| 10/22/2006 5:24:58 PM

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ELMIRA, NY - The RIT volleyball team (22-10, 7-0 Empire 8) completed a big comeback, rallying from two games down to defeat Ithaca College in five games and then upended Hartwick College in three games to clinch the Empire 8 regular season crown on Sunday afternoon.

The Tigers lost the first two games of the Ithaca match and roared back to take the next three. Scores of the match were 13-30, 15-30, 30-15, 30-17, 15-13.

In the Ithaca match, Cecilia Enestrom (Medicine Hat, AB/McCoy) (Medicine Hat, Alberta/McCoy) recorded 22 digs to go along with 20 kills. Nichole Boxler (Varysburg, NY/Attica) (Varysburg, NY/Attica) dished out 42 assists, while Victoria Petko (East Amherst, NY/Clarence) (East Amherst, NY/Clarence) had a season-best 11 blocks.

RIT swept Hartwick 30-24, 30-24, 30-20 to clinch the regular season title. Jessica Schaffer (Wellington, OH/Keystone) (Wellington, OH/Keystone) led the Tigers with 16 digs, 13 kills and five service aces. Boxler recorded 28 assists, while Michelle Skowzgird (Grayslake, IL/John Hersey) (Grayslake, IL/John Hersey) had six blocks.

In addition, Head Coach Roger Worsley moved into second place in all-time coaching wins at RIT with 159 in his sixth season at the helm of the Tigers. He needs just 12 more wins to become the all-time leader in coaching wins at RIT.

The Tigers will host the Empire 8 Tournament on Saturday, November 4. The Tigers will play #4 St. john Fisher, while #2 Ithaca will play #3 Nazareth.

RIT hosts SUNY Brockport on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m.