ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College volleyball team began Liberty League conference play on Wednesday evening by defeating RIT in straight sets by scores of 25-11, 25-23, 25-9 in Ben Light Gymnasium. The Bombers who once again received votes in the most recent top-25 AVCA Coaches Poll, improve to 10-3 overall.
VS. RIT (25-11, 25-23, 25-9)
- Ithaca began the first set strong setting the tone and built a 10-4 lead after back-to-back kills from Camryn O'Leary and Aleka Darko. The Bombers made the most of a pair of bad sets by the Tigers and a kill from Alexandra Montgomery saw her team go up 15-6. IC would go on another uncontested scoring run this time reeling off six-straight points to go up 22-9. Three more kills including two from Darko and a nice converted swing from Jennifer Pitts finished off the Tigers.
- The second set proved to be the most competitive as RIT fought back from an early 7-3 deficit to eventually tie it at 16 points apiece after a Sydney Neff service ace. The Tigers went up 20-19 and then 21-20, but three-straight points from Ithaca, which included another Jennifer Pitts well placed kill put them in the driver's seat. The Bombers earned the 2-0 lead closing out the set with a Maddie Cox assist on a Aleka Darko kill.
- The Bombers reeled off the first 14 points of the third set that was capped off by an Elli Gaskill service ace. They didn't look back from there as they were also stingy defensively with several key digs. IC scored the final two points for the 25-9 set win.
- Ithaca swung .463 with reigning Liberty League Performer of the Week, Aleka Darko leading the charge with 10 kills. Maddie Cox totaled 31 assists and seven digs. Leila Chipepo was once again strong at the net with a pair of block solos.
REACTION FROM HEAD COACH JOHAN DULFER
"I thought we played with a lot of discipline today - and we knew that would be the difference. For big parts of the match, we dominated from the service line and made RIT uncomfortable. They are athletic and well-coached, and that second set was a good example of that. On our part, we forgot to attack for a while, and we talked about our mindset between sets. I'm proud of our mindset and our resilience that was on display at Ben Light Gymnasium today and look forward to seeing how we do on the road this weekend."
Next up, Ithaca College will play a pair of matches in Rochester, N.Y. on Saturday first at SUNY Brockport which will begin at 11 a.m. and will be followed up with a road match at 2 p.m. at Nazareth College.
