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Ithaca Claims Empire 8 Regular Season Crown with Wins over Alfred & Stevens
Story and Photo Courtesy of the Ithaca Athletics Site
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Ithaca (19-11, 7-1 Empire
8) volleyball team rolled past a pair of conference opponents on
Saturday at the second Empire 8 Crossover to claim the 2010 Empire
8 regular-season title. Ithaca blanked Alfred (6-19, 1-6 Empire 8),
3-0 (25-11, 25-9, 25-16), before snapping Stevens' 15-match win
streak by claiming a crucial, 3-1 (27-5, 5-3 Empire 8) victory at
Ben Light Gymnasium.
Ithaca’s victory over Stevens knocked the three-time
defending conference champion Ducks out of the Empire 8
Championship Tournament field.
Having claimed the number-one seed, the Bombers will host the 2010
Empire 8 volleyball tournament on Friday, Nov. 5. Vying for its
fourth Empire 8 title, Ithaca will be accompanied in the
post-season bracket by second seeded Nazareth, third seeded Elmira
and fourth seeded RIT.
In a match where the entire Ithaca lineup saw action, the Bombers
led the play the entire way over Alfred. Twice the Saxons were able
to knot play, but Ithaca was too much for the visiting squad as it
tallied its third consecutive 3-0 shutout and its ninth of the
year.
The first set featured a 6-1 opening run and a seven unanswered
from Ithaca to secure a 25-11 win for an early 1-0 lead.
The second frame looked much like the first as it opened in
Ithaca’s favor, 9-2. The Bombers maintained the cushion and
recorded eight of the final nine points to put away the second set,
25-9.
The third and final stanza was highlighted by a 13-3 opening run.
Ithaca held a 23-10 gap and notched a pair of points to claim the
third game, 25-15, despite the Saxons tallying six of the final
eight points to cut the deficit to a single-digit difference.
The Bombers were led by juniors Karin
Edsall (Cornwall
Central/Cornwall) and Jessica
Hoeffner (Hauppauge/Hauppauge) with a
match-high 10 kills each and hitting percentages of .588 and .364,
respectively.
Freshman Sydney
Folk (Long Beach/Long Beach) helped
their efforts with a team-high 16 assists, while sophomore Marissa
Woodcome (Pittsford
Sutherland/Pittsford) added 10 for the Blue &
Gold.
In the second match, the Bombers trailed the first set, 22-19,
before outscoring the Ducks, 7-2, down the stretch for a 26-24
first-set victory.
Stevens rebounded in the second stanza pulling ahead 17-10
following a 10-10 deadlock and maintained the advantage to claim
the second set, 25-17, to knot the series at 1-1.
The third frame featured nine tied scores and four lead changes.
Trailing 12-11, the Bombers used seven unanswered points to gain a
17-12 advantage. The Ducks worked their way back within a pair of
points, but Ithaca held-off their attack as the Bombers recorded
six of the final eight points to take the third, 25-19.
The Bombers forced Stevens out of playoff contention as they
finalized the match, 3-1, with a commanding 25-13 fourth-set. The
set was at a 5-5 stalemate before a Stevens service error put the
Bombers ahead for good. Ithaca took a 12-7 lead helped by five
Hoeffner kills to force a Stevens timeout. Ithaca
went on to outscore the Ducks, 13-6, and claim the set and match.
Three Stevens errors and another Hoeffner kill
iced the match as the Bombers celebrated the regular-season
title.
Hoeffner led the match with 17 kills while
juniors Chelsea
Hayes (Northern Valley Regional/Haworth,
N.J.) and Kate
Thoene (Voorhees/High Bridge, N.J.)
added 11. Woodcome and Folk again
split setting duties, dishing out 22 and 15 assists,
respectively.
Hayes tallied a team-high 13 digs for the Blue
& Gold, while senior Taylor
Horton (Lakeridge/Lake Oswego, Ore.)
added double-digits with 10.
Thoene also contributed four aces (four assists)
for Ithaca.
Ithaca will return to action on Friday, Oct. 29 at the Skidmore
Classic when they face New Paltz for the third time this season at
6 p.m.
