ITHACA, N.Y. – After a rollercoaster regular season and strong finish, the Ithaca College volleyball team earned the No. 2 seed for the upcoming Liberty League Championship with a 6-1 mark within conference and 16-12 overall record. The Bombers will travel to RIT on Friday as they will take on the No. 3 seeded Clarkson University at 6:30 p.m. in Clark Gym. The other semifinal game is also taking place in Rochester with RIT earning the right to host as the No. 1 seed and they will square off against No. 4 St. Lawrence with the championship match on Saturday in Clark Gym at 2 p.m.

Fans can follow along with the weekend action via the webcast and live stats.

LIBERTY LEAGUE HISTORY:
Ithaca is searching for it's first-ever Liberty League conference championship as since the 2001 season, Vassar College, Union College, Clarkson University, St. Lawrence University, Skidmore and RIT have dominated the championship scene.

Vassar College has won six titles- 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006

Union College has won twice- 2007 and 2008

Clarkson has been crowned champions eight times- 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019

Skidmore has one championship in that time frame- 2011

St. Lawrence has one Liberty League Championship- 2010

RIT has won the championship once- 2018
 

HISTORY BETWEEN ITHACA AND CLARKSON:
Ithaca and Clarkson University have split the all-time matchups dating back to 2004, with the Bombers winning nine times and the Golden Knights have also won nine times. Both programs have tallied five match winning streaks during the matchup history including the Bombers maintaining theirs from 2004-2008. Most recently, Ithaca won their regular season matchup on September 25 by a 3-0 score. Jamie Koopman tallied 11 kills and Jaelyn Hershberger was right behind her with 10 of her own to lead their team to victory.

SCOUTING ITHACA:
The Bombers have totaled a Liberty League best 1263 kills entering the postseason. Leading the squad this year has been senior Jaelyn Hershberger who has totaled 222 kills with a swing percentage of .194. It's been an even keel attack for Ithaca as right behind Hershberger is sophomore middle Jamie Koopman who has 214 kills along with an impressive 87 blocks at the net.

IC has a veteran squad with five seniors and a graduate student in Paris Buckner who also sees major playing time as the Cleveland, Tenn. Native is a force up the middle with a conference-best 87 blocks. Leading the backline once again for the team is the libero Jordyn Lyn Hayashi who has 435 digs, which is the second most in the Liberty League behind Clarkson's Emma Baxter.

SCOUTING CLARKSON:
Clarkson University enters the postseason with a 17-9 overall record and earned the No. 3 seed with a 5-2 record in the Liberty League. Their two losses came from Ithaca and RIT as they closed the regular season winning for of their final five matches with the lone loss coming in a five-set match to SUNY Cortland.

The Golden Knights have totaled 1140 kills as their top hitter is graduate student Gillian Kurtic who has totaled 260 kills, where she averages 2.77 kills per set. She also has a team-best 44 service aces.

THE NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIP:
The 2021 NCAA Division III volleyball selections will be revealed on Monday, November 8 at 12:30 p.m. via a selection show on NCAA.com. This will be the sports 40^th year of crowning an NCAA champion and first since the 2019 season when Johns Hopkins won it all. You can find this year's complete field and official bracket on NCAA.com.

Here's what you need to know.

When: The 2021 DIII volleyball championship selections will be revealed at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 8
Where: The selections and bracket will be released on NCAA.com.

A total of 64 teams will compete in the tournament running from Nov. 12-20. The final will be held at Francis Fieldhouse in St. Louis, Missouri. The quarterfinals through national championship will be streamed live on NCAA.com.