Women's Volleyball | 11/3/2010 1:18:33 PM

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ROCHESTER, NY – The fourth-seeded RIT volleyball team (22-15, 5-3 E8) will play top-seed Ithaca (20-14, 7-1 E8) in the first of two Empire 8 semifinal contests on Friday at 11:30 a.m. at Ben Light Gymnasium. It is RIT's eighth appearance in the Empire 8 Tournament.

Third-seeded Elmira (26-6, 6-2 E8) will play second-seed Nazareth (17-18, 6-2 E8) in the second semifinal on Friday at 2 p.m. The two winners will meet in the championship game on Friday evening at 7 p.m., with the Empire 8 Champion earning an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Senior Jessica Schaffer (Wellington, OH/Keystone) leads the Tigers with 538 kills this season, eighth most in one season at RIT. Her 1,902 career digs are fourth all-time at RIT, while her 1,823 kills are fourth-best at the university. Sophomore Christina Worth (Valencia, CA/Valencia) has a team-leading 1,403 assists and is hitting .338, while junior Kristin Parish (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) leads RIT with 117 blocks and 66 service aces. Sophomore Megan Henriksen (Silver Spring, MD/Our Lady of Good Counsel) has a team-best 517 digs.

The Tigers will look to advance to their first Empire 8 Championship match since 2007 and fourth since 2003.
Kate Thoene leads the Bombers with 296 kills and 144 blocks. She is one of four players to have at least 200 kills. Sydney Folk and Marissa Woodcome have combined for 1,079 assists, while Taylor Horton has a team-best 517 digs.

RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 40-39. RIT swept the Bombers in three sets, 25-16, 25-21, 25-23 at Clark Gym on Sept. 25.