ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT volleyball team (17-11, 6-2 Liberty League) extended its winning streak to four matches, defeating Union (20-8, 6-2 Liberty League) in four set and Skidmore (7-19, 3-5 Liberty League) in three sets on Saturday afternoon in Liberty League crossover play at Clark Gym.
 
The Tigers recognized seniors Bethany Davis (Blasdell, NY/Frontier) and Brittany Griffin (Sterling, VA/Park View ) for their accomplishments on and off the court before the start of action today.
 
RIT came out firing against Union, taking the first two sets, 25-19 and 25-22. Union came back strong in the third set defeating the Tigers 25-17.  RIT took the fourth and final set after a long battle 25-23.
 
RIT sophomore Sarah Szybist (Chicago, IL/Ramstein) came out swinging, dropping 24 kills with an incredible hitting percentage of .595. Junior Amy Van Hienen (Castor, Alberta/Gus Wetter) chipped in offensively with 11 kills, one assist, and two service aces. Emma Dowdy (Cocoa, FL/Edgewood) controlled the Tigers with 41 assists and two kills. On the defensive side, Laiz Novaes (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Centro Educational) and Davis each tallied 12 digs. Novaes also added seven kills and five assists, while Davis registered two aces and three assists.
 
Rachel Wyman led Union with 14 kills, while Lauren Woods added ten. Amanda Price paced the offense, distributing 29 kills

I'm really proud of our effort against a very good Union team," said RIT head coach Jim Lodes. "We played very well in stretches and overcame some of their pushes."

In the second match of the day, Szybist was just as dominant, tying her season high with 27 kills, as RIT rolled to a 25-16, 25-13, 25-17 win over Skidmore. Szybist now has 500 kills on the season to lead the squad.Dowdy dished out 32 assists, while Davis added 22 digs.

Aria Goodman led Skidmore with seven kills, while Marcela Familar had 21 digs.

"I am extremely happy and proud of the way we played this weekend," said RIT head coach Jim Lodes. "The Liberty League is very balanced so each match could have gone either way so a 4-0 weekend is an excellent outcome. The hard work and resilience to keep improving got us to this outcome."

The Tigers travel to nearby St. John Fisher for a road contest against the Cardinals on Tuesday that starts at 7 p.m.