Ithaca, Naz, Utica and Houghton Win
Ithaca 3, St. John Fisher 2
The Ithaca College volleyball team (12-18, 3-2 Empire 8) won a five-set thriller over St. John Fisher (13-15, 2-3 Empire 8), 3-2 (25-27, 26-24, 22-25, 25-21, 17-15), Friday night at Nazareth.
Ithaca hit .251 and tallied a season-best 72 kills in a crucial Empire 8 victory. Freshman
Shaelynn Schmidt (Piney Point, Md./Patuxent) posted a season-high 24 kills. Classmate
Grace Chang (San Jose, Calif./Valley Christian) added 14, junior
Abbie Hutchinson (Pownal, Maine/Yarmouth) put down a career-high 13 and junior
Rylie Bean (Blasdell, N.Y./Frontier) chipped in 12.
Rookie
Molly Brown (Closter, N.J./Northern Valley Old Tappan) and sophomore
Carly Garone(East Moriches, N.Y./St. Anthony's) shared setting duties. Brown had 27 assists and Garone 23. Garone also led the Bombers with four aces.
Sophomore
Dylan Gawinski Stern (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) dug out 19 balls, Chang 14 and freshman
Myan Idziur (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) 13. Rookie
Siobhan Sorensen (Castleton, N.Y./Maple Hill) blocked six balls, one shy of her season-high performance.
The Cardinals powered to a 7-2 lead in the first, but Ithaca rewrote the deficit to knot action at 16. Fisher went ahead 22-18, but Ithaca again surged to tie the set up at 23, 24 and 25. Fisher claimed the final two to secure the first, 27-25.
Ithaca mirrored Fisher's first-set performance in the second, taking a 6-1 lead on Garone's serve. An 8-3 Cardinal run tied action at 9-all. The game was at a stalemate an additional nine times as the lead bounced between the two squads. Chang and Sorensen shared a block to give the Bombers a 25-24 edge and Idziur served an ace to even the series, 1-1.
The Cardinals built upon a 5-1 advantage in the third for a 15-11 gap. Ithaca answered with a 7-1 streak to take an 18-16 lead. The Bombers improved to 21-18, but the Cardinals outlasted Ithaca with seven of the last eight points and a 25-22 final.
Garone was the lead-off server in the fourth frame, forcing Fisher to burn an early timeout. Ithaca got off to a 5-0 lead, though the Cardinals tied the set up at 9 and 10. The Bombers responded with another five straight and maintained a steady advantage en route to a 25-21 win.
Ithaca dominated the fifth with a 6-2 opening run. Fisher made it interesting late, deadlocking the final stanza at 13, 14 and 15, but back-to-back Hutchinson kills on Garone sets polished off the victory for the Blue & Gold.
Nazareth 3, Elmira 1
Nazareth defeated visiting Elmira in four sets on Friday evening by the scores of 25-17, 21-25, 25-22, 26-24. It was the Golden Flyers' first match of the Empire 8 Crossover, which is being hosted in the Kidera Gymnasium. Junior
Maria Allocco tallied a team-high 12 kills to lead Nazareth.
With the victory, the Golden Flyers improve to 22-6 overall and 4-1 in Empire 8 matches. The Soaring Eagles fall to 19-11 overall and 2-3 in conference matches following the loss. Nazareth scored the final three points in the fourth set to seal Friday's victory. The Golden Flyers have now stretched their winning streak to seven matches.
In addition to the kills from Allocco, juniors
Chelsea Beecher and
Olivia harrigan recorded nine kills and eight kills, respectively. Sophomore
Jennifer Hicks added six kills on 13 attempts. Freshman
Madi Wickens amassed a match-high 34 assists as she directed Nazareth's attack.
Defensively, Allocco stymied Elmira at the net with three solo blocks and one assisted block. Hicks also added one solo block and three assisted blocks while Harrigan recorded three assisted blocks. Freshman
Maureen Thayer amassed a team-high 16 digs. Harrigan and Wickens combined for 25 additional digs.
Taryn Rumsey finished with a match-high 13 kills to lead the Soaring Eagles. Sami Hanes had 25 assists, and Catherine Miller recorded 16 digs.
Utica 3, Alfred 2
The Utica College volleyball team snapped a three-game losing streak as it downed Alfred University 3-2 Friday evening at the Empire 8 Conference crossover tournament hosted by Nazareth College.
Both teams traded wins, but the Pioneers were able to secure the 15-12 victory in the fifth and final set to earn their first conference victory of the season.
Laura Homer-Gunther (Sauquoit, NY/Sauquoit) and
Cassandra Manzer (Portcrane, NY/Chenango Valley) each had a team-high 12 kills, while freshman
Carly Lonczak (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) led the way for UC with 21 assists and also added nine digs.
Lora Allen (Dolgeville, NY/Dolgeville) had 20 assists and a team-best 12 digs, while freshman
Brandi Blaszak (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) had eight kills.
Cassi Brancato(Gloversville, NY/Mayfield),
Chelsea Lauria (Erieville, NY/Cazenovia), and
Diamond DeVane (Ridge, NY/Longwood) also tallied kills in the outing and junior
Briona Enny(Queensbury, NY/Queensbury) and freshman
Alexis Lyon (Prospect, NY/Holland Patent) combined for 14 digs.
Houghton v Hilbert | Lycoming
Houghton volleyball went 1-1 on day one of the its Highlander Invitational in the Nielsen Center on Friday.
Houghton opened the event with a 3-1 win over Hilbert College (25-20, 25-21, 19-25, 25-21).
Hannah Compeau (Oxford, MI, Faith Baptist) led the attack with 10 kills, while adding 11 digs.
Hattie Burgher (Selkirk, NY, Loudonville Christian) chipped in with seven kills and eight digs.
Laurel Wroblicky (Irvine, CA, Northwood) added 12 digs.
In the second match, the Highlanders faced off against Lycoming College, falling in four games (21-25, 25-21, 24-26, 22-25). Burgher played strong in all aspects, recording 14 kills and 16 digs. Compeau added eight kills and 14 digs, while Wroblicky contributed 28 digs.
Jaime Green (Port Huron, MI, New Life Christian) finished with 37 assists and six digs.