Women's Volleyball | 10/3/2008 9:09:02 PM

Click here for stats against Springfield

Click here for stats against Ithaca

PITTSFORD, NY - The RIT volleyball team (11-13) won both of its matches in dramatic fashion at the Nazareth Tournament on Friday evening.  The Tigers used a furious rally to come back from a two games to none hole and defeat Springfield College in five games to open the evening and defeated Ithaca in a back and forth five-game match.

In the opener against Springfield, RIT lost the first two games by identical 25-14 scores, but rallied to win games three and four by the same score of 25-20.  RIT completed the comeback with a 15-7 win in the fifth and decisive game.

The Tigers saved their best for last in game five, slamming 11 kills in 17 attempts, hitting .529.  Six different Tigers recorded at least five kills. 

Dani Liesman (Ridgecrest, CA/Burroughs) (Ridgecrest, CA/Burroughs) recorded 12 digs and added nine kills for the Tigers.  Laura Mooney (Petaluma, CA/Petaluma) (Petaluma, CA/Petaluma) slammed eight kills, while hitting .277.  Vic Petko (East Amherst, NY/Clarence) (East Amherst, NY/Clarence) had team-bests of 11 kills and five blocks.  Nichole Boxler (Varysburg, NY/Attica) (Varysburg, NY/Attica) dished out 40 assists to go along with four blocks.

Libero Megan Henriksen (Silver Spring, MD/Our Lady of Good Counsel) (Silver Spring, MD/Our Lady of Good Counsel) led the team with 17 digs, while Kate Gleason (Hamburg, NY/Frontier) (Hamburg, NY/Frontier) had 13 digs and five kills.

The Tigers won game one against Ithaca, 25-19, before Ithaca rallied to win game two, 30-28.  RIT annexed game three, 25-15, while Ithaca came back to win game four, 25-21.  For the second time this evening, RIT emerged victorious in game five, this time by a 15-10 count.  The Tigers hit a game-high .368 with eight kills in the deciding fifth game.

Petko slammed 21 kills to go along with a season-best nine blocks and team-high three service aces.  Senior Heidi Little (Glenville, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) (Glenville, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) ripped a career-best 14 kills and hit .281.  Gleason recorded a career-best 24 digs, while Boxler had 42 assists, 11 digs and six kills.  Mooney added 10 kills and five blocks.

On Saturday, RIT concludes play at the Nazareth Tournament with an 11 a.m. match against host Nazareth and 1 p.m. contest versus SUNY Brockport.