyd and Basey and a kill from Stone opened just enough of a margin for the Bombers to maintain. Pitts marked two additional kills down the stretch, which included a cross-court hammer on the slide to send IC into the lead with a 25-22 set win to take a two-set-to-one advantage in the match.
 
The fourth set was a swift counter-punch by Wesleyan. Fighting to extend the match, the Cardinal kept the Bombers out of sequence for much of the frame. The Cardinals jumped out to an early 3-1 advantage and never trailed. Ithaca did rally down the back stretch of the set, posting a 5-1 scoring run to halve its significant deficit to 21-17. However, much like the first set, the hole proved too difficult to dig out from, as the Cardinals sealed the set 25-18 and carried significant momentum into the final set.
 
The final set again began ominously for the Bombers, as Wesleyan jumped out to another 3-1 lead. However, the set flipped on its head after a service error by Wesleyan's Grace Bell. Ithaca went on to score seven of the next eight points. O'Leary and Lipton each marked two kills during a 6-0 scoring run, while the rookie contributions continued with Hughes delivering an ace and Pitts also marking a kill.
 
O'Leary had a huge sequence shortly after IC built the lead to 10-5. The rookie got the Bombers two crucial quick side-outs with thunderous kills to set the Bombers up with a significant lead heading into the latter stages of the abbreviated fifth frame. Ithaca capped the match with a 3-0 scoring run, which featured a combo block from Basey and Floyd, followed by a kill from Stone to clinch the match.
 
Ithaca will be back on the court tomorrow afternoon to face either Wellesley or Clarkson at 1:00 p.m.