MIDDLETOWN, Conn.- The nationally ranked No. 19 Ithaca College volleyball team fell in three sets (25-21, 25-20, 25-19) to No. 1 Juniata College in their second match of the Wesleyan Invitational, however the Bombers later returned to their winning ways defeating Wesleyan University in five sets (25-19, 25-23, 16-25, 20-25, 15-9). The split on Saturday pushes Ithaca's record to 17-5 overall.

VS. NO. 1 JUNIATA (21-25, 20-25, 19-25)
Ithaca came out strong, scoring the first two points with a kill from Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu and a service ace from Ella Graper. However, Juniata quickly responded, putting up their first point with a block by Courtney Williams and Lily Podolan. Ithaca's early lead was short-lived as Juniata tied the set at 3-3 with a kill by Christy Kennedy.

The set then became a back-and-forth battle, with Ithaca holding a narrow lead of up to three points. The Bombers worked to even the score at 13-13 with another kill from Gonzalez-Abreu. Juniata held off Ithaca's efforts, only allowing them to tie again at 17-17 with an ace from Ellie Benedict and 18-18 with another kill from Ella Graper. Ithaca narrowed the margin to one point with a kill from Faith Sabatier, making it 20-19. Juniata responded with three consecutive points, and despite a service error and a kill by Anaya Prince that brought Ithaca within three, they dropped the first set 25-21.

In the second set, the Bombers struggled early, scoring only three of the first 14 points off two service errors by the Eagles and a kill by Sabatier. Ithaca responded with a four-point run with a dump over kill from Wesley Slavin, two attack errors by Juniata, and an ace from Ellie Benedict. Although the Bombers later closed the gap to two points at 15-13 after a kill from Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu, they could not take the lead and lost the second set 25-20.

Down 2-0 in the match, Ithaca started the third set similarly to the first, scoring the opening points with a kill from Gonzalez-Abreu and an ace from Graper to lead 2-0. Juniata quickly answered, but Ithaca held the lead for 30 consecutive plays before Juniata tied the game at 16-16 with a service ace from Olivia Foley. Despite kills from Naomi Clauhs and Graper, Juniata pulled ahead to win the third and final set 25-19.

Gonzalez-Abreu led Ithaca's offense with eight kills, closely followed by Clauhs with six. Benedict had a standout performance on both sides, leading the team with three aces and 13 digs.

VS. WESLEYAN (25-19, 25-23, 16-25, 20-25, 15-9)
The Bombers got off to a strong start right away getting the first three points of the set. The first point came off a service ace from Julia Costa followed by an attack error, and a kill from Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu. The Cardinals then came back after some back and forth battling to take the lead 9-7.
 
The Bombers were able to take the lead right back with a seven-point run. The run included kills from Wesley Slavin and Naomi Clauhs, three aces from Ellie Benedict, and two attack errors. The Bombers did not relinquish the lead the rest of the way as they won the set 25-19.
 
The second set was very evenly played between these two teams with neither team achieving a three-point run until the Cardinals got a three-point run to take a 13-11 lead. The Bombers countered the Cardinals three-point run with a five-point run of their own getting two service aces from Peyton Miller and three attack errors to take the first three-point lead of the game 16-13.
 
After trailing by three points for the first time in this set, Wesleyan tied the game up at 19-19 with another three-point run. The Bombers and Cardinals then traded points until the Cardinals got two points in a row to go up 23-22. However, the Bombers were able to finish off the set with a three-point run. They got a kill and service ace from Gonzalez-Abreu, and another kill from Clauhs to win the set 25-23. 
 
The Bombers took an early 7-3 lead in the third set on the back of a three-point run that had an attack error and kills from Gonzalez-Abreu and Josie Hampton. The lead did not last long with the Cardinals taking five of the next six points to tie the game up at eight.
 
Shortly after, the Cardinals took their first lead of the set by a score of 13-11 with another three-point run. The Cardinals, after getting another three-point run and a four-point run, took the third set by a score of 25-16.
 
The fourth set started with a lot of point exchanging until Wesleyan got the first three-point run of the game to take an 8-5 lead. The Bombers then took the lead right back with five of the next six points to take a 10-9 lead. Their five points came from three attack errors and kills by Anaya Prince and Gonzalez-Abreu.
 
However, right after Ithaca took the lead, Wesleyan took the lead right back with a four-point run. That four-point run was also the start of the Cardinals taking 10 of the next 11 points to take a 21-13 lead. This helped Wesleyan win the fourth set 25-20.
 
The back-and-forth play continued into the fifth set as neither team took more than a two-point lead in the early going; many of the volleys between these two teams were long and intense as well. Then the Bombers got eight of the next 10 points to bring them to a 15-9 win.
 
The Bombers next game is a Liberty League matchup at home on Friday at 6 p.m. against RIT in Ben Light Gymnasium.