ITHACA, N.Y.  – The Skidmore College volleyball team dropped a road contest to Liberty League foe Ithaca in three sets (20-25, 19-25, 21-25) at Ben Light Gymnasium Friday evening.
 
The Thoroughbreds fall to 14-9 overall and 3-3 in Liberty League action, tied with St. Lawrence for the fourth and final playoff spot. Skidmore sets up a showdown with RIT Saturday afternoon with a chance to earn a playoff berth. Ithaca improves to 17-6 overall, moving into a tie for second place with Clarkson.
 
Sophia Hettler led the Thoroughbreds with six kills, while Caite Canfield and Bailey Hutchins each tallied five. Lauren Wolters had 18 assists to pace the Skidmore offense. On defense, Allie Dillon had 11 digs and Rachel Licata added three total blocks.
 
Reagan Stone tallied 12 kills to lead the Bombers, with Katie Evans adding 10. Caitlyn Floyd added 30 assists.
 
Skidmore jumped on Ithaca early, scoring the first four points of the match to take an 8-2 lead. From there, Ithaca would chip away, using a 4-0 run and an 8-0 run to take the 17-13 lead. A kill by Katy Ehnstrom and three Ithaca errors tied the set up at 17, but the Bombers took control from there, ending the first set on an 8-3 spurt.
 
Ithaca took that momentum into the second set, jumping to a 9-2 lead. Skidmore scored three consecutive points to mount a rally, but Ithaca halted the rally with three straight points, pulling away late for the 25-19 set win. The third set was a back-and-forth affair through the first seven points, before the Bombers took the lead with a 7-1 run. Skidmore reduced the deficit to three on a few occasions, but Ithaca eventually took the match with a kill by Stone.
 
Skidmore's contest at RIT will begin at 1 p.m.