Women's Volleyball | 11/1/2016 2:31:00 PM
ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT volleyball team will head to Vassar College for the 2016 Liberty League Championship Tournament, which will take place on Friday, Nov. 4 and Saturday, Nov. 5. RIT, the No. 4 seed, will face top-seed Vassar College in the second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. No. 2 Clarkson will take on No. 3 Union in the first semifinal at 5 p.m. Friday's winners will meet in the Liberty League Championship at 4 p.m. Saturday.
The Liberty League Champion will receive an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Tigers finished 8-4 in Liberty League play, finishing in a tie for third. Just one game separated all four teams in the league standings. RIT is looking to make its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007. All three weekend matches will be available to
watch online and have
live stats.
RIT enters the Liberty League Tournament with a 21-17 overall record. Senior
Sarah Szybist (Colorado Springs, CO/Ramstein) leads the league and country with 745 kills this season and is sixth all-time in Division III history with 2,538 for her career. She is also second nationally with 5.07 kills and 5.70 points per set. In addition, Szybist leads the Tigers with 69 blocks and is second with 424 digs.
Erin Parkinson (Carrollton, TX/W.T. White) leads all Liberty League setters with 1,218 assists, while
Maria Simonetti (Rochester, NY/Our Lady of Mercy) has a team-best 63 service aces.
Rebecca Bennett (Springfield, PA/Springfield) leads the Tigers with 441 digs, while
Liz Wunder (Penn Yan, NY/Penn Yan Academy) is hitting .304 with 63 blocks.
Vassar enters the tournament with a 20-9 overall record, finishing 9-3 in league play, having won both matches against Clarkson to earn the top-seed. Devan Gallagher and Jane McLeod lead the team in kills, with 368 and 354 respectively. Annie MacMillan has 1,070 assists this season, averaging 10 per set to lead the team. Sierra Tobin has 502 digs this season to lead the team, while Alex Sams has 51 blocks.
The two teams split a pair of matches earlier in the season. On Sept. 17, the Tigers defeated Vassar in four sets at Clark Gym. Szybist led all players with 30 kills. Just six days later, Vassar exacted revenge with a three set win at Bard. McLeod had 14 kills, while Tobin added 17 digs for the Brewers. RIT has a 16-8 edge in the all-time series between the two schools.
Clarkson, who like Vassar, finished 9-3 in league play, enters the weekend 19-14 overall. Rachel Aird leads the Golden Knights with 443 kills and 89 blocks, while Jillian Saenz has a team-high 1,098 assists and 37 service aces. Kendall Chevall leads Clarkson with 303 digs.
The Golden Knights won both meetings over RIT this season in five sets on Sept. 16 and in three sets on Oct. 7. Szybist had 25 kills in the opener, while Kate Isaksen led the Golden Knights with 23 digs. Clarkson hit .321 in its three-set win on Oct. 7 as Aird and Rachel Reusch had 10 kills each. Szybist led the Tigers with 16 kills and nine digs. RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 25-19.
Union finished 8-4 in league play and is 24-11 overall. The Dutchwomen and Tigers finished tied for third in the league standings, but Union won the tiebreaker to earn the third seed. Ally VanDoren leads the squad with 426 kills and 56 service aces, while Amanda Price has 1,105 assists. Katherine Moeller is among the national leaders with 735 digs, averaging 5.79 per set. Alaina Thaxter has a team-best 56 blocks.
RIT and Union split a pair of grueling five-set matches against each other earlier in the season. On Sept. 24, the Tigers won in five sets, as Szybist led all players with 28 kills and Parkinson added 42 assists. Moeller recorded 28 digs for Union. On Oct. 8, the Dutchwomen took the rematch in five sets. VanDoren had 18 kills and Moeller recorded 30 digs for Union, while Szybist slammed 27 kills for the Tigers. The all-time series between the two schools is tied, 9-9.
