ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT volleyball team (14-18) rallied from a two sets to none deficit to force a fifth and deciding set, but could not get past St. John Fisher (13-14), who won the fifth set, 16-14. Fisher won the first two sets, 25-19, 25-22, before the Tigers came roaring back to win the next two, 25-18, 25-11.
Tied at 14-14 in the fifth set, Fisher's Megan Miller lobbed a kill just past the outstretched arms of a Tigers defender. On the ensuing point, Jasmine Davis took a feed from Miller and ended the match with a kill.
For RIT, freshman #
Anna Valentine (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon) slammed a career-high 19 kills to go along with 16 digs. (Chicago, IL/Ramstein)Sara Martin (Rochester, NY/West Irondequoit)# continued her strong offensive play of late, adding 14 kills. The duo of #
Emma Dowdy (Cocoa, FL/Edgewood) and
Arielle Pariente (Twinsburg, OH/Twinsburg)# combined for 44 assists, Dowdy had a team-best 29 to go along with 10 digs and seven assists. #
Lauren Gotsch (Derby, NY/Lake Shore) chipped in with seven kills and four blocks. (Chicago, IL/Ramstein)Bethany Davis (Blasdell, NY/Frontier) recorded 21 digs. (Chicago, IL/Ramstein)Abby Higgins (Peru, NY/Peru)# had a career-high seven service aces.
The Tigers were without freshman standout #
Sarah Szybist (Chicago, IL/Ramstein)#, who missed the contest due to injury. Szybist came into tonight's game third in Division III, averaging 4.78 kills per set and fourth with 5.42 points per set.
Paige Wilson and Rachel Kline led the Cardinals with nine kills each. Kline came into the match needing 12 kills to reach 1,000 for her career. Wilson tallied a team-high five blocks. Davis added eight kills, while Miller recorded seven. Eric Stickler and Ali Mann combined for 26 assists, while Andrea Gillepsie added 13 digs.
RIT now leads the all-time series between the two schools, 55-29.
Tonight was the first of eight straight home matches to end the 2013 regular season. This weekend, RIT hosts Liberty League crossover play on Friday and Saturday. On Friday, RIT hosts Union at 5 p.m. and Clarkson at 7:30 p.m.