ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College volleyball team earned a split on Saturday with a comeback five-set win against SUNY Brockport and concluded the regular season with a 3-0 loss to No. 12 ranked NYU. The Bombers impressed showing off their resiliency as they played in its seventh five-set match of the season and revenged a loss to SUNY Brockport that came on Sept. 11.

Ithaca concluded the regular season at 16-12 and 6-1 in conference play. The Bombers will turn their attention to the 2021 Liberty League Tournament as they have locked up the No. 2 seed in upcoming postseason tournament. They will take on Clarkson University, the No. 3 seed on Friday, November 5 with the championship game being played on the following day on the campus of RIT.

Against SUNY Brockport: The first set saw the Golden Eagles take a 1-0 lead to start the match, winning 25-17. Ithaca began hitting its stride in the second set of the match and built all the momentum it needed after making a comeback from a 24-15 deficit. With Brockport at set-point, IC closed out scoring 11-straight points and within that run were to huge kills from junior Jennifer Pitts. The Bombers tied it up at 1-1 with the 26-24 victory.

IC continued to roll within the third set as they were in a rhythm, which powered them to take the third 25-16, going up 2-1. With the score tied at 12 points apiece, the Bombers went on an 8-0 scoring spurt that saw four straight service aces from defensive specialist Julia Costa. The final point of the set win was scored by Camryn O'Leary as the first year was assisted by Laura Severence.

The Golden Eagles bounced back by tying it up with a 25-12 win in the fourth set, but Ithaca gritted it out in the decisive fifth set. The Bombers used their experiences going into extras and it showed building a 12-5 advantage with a Camryn O'Leary kill. The game was put away thanks to back-to-back kills from sophomore Jamie Koopman.

Koopman was the top-hitter totaling 12 kills along with four blocks and not to far behind her was Jennifer Pitts who tallied 11 kills. She has had season-best efforts in both matches during the regular season against the Golden Eagles.
Jordyn Lyn Hayashi led all student-athletes with 21 digs and Faith Sabatier was also in double digits totaling 11.

Against NYU: The first set was filled with back-and-forth play with seven ties and eight different lead changes as the Bombers established an 11-9 lead against the nationally ranked Violets. Powering the great start was outstanding swings from Jennifer Pitts, Jaelyn Hershberger, Jamie Koopman and Camryn O'Leary. The teams traded scoring runs before the set was knotted at 19 points apiece. NYU saw a service ace and two attacking errors as that helped them to the 25-22 win.

The Violets raced out to an early 7-2 lead and didn't allow any breathing room within the game as they extended their lead to 16-6 after a Haley Holz kill. NYU closed out the set with a 25-14 victory that built a 2-0 lead. They had every answer for very strong swings by the Bombers in the third set as their defense powered them to a 25-13 win and the sweep.

Ithaca College begins the postseason at the Liberty League Championships. The Bombers will look to make noise at the postseason tournament and their first matchup against Clarkson University will be in the semifinals. First serve from Clark Gym will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.