ECAC CHAMPS! Ithaca Tops Ramapo
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Box Score 2
ALFRED, N.Y. – The Ithaca College volleyball team capped off its 2014 season with an ECAC Metro/Upstate Championship on Sunday at Alfred State College. Ithaca defeated host Alfred State in the semifinals and then outlasted Ramapo College in the finals.
The Bombers (25-11) swept Alfred State in the opener, 26-24, 25-22, 25-20, before prevailing in the back-and-forth title showdown with Ramapo, 15-25, 25-22, 18-25, 27-25, 15-7.
Ithaca's 25 victories this fall are the most for the program since 2009.
Match One: Ithaca 3, Alfred State 0
The Bombers outhit Alfred State in their semifinal match, .219 to .190, but recorded seven less kills – 41 to 34. Ithaca overcame that deficit with eight total blocks and benefitted from 12 service errors committed by the Pioneers.
Freshman
Joelle Goldstein paced Ithaca with 13 kills and hit .571 overall with eight digs and two block assists. Senior
Rylie Bean posted eight kills to go along with seven digs and two aces.
Freshman
Kayla Gromen handed out 20 assists to lead Ithaca and chipped in four kills, four digs, two blocks and two aces. Sophomore
Maggie Mutschler paced all players with 13 digs and dished out three assists.
Sophomore
Breanne Tuohy finished the match with five kills (.455 hitting percentage), three blocks (two solo) and two digs, while Freshman
Katie Hartman registered five blocks.
Match Two: Ithaca 3, Ramapo 2
In the marathon title match, Ithaca and Ramapo nearly posted identical team stat lines. The Bombers came away with the five-set triumph with crucial play when it mattered most - at the end of the fourth and fifth sets.
Facing match point for the Roadrunners at 24-23, Ithaca notched three kills and an ace to force a fifth and final set. Bean put down two kills, freshman
Dylan Gawinski Stern had the other, and Mutschler scored the winning point on the ace.
In the fifth set, the Bombers led, 9-4, but Ramapo answered with three straight points to pull to within two points at 9-7. Ithaca ended the run and started one of its own to win the ECAC title on six consecutive points. The final point was tallied on a block by Touhy and Bean.
Bean backed up her eight-kill effort in the semifinal with a match-best 23 against Ramapo to earn Most Outstanding Player honors. She completed the double-double with 17 digs.
Goldstein added 14 more kills with five digs and three blocks, while Tuohy contributed eight kills, seven blocks and four digs.
Gromen propelled the offense with 45 more assists, while Mutschler recorded a match-high 32 digs. Gawinski Stern reached 21 digs in the match and sophomore
Myan Idziur collected 11 digs.
ECAC Championship Photo Gallery
Alfred State Boxscore (HTML)
Ramapo Boxscore (HTML)