Ithaca Takes Down Blue Volleyball, 3-0, To Open Wellesley Invite

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Visiting Ithaca College swept to a 3-0 (26-24, 25-16, 25-22) non-conference victory over Wellesley College volleyball on day one of the 2016 Wellesley Invitational on Friday at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse. 

The Bombers improve to 17-4 overall with their fifth straight victory, avenging the squad's 3-2 loss to the Blue on the opening night of last year's Wellesley Invitational. The Blue are now 11-10 on the season and winless in the month of October. 

Ithaca middle hitters Katie Evans (Westerville, Ohio) and Amanda Cerruti (West Islip, N.Y.) combined for 19 kills to key the Bomber victory. Evans led all Ithaca players with 11 kills on 20 attempts, hitting a match-high .450. Cerruti added eight kills and three total blocks. On defense, sophomore libero Katie Evans (Westerville, Ohio) racked up 20 digs, while the setting duo of Kyla Gromen (Lancaster, Pa.) and Caitlyn Floyd (Mahwah, N.J.) combined to pace the Ithaca attack with 33 assists. 

First year Meghan Shoop (Cypress, Calif.) turned in a career-best performance on offense for the Blue, registering a match-high 13 kills. Sophomore Ashley Peng (San Diego, Calif.) added seven kills and 10 digs in the match, while classmate Samantha Ostenso (Hopkins, Minn.) and first year Kennedy Ulfig (Saline, Mich.) chipped in with five each. Sophomore libero Samantha Hoang (Elk Grove, Calif.) had a team-best 12 digs, while classmate Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) had a match-high 31 assists.

The Bombers took a 9-5 lead to open the first set, before the Blue rallied to take an 11-10 advantage following a kill from Shoop. Wellesley eventually grew a 16-13 advantage but five-straight Ithaca points allowed the visitors to regain the edge in a back-and-forth opening game. Wellesley would find late separation when Shoop and Ulfig combined for three-straight kills to make the score 23-21 Wellesley. However, Ithaca scored five of the last six points in the set, clinching the 26-24 win on a Blue error.

Ithaca opened the second set on a 6-0 run and never trailed in the game. The Blue rallied back to tie the set at 11-11 following back-to-back Blue errors, but Ithaca again regained their advantage, this time with a 10-2 run capped by a kill from Cerruti. Ithaca went on to cruise to the 25-16 win.

Wellesley rallied to open the third set, getting out to a 9-5 lead. However, the Blue once again saw their advantage slip away, as Ithaca rallied to tie the match at 11-all. The teams played to six tie scores from that point in the match, until the Bombers broke a 19-19 deadlock with a 4-0 run. The separation proved to be the difference in the set, and the match, as Ithaca closed out the 25-22 set win and the 3-0 match win. 

Both teams will continue the Wellesley Invitational tomorrow, Saturday, October 15, at 9:00 AM with match-ups against Endicott and Wesleyan.