ITHACA, N.Y. – Despite the end result of being swept by No. 8 Johns Hopkins on Friday evening, the No. 25 nationally ranked Ithaca College Bombers went point for point in each of the sets, but little mistakes helped the Blue Jays as they took the match in three sets by scores of 22-25, 25-27 and 22-25. It was a good learning experience for IC who with the loss fall to 5-3 overall as they will play another pair of strong opponents in Susquehanna University and SUNY Geneseo on Saturday.
VS. NO. 8 JOHNS HOPKINS BLUE JAYS (22-25, 25-27, 22-25)
Ithaca fed off the energy of playing on its home court for the first time this season as the Bombers jumped out to a 4-2 lead, which included a pair of emphatic swings that connected by
Ella Graper. Johns Hopkins would fight back and they brought it to ties at six points, eight points, nine points and 10 points apiece. They gained a slight edge scoring three in a row making it 13-10, but IC would answer scoring four of the next five points including back-to-back kills from both
Faith Sabatier and
Jamie Koopman to tie it up at 14-14. The Blue Jays gained another two-point swing during the middle portion of the set and were up 21-19. Ithaca scored two-straight on the heels of an opponent attacking error and a service ace from
Ellie Benedict that made it 21-21. JHU would end the set on a 4-1 run to close out the set and earn a 1-0 lead within the game.
The second set was even more competitive with the teams trading points throughout as it ended up going all the way to overtime, which saw Johns Hopkins take a 2-0 lead after winning the set 27-25. Ithaca fought back to tie it up at 20 points apiece. The Blue Jays had a chance to close out the set after going up 24-22, but the Bombers battled back to force extra points before a 3-0 run ended the set, which concluded with a Pamela Chiakpo block at the net on an attack from
Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu.
As was the case all evening long, the third set was a game of runs again with Ithaca opening with a 5-3 lead that was capped off with a
Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu kill. Ithaca retained its lead before it tied it up at 10 points apiece after an
Ella Graper kill. Johns Hopkins would hold a three-point advantage before opening it up to 21-17. The Bombers nearly stole the set going on a 4-2 run to make it 22-20 that included a nice swing from
Faith Sabatier and a pair of opponent serving errors. The nationally ranked Blue Jays showed their composure and ended the game with a kill from Simrin Carlsen.
Jamie Koopman led IC with nine kills at the net as
Ella Graper was a force on defense coming up with a five blocks.
Ellie Benedict served up three aces and has totaled a team-best 16 so far this season.
REACTION FROM HEAD COACH JOHAN DULFER
"I thought the score tonight didn't accurately reflect how close the match really was," remarked Dulfer. "I think Johns Hopkins is very physical as well as incredibly coached and probably one of the top three teams in the country right now. They came into the Bomber Invitational off some incredible wins last weekend."
I am just so proud of where my program is and where it's headed and we had our opportunities today against an excellent opponent," added Dulfer. "These lessons will serve us well as we continue our path down this season in the hunt for another championship and postseason berth."
Ithaca College will return to action on Saturday, September 16 for their second and third matches of the 2023 Bomber Invitational. IC will take on SUNY Geneseo at 1 p.m. and then Susquehanna at 6 p.m.
