ITHACA, N.Y. – The Skidmore College volleyball team's run in the Liberty League Tournament came to an end in the semifinals, as top-seeded Ithaca won, 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-18) at Ben Light Gymnasium Friday night.
Ithaca, last season's Empire 8 champion, improves to 21-7, and will face defending Liberty League champ Clarkson in the league title game on Saturday, who defeated Vassar in four sets.
Skidmore finishes the season at 18-11, its best record since the 2012 season.
The Liberty League regular season champions jumped out to a quick lead with two straight points, before a service ace by Skidmore's
Clara Jones capped off a 3-0 Thoroughbreds run, taking the early advantage. Skidmore held the tide a bit, before Ithaca went on a 3-0 run to take a 9-7 lead. From there, Ithaca slowly pulled away with the set, eventually taking the early 1-0 lead after two points to close the set.
In the second, Ithaca took an early advantage, but a 3-0 run, capped by a
Sophia Hettler kill and a
Caite Canfield service ace, gave the Thoroughbreds a 10-9 lead. The lead would swing back and forth, with Skidmore leading by as many as two, until Ithaca pulled ahead with a 5-0 run, taking a 16-13 lead.
It was Skidmore who struck first in the third set with a Canfield kill, with both teams trading leads throughout the set. Skidmore took its last lead at 14-13, after a running save by Dillon hit the net, with a stunned Ithaca front line trying to dig the chance out to no avail. After Ithaca took the lead with two straight points, a
Bailey Hutchins kill tied the set at 15, but the Bombers answered with a 6-0 run to take the lead for good, eventually winning the set and the match.
Hutchins and
Katy Ehnstrom led the Thoroughbreds with seven kills apiece. Canfield wasn't far behind with six kills and eight digs.
Lauren Wolters paced the Skidmore offense with 21 assists.
Allie Dillon led the defense with 12 digs. Jones capped her Skidmore career with a game-high two service aces, adding three digs and a kill.
Reagan Stone led the Bombers with 16 kills. The Bombers hit .288 as a team. Caitlyn Floyd added 48 assists, while Tara Stillwell totaled 15 digs.
