Ithaca Sweeps Nazareth to Advance to Empire 8 Final
HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Ithaca College volleyball team began its quest for the 2016 Empire 8 title on Saturday afternoon when it kicked off postseason play with a semifinal matchup against third-seeded Nazareth College. The Bombers posted a dominant all-around effort in grounding the Golden Flyers in straight-sets to move into tomorrow's Empire 8 Championship Match. Ithaca will get the rematch it was hoping for, as it takes on tournament-host Stevens at noon on Sunday, November 6.
"I thought we played an extremely focused and composed match today," head coach
Johan Dulfer exclaimed. "It was so great to see everyone contribute and to see the game plan work to perfection."
Saturday had a familiar feeling for Ithaca, as the other meeting between the Bombers and Golden Flyers earlier also took place at Stevens' Canavan Arena. Much like that contest, which IC also won in three sets, Ithaca was the aggressor in jumping out to the early advantage. The Bombers did so again in the rematch this afternoon, scoring a 25-20 win in the first set.
Junior,
Joelle Goldstein, had enjoyed quite a week leading up to today's semifinal, earning a litany of accolades, including the conference's Player of the Year award. She did her part in showing Nazareth why in scoring a pair of early kills, as Ithaca jumped out to a 7-3 lead.
The four-point edge remained through the middle portion of the frame, largely due to a big addition to Ithaca's rotation. Sophomore opposite side hitter,
Hailey Adler, had been missing from the IC lineup due to injury for the past six weeks, but was finally able to make her return on Saturday. Her impact was felt right off the hop, as she picked up two of the Bombers' 12 total kills in the set.
A four-point scoring streak increased Ithaca's advantage from 17-15 to 21-15, effectively sealing the first game in IC's favor. Freshman,
Taylor McCarthy, highlighted the scoring run with kills on back-to-back rallies. The Bombers comfortably held on for the win with Goldstein finishing with a team-best four kills in the frame.
The second set was the best defensive set of volleyball Ithaca has played this season. IC held Nazareth to a season-low two kills in the frame, while it racked 11 kills on .450 hitting to run away with a 25-6 victory and a stranglehold on the match. The Bombers collected seven of their eight total team blocks in the dominant second game.
After the Golden Flyers opened the middle game with the first point, Ithaca went on to score five straight and 14 of the next 15 points in the game. Sophomore middle,
Amanda Cerruti, factored in on several of the rallies. She collected three straight points with back-to-back kills, followed by a solo block, to jump start Ithaca's initial scoring run. Although Nazareth broke up the scoring streak to cut its deficit to 5-2, the Bombers scored nine consecutive points with Cerruti collecting a kill, three block assists, and another solo block over that stretch.
The Golden Flyers never recovered, as Ithaca closed out the set with 11 of the final 15 points. Cerruti continued to chalk up points with another kill and block assist to run her totals to four kills, four block assists, and two solo blocks in just the second set alone. Junior outside hitter,
Caroline Gerulskis, teamed with Cerruti for many of those blocks, finishing with a kill and four block assists during the frame. Sophomore middle,
Katie Evans, sealed the set with kills on two of the final three rallies.
Looking to close things out in the minimum, the Bombers continued to roll in a solid two-way effort during the third and final set. Ithaca took control of game with a 15-to-3 scoring run, after the teams were tied at 3-all to begin the frame. Goldstein picked up two service aces and two kills over the stretch, while McCarthy added two kills as well. Sophomore,
Ruby Dyson, closed out the match with a kill, as Ithaca rolled to the 25-14 win in the third set.
"We have been looking forward to this weekend for so long and it was exciting to see the team have so much fun on the court," Dulfer added. "We are looking forward to our rematch with Stevens tomorrow. For us, it is not about defending our Empire 8 title, but rather about chasing another. We have been working all year for that opportunity and we will have our chance to achieve that goal tomorrow."
Goldstein finished the match with a team-best seven kills on .400 hitting. She added four digs, three aces, and a block assist. McCarthy ended up with six kills on a .417 hitting clip. Adler chipped in four kills on seven attacks to post a team-best .429 hitting mark in her long awaited return to the lineup.
Gerulskis had a big match with five kills and a season-high five block assists. Cerruti had a similar final line with five kills, two solo blocks, and four block assists. Evans finished with four kills and two block assists.
Junior,
Kayla Gromen, paced the Bombers with 16 assists, while freshman,
Caitlyn Floyd, picked up 13 helpers and two kills. Sophomore,
Tara Stilwell, led IC with 13 digs. Senior,
Myan Idziur, notched a service ace and added 10 digs.
Ithaca will look to secure a second consecutive conference title tomorrow when it returns to the court to face top-seeded Stevens at noon.