ITHACA, N.Y. - The No. 21 ranked Ithaca College volleyball team kicked off the annual Bomber Invitational with two commanding victories, sweeping both Rochester University and Middlebury College in straight sets on Friday. The Bombers opened the tournament with a hard-fought 3-0 win against Rochester (29-27, 25-10, 25-8) as they were definitely tested in the first set before prevailing and later that evening, continued their dominance with another three-set victory over Middlebury (25-20, 25-19, 25-15).
In the afternoon match against Rochester, the Yellowjackets jumped to an early 5-2 lead, but Ithaca quickly closed the gap, capitalizing on an attack error and kills from
Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu and
Josie Hampton. Both teams battled fiercely throughout the first set, with Rochester holding their largest lead at 17-14. However, the Bombers rallied, tying the score at 17-17 behind strong offensive contributions from
Naomi Clauhs and
Faith Sabatier. The set remained tightly contested until Sabatier's clutch kill tied the score at 27-27. Ithaca sealed the victory after two consecutive attack errors by Rochester.
After a nail-biting first set, the Bombers took control, cruising through the second set with an explosive 9-0 run to go up 11-3. Rochester struggled to mount a response, allowing Ithaca to capitalize on several attack errors and key kills from Sabatier,
Ella Graper, and a dump over from
Wesley Slavin. The Bombers comfortably claimed the second set, 25-10.
Ithaca maintained their momentum in the third and final set, dominating early with a combination of kills and a service ace from
Ellie Benedict. The Bombers relentless attack led them to a 25-8 victory, securing the sweep. Clauhs led the team with 10 kills, while Sabatier and Graper added six each. Slavin dished out 24 assists, and
Julia Costa contributed nine digs to the effort.
In the evening, the Bombers faced Middlebury in similar fashion, emerging with another straight-set win. The first set saw strong performances from
Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu and
Naomi Clauhs, who each tallied five kills. In a closely contested opener, Ithaca edged out Middlebury 25-20.
The second set followed a similar pattern, with Ithaca taking an early 2-0 lead behind two kills from Sabatier. Although Middlebury chipped away and even took a brief 16-15 lead, the Bombers finished strong with a decisive 6-0 run to close out the set 25-19, punctuated by kills from Sabatier and an attack error from Molly Harrison.
The third set was all Ithaca, as the Bombers asserted their dominance with 10 kills and an ace. Going on both 5-0 and 6-0 runs, they controlled the pace and never let Middlebury into the match, finishing with a 25-15 win to complete the sweep.
Faith Sabatier led the team with 12 kills as she swung .500, while Clauhs followed closely with 11. Slavin recorded an impressive 34 assists, and
Ellie Benedict notched 17 digs.
REACTION FROM HEAD COACH TARA STILWELL
"I'm really proud of how our team reacted to that slow start in the first set against Rochester," remarked Stilwell. "A lot of the things we worked on at practice this week are translating on the court and I thought the growth from that set to the rest of the match was tremendous and we really came out swinging against Middlebury and played our game."
"Tomorrow will be an important match for us against a St. John Fisher squad that usually is a perennial regional ranked squad, so we won't overlook them, and our focus will be going 1-0 on the day."
The Bombers improved to 4-1 overall and will return to Ben Light Gymnasium tomorrow afternoon for their final match of the Bomber Invitational, where they will face St. John Fisher at 3:30 p.m.
