ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 20 ranked Ithaca College volleyball team capped off a perfect 3-0 weekend on Saturday as the Bombers would take down Swarthmore in four sets to begin the day and would sweep (RV) Smith in the nightcap as part of the 2025 Ithaca Invitational, presented by The Hotel Ithaca.
 
NO. 20 ITHACA 3, SWARTHMORE 1 (26-28, 25-22, 25-14, 25-23)
Despite holding leads of 13-8 and 19-17, the Garnet took the first set. After Ithaca extended its lead to 13-8, Swarthmore fired off six-straight points to claim a 14-13 advantage thanks to three kills from Isabel Adam. A block from Addison Leadbetter and Naomi Clauhs temporarily swung the momentum back to the Bombers, scoring three-straight for a 16-14 lead. The teams continued to trade blows throughout the opening set before a late Garnet run eventually secured a 28-26 win for the visitors. 
 
In the second set, Ithaca held a 20-14 lead, but the Garnet would not go away quietly. Utilizing a 6-1 run, the visitors crept to within one point of the Bombers. Back-to-back kills from Clauhs provided Ithaca with a three-point cushion. Another Clauhs kill coupled with a Swarthmore service error evened the match with a 25-22 Ithaca win.
 
Highlighted by five aces – including three-sttraight – off the hand of Wesley Slavin, Ithaca pulled away early in the third set. Trailing 5-4 before Slavin went back to serve, the hosts went on a 10-0 run for a sizable advantage. Maintaining a comfortable lead throughout the set, an attack error by Swarthmore was followed by a pair of Clauhs kills, giving Ithaca a 25-14 win. 
 
The Bombers erased an early 7-2 deficit to open the fourth set, but Swarthmore continued to answer Ithaca's runs. A kill from Graper cut the Garnet lead to 20-18 late in the set and ignited a 5-0 Bombers run. The run was capped with a kill from Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu for a 22-20 lead. As Swarthmore responded to tie the set at 22, Gonzalez-Abreu slammed back-to-back kills to push the Bombers to set point. A Swarthmore kill would be all the visitors would get before a service ace from Karina Garcia lifted the Bombers to their second win of the weekend.
 
Ithaca finished with 11 total blocks compared to just three by the Garnet. Ella Graper totaled a match-best five and would surpass 200 career blocks during the second set.  After a tough two sets offensively, the Bombers swung at a .338 clip combined in the final two sets. 
 
Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu led Ithaca with 17 kills. Adding 16 digs to her stat line, the junior notched her fourth double-double of the season. Clauhs tallied 11 kills as the only other Bomber to finish in double figures. Slavin dished out a game-best 44 assists and five aces. Ellie Benedict's 26 digs were a team-high for the Bombers. Bridget Atland (19), Gonzalez-Abreu (16) and Slavin (10) all recorded double-digit digs as well. 
 
NO. 20 ITHACA 3, (RV) SMITH 0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-14)
The Bombers trailed early in the first set, falling behind 6-2. They then quickly stormed back with a five-point run which was highlighted by three consecutive kills from Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu. The Bears followed that up with a four-point run of their own, but not without a Bombers response. IC came back to get eight of the next nine points, as they took advantage of numerous Smith errors and got two kills from Naomi Clauhs to lead 15-11.
 
The Bombers never relented for the remainder of the set as they got a six-point run that had a kill from Clauhs and Ella Graper, plus a couple of errors from the Bears. Ithaca finished off the set with three kills from Brianna Owen and Gonzalez-Abreu.
 
In the second set the Bombers started out strong with six of the first eight points, with a couple more kills from Clauhs, Gonzalez-Abreu, and Owen. The Bears were able to keep things close as they got three points in a row to get within one. Then after some back-and-forth play between these two teams, Ithaca got two three-point runs with kills from Ella Graper and Clauhs, plus two service aces from Wesley Slavin to put the Bombers up 15-9. From there Ithaca and the Bears battled it out, trading points with the Bombers prevailing in the set 25-10.
 
In the third set both teams picked up right where they left off in a close battle, until the Bombers pulled ahead with a five-point run, with two kills from Owen and Gonzalez-Abreu, plus three opponent attack errors. However, Smith came right back with a four-point run of their own to bring the score within one, with Ithaca leading 8-7. Ithaca followed that up with a four-point run of their own, consisting of two kills from Clauhs and one kill from Graper.
 
After a short counterattack from Smith, the Bombers continued their attack, achieving two more three-point runs by capitalizing on four Smith errors plus two kills from Graper and Owen. Ithaca then brought the score to match-point with five-straight points with Addison Leadbetter, Owen, and Gonzalez-Abreu contributing kills. Gonzalez-Abreu then sealed the game with one final kill to win set 25-14.
 
With three wins on the weekend, Ithaca improved to 8-3 overall and are in action again on Friday at 6:00 p.m. as they start Liberty League play against Skidmore College in the Ben Light Gymnasium.