POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — The RIT women's volleyball team (21-18) had its 2016 season come to a tough end, falling in a five-set thriller in the Liberty League Tournament semifinal at top-seed Vassar (21-7) Friday night.
The two teams traded victories in the first four sets. Vassar took the opener, 25-17, before RIT won set two, 25-19. Vassar won set three 25-21 and had RIT down to its final point, leading 24-21 in the fourth set before the Tigers rallied with six of the nest seven points to win 27-25, forcing a fifth and final set. The Tigers batted valiantly, but fell to the hosts 15-11 in the fifth.
RIT's season came to an end in the semifinals, as the Tigers finished with 21 wins in 2016. Vassar will take on No. 2 seed Clarkson in the Liberty League Championship on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Knights dispatched No. 3 Union in three sets to advance.
"I'm really proud of the resiliency we showed in this match and, for that matter, the end of the season," said RIT head coach
Jim Lodes. "We had injuries to overcome. We had tough losses. Yet we kept fighting to the end."
Sarah Szybist (Colorado Springs, CO/Ramstein) once again led all players in the match with 25 kills, to go along with 13 digs.
Sara Taylor (Tonawanda, NY/Kenmore East) added 11 kills, while
Anna Valentine (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon) had 12 digs and eight kills. Sophomore
Erin Parkinson (Carrollton, TX/W.T. White) notched a double-double with a team-high 40 assists and 12 digs, while
Rebecca Bennett (Springfield, PA/Springfield) had a team-best 14 digs.
Jane McLeod (22 kills), Annie MacMillan (46 assists), Devan Gallagher (18 kills), and Gabby Miller (11 kills) paced the offense for Vassar. Sierra Tobin also added a match-high 17 digs and two services aces. MacMillan also led the floor with four aces.
Szybist, who leads all of Division III with 770 kills, broke the single-season record, which was held by RIT Athletics Hall of Famer Emily Verbridge, set in 2001. She finishes her career with 2,563 kills, sixth most all-time in NCAA Division III history. Szybist was named to the Liberty League Championship All-Tournament Team.
"We moved on and continued to fight this season, which was something that we sought right from preseason," said Lodes. "The staff is as proud as you can be in defeat."
