ITHACA, N.Y. - The nationally ranked No. 20 Ithaca College volleyball team earned a hard-fought four-set victory over NYU, who are receiving votes in the AVCA Top-25 Coaches Poll on Friday night inside Ben Light Gymnasium, opening the Ithaca Invitational with a statement win.
 
The Bombers came out strong in the first set, capitalizing on four early attacking errors by the Violets, along with a kill and service ace from Wesley Slavin. After a brief back-and-forth stretch, Ithaca pulled ahead with a three-point run featuring kills from Addison Leadbetter and Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu, plus a Leadbetter ace to make it 13-8.
 

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Following a brief NYU response, the Bombers extended their lead again, taking advantage of a service error and two attack errors. Ithaca then surged ahead with kills from Naomi Clauhs, Leadbetter, and Gonzalez-Abreu, closing the set on a four-point run to win 25-19.
 
NYU responded in the second set, jumping out to a 6-2 lead. Ithaca clawed back with a kill from Atland Bridget and two service aces from Slavin to narrow the gap. The Bombers tied the set at 8–8 behind back-to-back kills from Brianna Owen and Gonzalez-Abreu.
 
The Violets regained momentum with a four-point run to lead 15-11, but Ithaca answered with five of the next six points, including two more kills from Clauhs to even the score at 16-16. NYU pushed ahead again 21-18, but the Bombers rallied once more, tying the set and eventually fending off set point to win 26–24.
 
The third set was tightly contested, with both teams trading points early. Ithaca grabbed a 9-6 lead with a kill from Gonzalez-Abreu, a Leadbetter ace, and an NYU error. The Violets responded with a run to tie it at 17–17 and edged out the Bombers down the stretch to take the set 25-23.
 
In the fourth, Ithaca overcame another slow start with a four-point run that included kills from Slavin and Leadbetter, a Gonzalez-Abreu ace, and an NYU attacking error to go up 8-7. After NYU briefly retook the lead, the Bombers responded with another run to go ahead 11–9.
 
With the score tied at 11–11, Ithaca strung together five straight points—highlighted by kills from Ella Graper and Owen, a Karina Garcia ace, and two NYU errors. The Violets made one final push, but the Bombers closed out the match with a final three-point run and back-to-back points to seal the 25–19 set win and the 3–1 match victory, capped off by another Karina Garcia service ace.
 
The Bombers swung at a .169 percentage and were paced by Naomi Clauhs and Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu who had 12 kills apiece. Wesley Slavin had 41 assists, while Ellie Benedict chipped in five with a match-high 34 digs. Senior middle Ella Graper had eight combined blocks and is now two away from 200 across her career.
 

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Ithaca continues play in the Ithaca Invitational on Saturday with matchups against Swarthmore College at 10:30 a.m. and (RV) Smith College at 5:15 p.m., both in Ben Light Gymnasium.