CANTON, NY – The RIT volleyball team (10-7) dropped a pair of matches at the Canton Classic hosted by SUNY Canton on Saturday. The Tigers opened the day by falling to host Canton (12-4) in four sets and lost to Houghton (9-6) in three sets. Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Szybist (Chicago, IL/Ramstein) was named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
In the opener, RIT dropped the first two sets, 25-14 and 25-15, but rebounded to win the third sets, 25-16. Canton would pull away to take the fourth set, 25-16 and secure the match.
 
For RIT, Szybist led all players with 24 kills, while hitting .333 with 15 digs. Senior libero Bethany Davis (Blasdell, NY/Frontier) had a season-high 24 digs to go along with four aces, while Abby Higgins (Peru, NY/Peru) had nine digs. Setter Laiz Novaes (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Centro Educational) had 29 assists and three digs in four sets. Kayla Wheeler (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) had a team-high three blocks, while Hanna Stokes (Frederick, MD/Urbana) recorded nine digs.
 
Kelsy Cornish led Canton with 11 kills, while Morgan Bills hit .389 with eight kills. Mackenzie Mynter dished out 37 assists and added eight blocks, while Robyn Carroll added 15 digs.
 
"I'm really excited to be playing good teams this weekend," said RIT head coach Jim Lodes. "This is what we need to see if we are thinking about winning the Liberty League. SUNY Canton is a really fundamentally sound team that is also relentless. To match their effort and consistency is what it will take to compete for conference titles."
 
In the second match, the Tigers fell by scores of 25-18, 25-18, and 25-14. The Tigers hit just .040 in defeat. Szybist was the lone Tiger to record double figures in kills with 14, while adding five digs. Novaes added 14 assists and 14 digs, while Arielle Pariente (Twinsburg, OH/Twinsburg) had seven assists and three digs. Davis led the squad with 16 digs, while Wheeler added a pair of blocks.
 
I'm really anxious for us to take the opportunities we have to get better and step up to compete when facing good opponents," said Lodes. "Houghton did a good job this afternoon. I wish we would be more assertive and confident when facing this type of challenge."
 
Last night, RIT rolled to a 25-17, 25-19, 25-14 win over Hartwick as part of the Canton Classic, hosted by St. Lawrence. Szybist led all Tigers with 55 kills in the three matches.

The Tigers return to action next weekend at the Fredonia Blue Devil Invitational. On Friday, Oct. 3, RIT plays Hilbert at 4 p.m. and Buffalo State at 8 p.m. The following afternoon, the Tigers play Pitt.-Bradford at 1 p.m. and host SUNY Fredonia at 3 p.m.