ROCHESTER, NY — The RIT (19-11, 8-4 Liberty League) women's volleyball team closed out a perfect weekend at the 28th annual RIT Invitational at Clark Gym with two victories on Saturday, defeating St. John Fisher (10-14, 4-2 Empire 8) in a three-set sweep and DeSales University (15-10, 4-1 MAC Freedom) in four sets.
 
The Tigers took the opening two sets by decisive scores of 25-15 and 25-18, before having to stave off a comeback by the Cardinals in set three, where RIT ultimately came out on top 25-23. The Tigers now have won nine of 10 sets played in this year's tournament.
 
The Tigers spread out the offense with 39 assists on the day, compared to 21 by the Cardinals. RIT also had 41 kills, as opposed to 25 from St. John Fisher.
 
"This was a really good match for us. St. John Fisher is a very good serving team and we sided out a rate that was maybe the best of the year," said head coach Jim Lodes. "We handled serving pressure well and had a very diverse attack. I really liked our balanced offense this morning."
 
Senior Sarah Szybist (Colorado Springs, CO/Ramstein) led all players on the floor with 17 kills on 31 attacks (45.2 percent), to go along with a match-high 13 digs. She hit .452 . Sophomore Liz Wunder (Penn Yan, NY/Penn Yan Academy) had another strong performance for RIT, with nine kills and two blocks. The setter duo of sophomore Erin Parkinson (Carrollton, TX/W.T. White) and junior Montana Vescovi (Le Roy, NY/Le Roy) added 20 and 16 assists in the match, accordingly. 

RIT freshman Maria Simonetti (Rochester, NY/Our Lady of Mercy) won the battle against her sister Jessica of St. John Fisher. both Maria and Jessica had matching lines of nine digs and three service aces in the contest.

For the Cardinals, Phoebe Kane finished with a match-high 21 assists, while Kate Mazierski had nine digs and seven kills.
 
In the final match of the weekend, RIT took down DeSales University in four sets. The Tigers took the first two sets 25-17 and 25-22, before dropping the third, 25-23. The Tigers completed the four-win weekend with a 25-23 victory in the fourth stanza.
 
Szybist, who was named the RIT Invitational MVP for the fourth straight year, led all players on the floor with 19 kills and added nine digs. She finished with a tournament-best 67 kills and 27 digs on the weekend. Parkinson, who also was named to the All-Tournament Team, 44 assists and eight digs, to go along with a pair of kills. Sophomore Sara Taylor (Tonawanda, NY/Kenmore East) was right behind Szybist with 10 kills, while freshman Sarah DelVecchio (Galway, NY/Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons) finished with nine kills on 20 attacks (45 percent). Freshman Shelby Doheny (Moreau, NY/South Glens Falls) recorded a career-high seven kills.
 
"We did a really good job this weekend with our side out offense and transition," said Lodes. "This was probably due to our great first contact in both situations. Our passing was very good. I really liked that we had a versatile and balanced attack. This was a good weekend."
 
On the other side of the net, the DeSales production was led by Gabby Savite, who finished with 18 kills and 15 digs. Morghan Shoemaker also contributed 12 digs for the Bulldogs. Libero Natalie Gray also led the floor with 17 digs, while Lisa Wallitsch had 43 assists.
 
Next up for RIT is the Carnegie Mellon Invitational in Pittsburgh, Pa. On Friday the Tigers will face Case Western at 6 p.m., before taking on Elizabethtown College at 8 p.m. Then on Saturday they will take on Messiah College at 1 p.m. and host Carnegie Mellon University at 3 p.m.
 
2016 All-Tournament Team
Tournament MVP: Sarah Szybist (Colorado Springs, CO/Ramstein) (RIT)
Brianna Richardson (Brockport)
Noelle Poloncarz (Brockport)
Natalie Gray (DeSales)
Erin Parkinson (Carrollton, TX/W.T. White) (RIT)
Jessica Simonetti (St. John Fisher)
Janaya Wilder (Trine)
Abigail Mosenthin (Utica)