ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's volleyball was back on the court at Ben Light Gymnasium on Saturday evening when the Bombers took on a big non-league test against NYU in the second match of the day. With both teams entering the day staking a claim to being the class of the New York Region, it was Ithaca that would emerge with bragging rights. The Bombers roared back after coming up just short in the opening set to win the next three games to take this highly entertaining match in four compelling sets (23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-20). The win improves Ithaca's record to 11-5 on the year, while it caps a big momentum-building 4-0 homestand heading into the team's bye week.
 
IC entered the evening session coming off a convincing three-set dominant win over Liberty League foe Skidmore earlier in the afternoon. If there was fatigue it certainly did not show, as the Bombers dug in for a hard-fought battle against an NYU squad that is off to a fast start to the 2019 campaign with a 13-3 record entering the day. Ithaca shown in all facets of the match, repeatedly besting the imposing NYU block to the tune of a 61-to-40 advantage in kills, 11-to-7 edge in service aces, and a 71-to-60 lead in digs in the match. It was a recipe for success that helped Ithaca score perhaps its most impressive resume win to-date this season.
 
"I am incredibly proud of how we battled throughout tonight's match," head coach Johan Dulfer said. "We remained confident throughout tonight's match and really gave everything we had out there tonight. In matches like tonight, every play has so much meaning with just a couple points separating us tonight. NYU made every set a battle, but in the crucial moments we were able to come up with the clutch play and it was truly an entire team effort to get the job done."
 
It was a pin-hitting duo that led the way for the Bombers on the evening. Junior right-side Reagan Stone picked up right where she left off from the afternoon match against Skidmore, finishing with a match-high 20 kills. She also earned the Bombers lone double-double on the evening, finishing with 16 digs, while she also frustrated NYU from the service line with a team-best four service aces. Opposite Stone was sophomore Alison Lipton who delivered one of the best performances of her career. She finished with 18 kills on a strong .250 hitting clip, while defensively she added a solo block and three digs.
 
Contributing to the victory were junior Sarah Jennison and first-year Camryn O'Leary. Jennison marked five kills and one dig, while O'Leary posted six kills in the win.
 
The middle was paced offensively by first-year Jennifer Pitts, who racked up seven kills on .278 hitting success. Sophomore Monet Peoples chipped in three kills on 11 swings. Defensively, the duo stood tall against an imposing array of NYU firepower, which measured up a couple inches taller in many cases. Peoples posted a season-high three solo blocks, while Pitts also added a solo block on the night.
 
Senior Caitlyn Floyd was once-again spectacular in facilitating the Ithaca attack. She racked up 49 assists to add to her Liberty League leading total, while she also chipped in two kills and four digs.
 
Behind the block, sophomore libero Jordyn Lyn Hayashi continued to lead one of the youngest and most exciting backlines in the nation. The second-year talent racked up a match-high 20 digs, while she also carded four assists and one ace. First-year Hannah Hughes was right behind her with 19 digs and one service ace, while classmate Grace Isaksen made seven digs and three service aces. The trio was selling out for balls all night and made things frustrating for the Violets who struggled to see a ball down to the floor for much of the evening.
 
The first set certainly set the tone for tonight's competitive match. It was NYU that raced out to the early lead, but IC showed how far it has come mentally from the beginning of the month to now. Ithaca battled back all the way from a six-point deficit at 14-8 midway through the set to close within a point three times down the stretch. Although NYU was able to hang on for the set win by a slim 25-23 margin, Ithaca certainly gained confidence and would use it moving forward.
 
It was Lipton that provided the spark Ithaca was looking for in a big bounce-back second set. Lipton marked three kills, while Stone delivered a kill and service ace, during 4-0 and 5-0 scoring runs to gain its first lead of the match at 12-8. A subsequent 4-0 run a few points later widened Ithaca's lead to 18-13. Stone and Jennison posted kills, while Peoples picked up a big solo block during the stretch.
 
However, NYU did not back away from the fight either. The Violets strung together a 7-1 scoring run to actually pull ahead 23-22 late in the frame. With their backs against the proverbial wall, IC rallied with the momentum shift of the match. Stone leveled the set at 23-23 with a big cross court kill, while O'Leary notched back-to-back kills as part of the 3-0 run to close out the set win 25-23.
 
The third set remained highly competitive between the two sides, as IC held modest leads of three points-or-less for the early portion of the set, before NYU rallied back to even things up at 13-all. Ithaca gained their first significant edge with a 6-1 scoring run that was powered by two kills each from Lipton and Stone, as well as aces from Stone and Hughes. The lead would sit at 19-14.
 
Again NYU made things interesting down the stretch, clawing back into things with a 5-1 scoring run to erase the margin to just a single point at 20-19. The two sides would trade points over the final nine rallies of the set with each side matching each other point-for-point, as Lipton notched the clinching kill in the 25-23 set win to pull ahead 2-1 in the match.
 
Ithaca saved its best for last in the fourth set. The Bombers gave everything they had and transformed that effort into a 19-kill performance to put an emphatic exclamation point on the weekend. The set again followed a similar script with neither side really able to gain separation until IC took control late in the frame. Ithaca finished off the match with a 6-1 scoring in which Pitts marked two kills and the clinching service ace in the 25-20 set win.
 
The Bombers head into their bye week where the squad will look to gain some much-needed rest and recuperation from the grueling opening month schedule. Ithaca will get back into action in the month of October when it jumps back into Liberty League action on Friday, October 11, in a 7:00 p.m. road match at Bard.