ITHACA, N.Y. – As a result of being crowned the regular season Liberty League champions, the Ithaca College volleyball program earned the right to host both the semifinals and championship here on the South Hill in Ben Light Gymnasium. The Bombers who have won six in a row, finally cracked the most recent AVCA Top-25 coaches poll coming in at No. 25 after receiving votes for several weeks and finishing the regular season with a 22-4 overall record and perfect 8-0 mark within the Liberty League.

The semifinal matchups will begin on Friday, November 4 with the No. 2 seeded Clarkson Golden Knights taking on No. 6 Union College at 4 p.m. That match will be followed up by Ithaca hosting the No. 4 seeded RIT Tigers within Ben Light Gymnasium at 6:30 p.m. Winners from each semifinal will advance to Saturday's championship contest, which will begin at 2 p.m.

Fans can follow along with each semifinal contest in Ben Light Gymnasium via a video webcast and live stats.  



LIBERTY LEAGUE HISTORY:
The Bombers are in search of their first-ever Liberty League 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 nine times- 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2021

Skidmore has one championship in that time frame- 2011

St. Lawrence has one Liberty League Championship- 2010

RIT has won the championship once- 2018
 
INSIDE LOOK AT ITHACA AND RIT:
Since 2003, Ithaca and RIT have played each other 23 times with the Bombers owning a narrow 12-11 edge in the all-time series. The Bombers are a perfect 5-0 at home against RIT as they did meet in the regular season where IC came away with a three-set victory (25-11, 25-23, 25-9).

Ithaca swung .463 with Aleka Darko leading the charge with 10 kills. Maddie Cox totaled 31 assists and seven digs, while Leila Chipepo was strong at the net with a pair of block solos.
 
SCOUTING ITHACA:
The Bombers are an extremely stout defensive unit as they have held opponents to just a .126 hitting percentage, which tops the Liberty League thanks in large part to 207 total blocks and Julia Costa's 4.25 digs per set. Aleka Darko (84) and Leila Chipepo (74) have combined for 158 of those blocks as they rank one-two in the league in total blocks.

Ithaca has also totaled 1,224 kills entering the postseason, which is second behind RIT (1,278) as the Bombers feature a balanced scoring attack. Leading the squad this year has been sophomore Aleka Darko who has totaled 216 kills with a swing percentage of .273. It's been an even keel attack for the Bombers with both Alexandra Montgomery (212) and Leila Chipepo (211) right behind Darko. Sophomore outside hitter Faith Sabatier has also chipped in a team-best 2.83 kills per set, while Camryn O'Leary got hot during the tail end of conference action and has totaled 109 kills this season, 51 of which has come against Liberty League opponents.

Helping churn out the offense are setters Maddie Cox and Peyton Miller. Cox who has appeared in 68 sets this season has totaled 574 assists while Miller has totaled 357 during her 48 sets on the court.

SCOUTING RIT:
The Tigers qualified for their fourth-consecutive Liberty League Semifinal appearance after defeating Vassar in straight sets and will be in the hunt for its first finals appearance since winning the program's first conference championship in 2018.

RIT have two key players to watch in both Liv Bernard and Cat Vento. Bernard is their top hitter as she leads the conference in kills with 425 this season while Vento is a force at the net averaging 0.86 blocks per set and has hit an ever solid .327.

THE NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIP:
The 2022 NCAA Division III volleyball selections will be revealed on Monday, November 7 at 1 p.m. via a selection show on NCAA.com. This will be the sports 41^st year of crowning an NCAA champion as Wisconsin-Eau Claire were crowned the 2021 champions after defeating Calvin, 3-0.

Here's what you need to know.

When: The 2022 DIII volleyball championship selections will be revealed at 1 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 7
Where: The selections and bracket will be released on NCAA.com.

A total of 64 teams will compete in the tournament running from Nov. 11-19. The final will be held at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Pa. The quarterfinals through national championship will be streamed live on NCAA.com.