PITTSFORD, NY - The RIT volleyball team (20-17) got back in the win column on Friday with a pair of convincing three-set wins over New York University (13-15) and Montclair State University (16-12) in the opening matches of the 2015 New York State Regional Challenge at the Kidera Gymnasium, hosted by Nazareth College. 

Against NYU, the Tigers won a tight first set, 27-25, before rolling to 25-15, 25-16 victories in sets two and three. In the opening set, the score was knotted at 25-25 until an NYU error and Amy Van Hienen (Castor, Alberta/Gus Wetter) kill gave RIT the victory. RIT hit .352 as a team in the win.

Junior Sarah Szybist (Chicago, IL/Ramstein) hit .360 and led the squad with 14 kills to go along with five digs and two blocks.  Van Hienen hit .381 with 10 kills, seven digs, and three blocks, while Senior Taylor Harkness (Batavia, NY/Batavia) hit .500 with eight kills. Classmates Kayla Wheeler (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) and Laiz Novaes (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Centro Educational) recorded seven kills apiece. Wheeler hit .636 and added three blocks, while Novaes had team-best totals of nine digs and four service aces. Rebecca Bennett (Springfield, PA/Springfield) added eight digs.

First-year setter Erin Parkinson (Carrollton, TX/W.T. White) dished out 39 assists to go along with eight digs. It is her highest assist total in a three-set match this season.

"I thought we had good energy this match," said RIT head coach Jim Lodes. "We really handled their pressure and fought more consistently than we have recently. We did several really good things defensively and in transition. This was a good win."

Versus Montclair State, the Tigers won the first set 26-24, and held on for a 25-23 win in the second set. RIT got its rhythm in the third set, winning 25-19.

"I thought we played another strong match against a really good opponents," said Lodes. "This was a good for us as a team. We played consistently with good energy."

Szybist led RIT with 18 kills, hitting .294 for the match. She also added three digs and two assisted blocks. Novaes added 10 kills and six digs, while Van Hienen had seven kills and led the Tigers with 11 digs. Rebecca Bennett (Springfield, PA/Springfield) had a pair of service aces, and had six digs. Parkinson continued a strong Friday with 36 assists versus Montclair State, to go along with seven digs, a service ace, a solo block and an assisted block.

RIT wraps up the regular season on Saturday at the New York State Regional Challenge, facing off against Stevens Institute of Technology at 12:30 p.m. and Rowan University at 2:30 p.m.