Fisher Wins Five-Set Thriller; Elmira and Ithaca Suffer a Loss
St. John Fisher 3, RIT 2
The St. John Fisher College volleyball team pulled out a thrilling five-set victory against the RIT Tigers, Tuesday night at Clark Gymnasium on the campus of RIT.
Fisher won the first set after overcoming an early hole to tie the score at 6-6. The Cardinals would break the scoreless tie as
Ali Mann served up an ace to make it 7-6. RIT would keep pace, however, matching Fisher point-for-point, tying the set two more times before the visiting Cardinals were able to pull away after building a 20-13 lead before closing the door, 25-19.
In the second frame, Fisher got off to a quick start, building a 20-12 lead, forcing RIT to call a timeout to regroup. The Tigers did just that, cutting Fisher's lead in half as the home team scored six points to make it 22-18, but the hole was too much to overcome as
Rachael Kline smashed two kills down the stretch to propel Fisher to a 25-22 win.
Down two sets, the Tigers responded in the third, jumping out to a quick 12-3 lead. After a short rally by the Cardinals, RIT saw its advantage swell to 20-10, but that lead would nearly evaporate as
Brooke Meader registered two service aces making it 22-16. After an RIT timeout, the home team scored three of the next five points to earn a 25-18 win and the right to play in a fourth set.
RIT continued its strong play in the fourth frame, sprinting out to a 16-6 lead before the Cardinals were forced to call timeout. The break in action did little to slow the Tiger's momentum. RIT would stretch its advantage to 22-10 before wrapping up the win at 25-11 as a fifth and final set would be needed to determine the winner.
The final frame was a back-and-forth affair, featuring 11 ties and 12 lead changes, but it would be the Cardinals that came out on top with
Jasmine Davis clubbing the game-winning kill.
Paige Willson tallied nine kills and five blocks in the win, while Kline had nine kills of her own.
Andrea Gillespie notched 11 digs and Davis recorded eight kills.
Erica Stickler had 14 assists and Mann had 12 helpers.
Oneonta 3, Ithaca 0
The Ithaca College volleyball team (11-18) fell 3-0 (25-20, 25-10, 25-13) to host Oneonta (13-15) in non-conference action Tuesday evening at Dewar Arena.
The Red Dragons posted 15 aces and hit .247 to put the match away in straight sets. Ithaca had a combined 16 kills on the night.
Ithaca challenged in the first set featuring 10 ties, lastly at 19-19. The Red Dragons tallied three straight aces en route to a 22-19 edge and secured three of the last four to end the first, 25-20.
Oneonta continued to dominate in the second powering to an 11-2 gap. The host squad went on to claim the second, 25-10, closing the game with six unanswered.
Ithaca took a 5-3 advantage in the third frame, but an 8-1 streak gave the Red Dragons the lead indefinitely. Oneonta posted a .385 hitting percentage in the third to post a 25-13 final-set victory.
Cortland 3, Elmira 2
The Elmira College women's volleyball team fell just short of a thrilling five-set victory in their home finale, as they were defeated by Cortland State 3-2. The emotional loss signaled the last home match for three Class of 2014 members.
The two and a half hour match was a nail-biting affair as all five sets were close. The Soaring Eagles took the first set 25-22, but Cortland responded to take the second set 25-21.
The two teams took a short break for the Spikes for Life festivities to take place as the women's volleyball team hosted a serving contest on the court for spectators with all proceeds going to the American Cancer Society. This is the fourth annual Spikes for Life game which the EC women's volleyball team uses to raise funds and also awareness for the fight against cancer.
Once play resumed, the Purple and Gold got back to their winning ways as they took yet another close set, 25-23. With a 2-1 lead, EC was looking to close out the match, but they found themselves trailing 24-19 late in the fourth set. The Soaring Eagles came rallying back to tie the game at 24 apiece, but the Red Dragons took the next two points to force the deciding fifth set.
Cortland jumped out to an 8-3 lead at the start of the fifth set, but after the two teams changed sides, the game's momentum began to shift. Elmira stormed back to tie the game at 11, but a mini-rally by the Red Dragons gave them a 14-12 lead. EC tried to spark another rally but they could not as Cortland finished off a 15-12 victory.
The Soaring Eagles were led offensively by
Taryn Rumsey '14 who notched a team-high 27 kills with a .358 hitting percentage. Also chipping in with double-digit kills were
Kierstin Derr '16 and
Paola Ortiz '16 who recorded 13 and 11 kills respectively. Reigning Empire 8 Player of the Week,
Sami Hanes '16, matched a career high for assists in a game with 51 which she set earlier this season against Houghton College.
On the defensive side, three players recorded 20-plus digs. Rumsey led the charge with 27 while fellow classmate
Catherine Miller '14 tallied 20 digs on the night. Another Soaring Eagle set a career high tonight as Ortiz eclipsed her previous best by recording 21 digs tonight. EC had four blocks as a team with Rumsey and
Ashley Heiman '16 each producing a solo block and a block assist against the Red Dragons.
The Purple and Gold have one weekend of competition left in the regular season. They will travel to Pittsford, NY for the final Empire 8 Crossover where they will take on Nazareth College, Utica College, and Ithaca College over the two days of play. There will likely be playoff implications on the line as EC is currently in a three-way tie for third place.