POSTDAM, NY – The third-seeded RIT volleyball team (22-16) advanced to the Liberty League Championship match after defeating No. 2 St. Lawrence (24-13) in four sets at the Liberty League semifinal hosted by Clarkson University on Friday evening. RIT top-seed Clarkson, ranked No. 16 nationally on Saturday in the title match at 4 p.m. The winner receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
RIT dropped the first set, 25-22, before coming back to win the next three, 25-19, 25-19, 25-21. RIT built a big fourth set lead before St. Lawrence tried to come back. Junior
Laiz Novaes (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Centro Educational) put the match away with two kills late to end it.
Sophomore
Sarah Szybist (Chicago, IL/Ramstein) led the way offensively, slamming 19 kills to go along with five digs and three blocks. Novaes added 12 kills, eight digs, and three blocks, while
Amy Van Hienen (Castor, Alberta/Gus Wetter) recorded 11 kills.
Sophomore
Emma Dowdy (Cocoa, FL/Edgewood) dished out 47 assists, while
Bethany Davis (Blasdell, NY/Frontier) recorded a team-best 11 digs and three servuce aces.
Kayla Wheeler (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) added a team-best five blocks.
I'm really proud of the effort our whole team made against a very good St. Lawrence team," said RIT head coach
Jim Lodes. "St. Lawrence just competes so hard with great energy and I knew we'd need to play well to win this match. We had our best intensity of the season and competed great. I look forward to tomorrow and know we'll need that same kind of effort to compete with Clarkson."
Lexi Brown led St. Lawrence with 12 kills, while Cristina Deschaine added 10 kills, hitting .474. Jenna Street dished out 17 assists, while Mariah Dignan recorded a team-best eight digs.
The Tigers had 56 kills to just 34 for St. Lawrence. RIT had at least 11 kills in each set.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 26-20. The Tigers lost the previous two matches against St. Lawrence this season, falling in four sets on Sept. 19 and three sets on Oct. 24.
