HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The 15^th-ranked Ithaca College women's volleyball team was back on the court at Memorial Gymnasium for a pair of matches against Carnegie Mellon and Swarthmore in the final day of the ASICS Invitational. The Bombers split a pair of four-set contests, falling to Carnegie Mellon in the opening match of the day, before rallying for a four-set win over Swarthmore to even the team's record at 3-3.
 
"I was really happy with how we responded to adversity that we faced today," head coach Johan Dulfer said. "After today's first match, the captains really gathered the team together and we talked about what impression we wanted to leave with coming out of the weekend. I thought that we played confident and focused to end the weekend and really answered the call against a very talented Swarthmore squad."
 
Carnegie Mellon 3 - #15 Ithaca 1 (25-14, 22-25, 25-17-25-13)
The opening match of the day was an anticipated one for both sides, as it represented a rematch of last year's NCAA New York Regional Final in which the Bombers took the match in three sets. The rematch did not go as well for the Bombers, as the Tartans used strong serving and relentless defense to keep Ithaca off-balanced throughout the majority of the match.
 
Although Ithaca showed some strong mental fortitude to rally back from a big deficit in the second set to steal the game 25-22 and even the match at one set apiece, the Tartans responded with convincing wins in the third and fourth sets to clinch the match.
 
It was more what Ithaca didn't do more than anything else. While the Tartans only amassed 15 kills over the final two frames, IC's serve receive struggled to find the mark. CMU racked up 12 service aces, while out-of-system play allowed the Tartans block to find rhythm against IC's attackers.
 
"I think we kind of got caught up in moment and got away from executing what we worked on in practice this week leading up to the weekend," Dulfer explained. "While we had a game plan, I think we allowed ourselves to fall back into some bad habits that came back to bite us."
 
Junior right side Reagan Stone was Ithaca's lone player to reach double-digit kills. She would finish with 10 kills and six digs. Sophomore Alison Lipton and first-year Noemi Talton were also held in check, finishing with five and three kills, respectively. Junior Sarah Jennison and first-year Camryn O'Leary each added one kill.
 
In the middle, first-year Jennifer Pitts delivered six kills and two block assists. Monet Peoples was also effective with three kills on just seven attacks, while she also added one solo block and three block assists.
 
Senior Caitlyn Floyd posted 20 assists, four kills, five digs and two block assists in three sets of action. Ithaca turned to junior Delaney Runyon looking to shake up momentum in the fourth set. The third-year would notch three assists and one kill in her one set of action.
 
The backline was paced by sophomore libero Jordyn Lyn Hayashi who had one of the best defensive games of her career. She marked 24 digs and added five assists. First-year Hannah Hughes added eight digs, while fellow rookie Grace Isaksen posted three digs. Sophomore Laura Severance delivered a stabilizing presence to the backline when she was introduced into the rotation. She finished with four digs.
 
No. 15 Ithaca 3 – Swarthmore 1 (19-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-23)
Ithaca bounced back during the night cap against the Garnet. Although there was a little bit of a lingering malaise from the flat finish to the day's opening match, IC grew into the match as it wore on and scored a convincing win.
 
"We talk about doing the little things well that translate to big things down the line," Dulfer said. "I think that our group did some soul searching between matches and put together one of our best matches of the season to end the weekend. I finally saw a team that was willing to take risks and was playing with the confidence that I know we can play with. The players really answered the call and it was really an entire team effort with every single player contributing."
 
Stone put together her match of the tournament, looking very much like her All-America form of last season. She finished with 21 kills on .366 hitting success, while one ace, one block assist, and one dig. Stone would be named to the All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the day.
 
Talton and Lipton added double-digit kill efforts to add to IC's production at the pins. Talton finished with 12 kills, two aces and five digs, while Lipton posted 10 kills, two solo blocks and one block assist.
 
In the middle, Pitts added another six-kill performance to pace the group. She would also register one solo block and one block assist. Peoples also had strong performance with six kills on .600 hitting, adding one block assist. Junior Katie Basey also scored one block assist.
 
Floyd posted a season-high 51 assists in the win. She nearly notched the double-double with nine digs, while she also scored four kills and two service aces.
 
The backline received another outstanding performance from Hayashi, who posted a team-high 22 digs and added three assists. She would join Stone on the All-Tournament Team. Isaksen and Hughes also posted double-digit dig outings, finishing with 11 and 10, respectively. Severance added five digs.
 
Looking Ahead
Ithaca returns to action next weekend when it travels to Brockport for another three-match set. IC will begin the tournament on Friday, September 13, when it faces Hamilton at 6:30 p.m.