Ithaca Ends Season with 3-1 Loss to Clarkson
POTSDAM, N.Y. – The Ithaca College volleyball team had its season come to an end in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship against host and No. 18 Clarkson University in four sets at the Potsdam Regional. Ithaca ends its season with a 31-5 record, while Clarkson improves to 29-8 and will play in the regional final tomorrow against Springfield.
Clarkson jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the first set and led by as many as seven points at 18-11, but the Bombers continued to fight in the set and came all the way back to claim the opening game, 25-23. Ithaca never led in the set until freshman
Amanda Cerruti smashed back-to-back kills to make the score 24-23, and from there, sophomore
Joelle Goldstein ended the set with a kill of her own.
In the second set, Ithaca went out to a 5-2 lead, but Clarkson ran off the next four points to gain a 6-5 advantage. The Golden Knights extended their lead over Ithaca to 13-8, only to watch the Bombers run off 13 of the next 15 points to go ahead, 21-15. Clarkson mounted its own comeback with 10 of the final 12 points to knot the match up at 1-1 with a 25-23 win.
The third set was a back-and-forth tussle throughout as neither team led by more than two points until Clarkson went up, 19-16. The Golden Knights pushed their cushion out to 23-18 before Ithaca attempted a late comeback, bringing the set to a 24-22 score. Clarkson put the final kill down to own a 2-1 lead in the match.
Ithaca went out to a 5-2 lead in the fourth, but Clarkson scored the next three to tie the set at 5-5. Kills from sophomore
Caroline Gerulskis and freshman
Hailey Adler, plus an error on Clarkson, gave the Bombers an 8-5 edge. The Golden Knights brought the set back to a deadlock at 8-8 with a kill and a pair of aces which forced Ithaca to call a timeout. Out of the break, Clarkson continued to apply pressure with two more aces and a kill, but a service error gave the ball back to the Bombers at 11-9. Ithaca capitalized on the miscue and went off on a 6-1 run to take a 15-12 advantage. Momentum flipped after a Clarkson timeout, as the Golden Knights went back ahead, 18-17, and Ithaca halted play to regroup. Two more ties would ensue at 18-18 and 20-20, but Clarkson claimed the match with the final five points.
Goldstein matched a career-high with 20 kills to go along with 10 digs and a block. Sophomore
Kayla Gromen handed out 37 assists with 10 digs, two kills, two aces and two block assists.
Alder, Cerruti and Gerulskis all notched seven kills in the loss. Adler added 10 digs, three aces and two block assists, while Cerruti had six block assists. Gerulskis notched five block assists and three digs.
Freshman
Katie Evans contributed six blocks (two solo) with three kills, while sophomore
Marlee Wierda registered seven digs and three aces. Senior
Dylan Gawinski-Stern finished her collegiate career with 14 digs, three assists and a kill.
The Bombers were outhit in the match, .200 to .159, but tallied 12 blocks to seven from the Golden Knights. Both teams were impressive from the service line as Clarkson held a 10-7 advantage in aces.
Regional Scoreboard
Springfield def. Brockport, 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-23)