Women's Volleyball | 9/16/2011 3:01:00 PM

Click here for match stats against Buffalo State

Click here for match stats against St. John Fisher

ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT volleyball team (4-6) opened up action in the 2011 RIT Invitational with a pair of wins at the friendly confines of Clark Gym on Friday.  RIT defeated Buffalo State in four games, then defeated St. John Fisher in a rivetting five-set duel to close out the evening.

In the opener, RIT lost the first game to Buffalo State 27-25, then rebounded to win the last three games, 25-21, 25-21, 25-17.

RIT started slow in each of the four sets, getting behind before rallying.  Junior outside hitter Rebecca Moore (San Diego, CA/Rancho Bernardo) led the way, slamming 18 kills.  Suzanne Jokajtys (Boonville, NY/Adirondack) added 12 kills, while Katie Cooper (New Canaan, CT/New Canaan) had 10 kills and eight digs.

Lauren Kraft (Lockport, NY/Holy Angels Academy) recorded a career-high seven service aces, all in games two and three.  Christina Worth (Valencia, CA/Valencia) dished out 39 assists and added 10 digs and four kills.  Bethany Davis (Blasdell, NY/Frontier) led RIT with 16 digs, while Cat Sullivan (Lehman, PA/Lake-Lehman) and Amanda White (Watertown, NY/Watertown) each had five kills.

Sherrell McLean added 10 kills in 14 attempts with four blocks for the Bengals (4-8).  Kelsey Bashore had 33 assists and 14 digs, while Allyson Pierce added 11 kills.  Ray-Ray Algbedo added eight kills and six blocks.

In the nightcap agains the Cardinals, St. John Fisher won game one, 25-23, then RIT roared back to win games two and three by identical 25-20 scores.  In game four, RIT held a 22-19 lead before Fisher came roaring back to force a decisive fifth game.  In game five, RIT led 14-7 before Fisher made it interesting with six straight points before a service error ended the match.

Moore led the Tigers with 21 kills.  Jokajtys added 10 kills, while Sullivan slammed eight kills in just 12 attempts, while adding four blocks.  Worth added 38 assists, 14 digs, and four service aces, while Davis recorded 19 digs and three aces.  Cooper chipped in with 10 digs and eight kills.  Amanda White (Watertown, NY/Watertown) slammed seven kills and added four blocks.

For Fisher (6-2), Becca Smith recorded 15 kills, while Amanda Pinak and Rachael Kline had 11 and 10, respectively.  Amy Street added 27 assists, while Mandi Mereness had seven blocks.  Kelsey Osborne recorded 15 digs.

Early in the match, Smith recorded her 1,000th career kill for the Cardinals.

On Saturday, the Tigers play Trine at 10 a.m. and NYU at 4 p.m. in day two action of the RIT Invitational.