PITTSFORD, NY – The RIT volleyball team (3-2) split a pair of matches at the Golden Flyer Invitational hosted by Nazareth on Friday. The Tigers opened the day by losing a five-set heart breaker to undefeated Lycoming (6-0) and were able to upend Hilbert (2-2) in three sets.
 
In the opener, RIT dropped the first set, 25-21, but rebounded to win the next two sets, 25-20 and 25-13. In the third set, RIT fell behind 7-0 before unleashing a wicked 25-6 run. The Tigers could not sustain that level of play however, falling 25-19 in the fourth set before going down 15-7 in the decisive set.
 
RIT hit .393 and .435 in the second and third sets, but struggled mightily in the other three, combining to hit .000.
 
For RIT, Sarah Szybist (Chicago, IL/Ramstein) led all players with 21 kills, while hitting .375 with 12 digs, four service aces, and three blocks. Senior libero Bethany Davis (Blasdell, NY/Frontier) had 19 digs to go along with four aces, while Amy Van Hienen (Castor, Alberta/Gus Wetter) had nine digs, seven kills, and four blocks. Sara Martin (Rochester, NY/West Irondequoit) slammed 11 kills, while Claire Foggo (Windham, NH/Central Catholic) tied for the team lead with four blocks. Setter Emma Dowdy (Cocoa, FL/Edgewood) had 32 assists and three digs in four sets.
 
Maggie Slawson and Kristine Jahn led Lycoming with 11 kills each. Jahn added 10 digs, while Amber Siebel added a team-best 14. Catherine Burger added 37 assists.
 
"We needed to be more consistent in the opening match," said RIT head coach Jim Lodes. "We would go on some small streaks during the match but it needs to be more than that."
 
In the second match, the Tigers rolled to a 25-17, 25-14, 25-23 win. Senior Kayla Wheeler (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) led the way by hitting .500 with five kills and three blocks. Taylor Harkness (Batavia, NY/Batavia) hit .750 with three kills in just one set, while Laiz Novaes (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Centro Educational) had a team best 12 assists. Davis had a team best 10 digs, while Van Hienen added eight. Martin tied for the team lead with three blocks, while Szybist recorded four aces.

The Tigers are right back in action on Saturday with matches against host Nazareth at 2 p.m. and Hartwick at 4 p.m.