SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Ithaca College volleyball team took on its first Liberty League opponent of the season on Saturday and the Bombers responded with a dominant 3-0 sweep over the Garnet Chargers. Ithaca recorded its eighth sweep of the season and improved their record to 12-3 overall and 1-0 in conference action.
VS. UNION COLLEGE (25-14, 25-16, 25-19)
It was a balanced scoring attack for the Bombers with
Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu leading all hitters with 14 kills followed by Alexandra Mongomery (nine) and
Ella Graper who totaled seven. Gonzalez-Abreu was also a weapon at the service line notching three aces as the IC serving kept Union on its toes all afternoon long with
Ellie Benedict and
Peyton Miller also recording a pair of aces.
Ithaca finished the afternoon hitting .278 with 42 kills with just 15 errors on 97 attempts. They held the Garnet Chargers to just 26 kills. In the first set, the visiting team established all momentum at the net holding Union to just five kills as they rolled to a 16-4 lead.
Union was a bit better in the second stanza, but once again the Bombers opened an early lead at 14-4 and didn't allow their opponent to get any closer than seven the rest of the way as they took the set 25-19.
The third set proved to be the most competitive as the teams mostly traded points before Ithaca scored three-straight to open a 15-10 advantage. It was all Ithaca in the middle portion of the set as IC held the hold team to three points on a 6-3 run that was capped off by a
Peyton Miller service ace and a
Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu kill. The Bombers made the most of an opponent attacking error and earned the match win taking the set 25-19.
REACTION FROM HEAD COACH JOHAN DULFER
"It was a great weekend to be a Bomber despite some misfortune this week with injuries," remarked Dulfer. "Starting on a strong note in conference was out goal and we're excited to come home 1-0."
Winners of seven in a row, Ithaca College will return to Ben Light Gymnasium next weekend when it hosts St. Lawrence on Friday and Skidmore College on Saturday. Friday's matchup with the Saints will begin at 7 p.m.
