| 12/31/2003 10:05:11 AM

ROCHESTER, NY- The RIT volleyball squad defeated both Buffalo State and Clarkson in the opening rounds of the 14th annual RIT Invitational on Friday. The Tigers were victorious 3-0 over Buffalo State, and beat Clarkson 3-1.

j In the first match, RIT swept Buffalo State with scores of 30-27, 30-15 and 30-16. Missy Groginski (Brewertown, NY/Paul V. Moore) (Brewertown, NY/Paul V. Moore) led all scorers with 13 kills. Setter Sarah Ballard (Lakeview, NY/Frontier) (Lakeview, NY/Frontier) had 27 assists, and Christina Anabel (Apalachin, NY/Vestal) (Apalachin, NY/Vestal) led the defense with 12 digs.

In the Clarkson match, RIT took the first two games 30-25 and 30-28 before falling 31-29 in the third game. But the Tigers bounced back and dominated the fourth game, winning 30-18. Laurie Underhill (East Aurora, NY/Mercy Academy) (East Aurora, NY/Mercy Academy) was the Tigers' leading scorer with 21 kills. Sarah Ballard (Lakeview, NY/Frontier) had 55 assists, and led the defense with 23 digs.

RIT will face the University of Rochester today at Noon in Clark Gym in the winner's bracket. The winner of that match will face the winner of the NYU/St. John Fisher match at 4 pm.