POTSDAM, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's volleyball team was back on the court at Clarkson University's Alumni Gymnasium on Saturday evening with the chance to capture the program's first-ever Liberty League Championship in a match-up against the tournament hosts. Sadly, IC's championship dreams did not come to fruition, as the Bombers dropped a heartbreaking marathon match against the Golden Knights (30-32, 25-21, 23-25, 27-25, 18-20). The loss drops IC's record to 18-10 on the year and leaves Ithaca's future postseason fate this season to the NCAA Selection Committee, which will convene on Sunday to finalize the 2019 NCAA Tournament field.
 
"Tonight was a tough one for all of us," head coach Johan Dulfer said following the match. "It was one of the most grueling battles I have ever been apart of as a coach. I'm incredibly proud of the way our team battled all night, but in the end we just could not pull out the critical points when we needed them and it came back to cost us."
 
The match itself was truly an unbelievable performance by an Ithaca squad that has battled through so much adversity to get to this point in the year. The Bombers left it all out on the court on Saturday, dominating many of the statistical categories in the five-set slugfest reminiscent of boxing match between the perennial Liberty League titans. Ithaca out-killed Clarkson 78-to-56 in the match, while the Bombers also had a significant 127-to-110 and were comparable with a 6-to-10 margin in service aces and a 5-to-7 margin in total blocks. IC out-hit Clarkson .159-to-.133 as well, but it was not enough to push Ithaca over the top.
 
The margin could not have been any closer. Three of the five-sets went to extra-points, including a wild 32-30 opening set and a 20-18 fifth frame. Four of the five games were settled by just two points, while the lone set decided by a wider margin was a 25-21 second-set win for IC.
 
Leading Ithaca's heroic performance was its All-American connection of junior right side Reagan Stone and senior setter Caitlyn Floyd. Stone had one of the finest performance of her career, racking up 36 kills to finish just one shy of her career high on a .191 hitting clip. The third-year completed a double-double with 17 digs, while she also added four service aces, one solo block, and one block assist. Floyd had a monster double-double match herself, finishing with a career-high 70 assists, while also adding 16 digs. The senior setter chipped in one service ace, one block assist, and two kills on eight attacks.
 
First-year Jennifer Pitts also had a huge effort in the middle. She set a new career high with 17 kills, pacing the team with .306 hitting success. The rookie added one block assist and one service ace.
 
Adding complementary offense at the pins were junior Sarah Jennison and sophomore Alison Lipton, while junior Katie Basey got the nod alongside Pitts in the middle. Jennison led the group with 13 kills and six digs. Lipton finished with eight kills, four digs, and one block assist. Basey capped the evening with two kills, one solo block, and two block assists.
 
Ithaca's backline also delivered a heroic effort in the match. All three rotation mainstays finished in double-digits for the match, headlined by a career effort from sophomore libero Jordyn Lyn Hayashi. The second-year product matched Clarkson's reigning AVCA New York Region Player of the Year dig-for-dig, finishing with a match-high 39. First-year Hannah Hughes also marked a career-high total with 28 digs, while fellow rookie Grace Isaksen marked 13 digs. Sophomore Jaelyn Hersberger added two digs, while junior Delaney Runyon made a couple big serves in the final two sets.
 
The opening set is the one that Ithaca would want to have back. Picking up right where they left from last night's win over RIT, Ithaca raced out to a big early 7-2 lead with Stone posting two kills and three service aces during the streak. The Bombers maintained a multi-point edge throughout the set, holding a 24-20 lead with four set-point opportunities. Unfortunately, IC was unable to close out any of those four chances to extend the opening set to extra points. The Bombers had three additional chances to hold onto the opening set during the extra-point session, but each chance was answered with a side-out from Clarkson. Finally, it was the Golden Knights that strung together the clinching run, scoring the sets final three points to close out a wild 32-30 set win and the early leg-up.
 
Despite the deflating finish to the opening set, the Bombers did not get down on themselves and went right back to work in the second set. Although Clarkson had the better of the play early, a massive 9-1 scoring run by the visitors jettisoned IC into a 14-8 lead at the midway point. Stone once-again did the heavy lifting, finishing with six kills during the stretch, while Floyd added an ace and Lipton posted one kill as well.
 
True to form in this slugfest matchup, Clarkson rallied back to tie the set at 18-all by virtue of a 5-0 scoring run. For the moment it looked as though another set well in-hand was going to slip through the Bombers fingers; however, IC rallied with a huge side-out on a kill from Basey and proceeded to string together five of the next seven points. Stone posted two more kills during the stretch, while Lipton and Pitts added scoring swings for the Bombers. Again leading a set 24-20, Ithaca made good on its second set-point chance this time around, with Stone hammering a ball to the floor to clinch the 25-21 win and level the match at a set-apiece.
 
Opposite of the opening two sets, it was Clarkson that actually raced out to a sizeable lead in the third set. Behind a series of 2-0 runs and one 3-0 surge, the Golden Knights opened up a six-point edge over IC at 14-8. This time it was Ithaca that would deliver the counter punch, as the visitors rattled off five straight points to pull back within a point at 15-14. Pitts had two kills during the stretch, while Jennison also added a scoring finish. Although Clarkson rallied over the ensuing stretch to again open up a three-point margin late in the frame, IC scored three straight on kills from Stone, Jennison and Pitts to level the set at 23-all late in the frame. Unfortunately, Ithaca was unable to complete the comeback, as attacks from Stone and Jennison sailed just wide of the mark in the final two points to give Clarkson a 25-23 win and a two-set-to-one advantage heading to the fourth.
 
IC's weary battlers had a tough start to the fourth frame, as again Clarkson raced out to an early six-point edge at 12-6. However, the Bombers dug deep and pulled themselves off the mat to get back into things. A 7-0 run powered by Stone's two kills and one ace, as well as scoring swings from Jennison and Pitts pushed IC back into the lead at 15-13. However, Clarkson rallied with nine of the next 11 points to push Ithaca's backs firmly against the wall late in the fourth. As all great teams do, IC did not go down without a fight and mustered another 6-1 surge to level the set at 23-all. Basey posted a kill and combo block during the run, while Stone also hammered a kill. Ithaca went on to stave off two Golden Knight chances to seal the match, before extending the match with a 3-0 run to take the set 27-25 in extra-points. Stone, Pitts and Floyd notched the clinching kills for IC during the run.
 
The fifth set could not have started any better for IC. Stone powered Ithaca to a 6-2 lead with three kills and one solo block, while Jennison and Pitts added scoring swings for the Bombers. This time it was Clarkson's turn to respond and the hosts did not lay quietly, rallying with five straight points to pull back ahead. The Golden Knights would take an 8-7 lead to the cross over.
 
Matters looked bleak when Clarkson posted a 4-1 scoring run to pull ahead 12-9 late in the fifth, but once-again Ithaca found a response. Kills by Stone and Pitts headlined a 4-0 scoring run to pull back ahead 13-12. The Bombers would be able to serve for the match three times, but each time Clarkson found an answer. Sadly, it was not meant to be for the Bombers on this day, as the Golden Knights got a clinching kill from Rachel Reusch to seal a 20-18 fifth-set win.
 
Ithaca will now turn its sights to Monday's NCAA Tournament unveiling, which is expected to be released shortly after 12:00 p.m.