ROCHESTER, NY – Sophomore outside hitter
Sarah Szybist (Chicago, IL/Ramstein) became the 14th player in the history of the RIT volleyball program to amass 1,000 career kills, as the RIT volleyball team (15-11, 4-2 Liberty League) won a pair of matches against Vassar College (11-15, 3-7 Liberty League) and Bard College (3-26, 0-10 Liberty League) in a pair of Liberty League contests from Clark Gym on Friday.
In the opener against Vassar, RIT outlasted the Brewers in four tough sets, winning 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23. The Tigers rallied from deficits of 16-10, 18-12, and 21-15 in the first set, scoring 10 of the last 12 points. In set two, Vassar led from start to finish and in set three, RIT built a leads of 11-4 and 15-7 before hanging on. The two teams went back and forth in the final set, getting to 23-23 before a kill by Szybist and an attacking error by Vassar ended the match.
Szybist reached the 1,000-kill milestone late in the first set, on an assist from
Emma Dowdy (Cocoa, FL/Edgewood), cutting the Vassar lead to 16-11. She is the fastest to reach the milestone at RIT, doing so in her 59th match.
Szybist tied a season-high with 27 kills, hitting .298 to go along with nine digs and three blocks. The Tigers, who recorded 74 digs, had four players with at least 13.
Bethany Davis (Blasdell, NY/Frontier) led the way with 18, while
Laiz Novaes (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Centro Educational) added 15 to go along with eight assists and five kills. Dowdy recorded 38 assists and 14 digs, while
Amy Van Hienen (Castor, Alberta/Gus Wetter) chipped in with 13 digs and eight kills.
Kayla Wheeler (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) recorded three blocks, while
Abby Higgins (Peru, NY/Peru) had six kills.
Taylor Mosley led the Brewers with 11 kills to go along with 12 digs, while Chloe Hallum added 20 digs. Gabby Miller dished out 27 assists to go along with five kills, while Clara Cardillo had seven kills and five blocks. Marie Pitre had 10 kills and seven digs.
"I was proud of our effort against a good Vassar team," said RIT head coach
Jim Lodes. "We fought back several times and did good things on both sides of the ball."
Against Bard, RIT raced out to 25-15, 25-17 wins in the opening two sets, before Bard won its first ever set against the Tigers, 25-22 in the third. RIT closed it out with a 25-20 win in the fourth set.
The Tigers, who played all 17 players on the active roster, recorded a season-high 21 service aces, while recording 50 kills. Szybist hit .300 with 15 kills, while Van Hienen hit .412 with nine kills and six digs.
Sara Martin (Rochester, NY/West Irondequoit) chipped in with nine kills, four digs, and three service aces, while Dowdy dished out 28 assists to go along with four service aces.
Rebecca Bennett (Springfield, PA/Springfield) tied for the team lead with four aces, while
Kaitlin Slippy (Moultonborough, NH/Moultonborough Academy) had five digs and a pair of aces. Davis led the way with 13 digs.
Taylor Harkness (Batavia, NY/Batavia) had a pair of solo blocks in the win.
Lexi Akingblade and Tytravia Riley had five kills apiece to lead the Raptors. Riley added eight digs and five blocks, while Lexi Cooper dished out 11 assists.
"I'm really pleased to get these two wins tonight," said Lodes. "I believe it sets us up to be ready for tomorrow. I'm excited that we have this opportunity to establish our place in the Liberty League."
The Tigers are right back in action Saturday, hosting Union at 12 p.m. and Skidmore at 4 p.m. in more Liberty League crossover action from Clark Gym.
