Women's Volleyball | 10/12/2017 11:14:00 AM
ROCHESTER, NY — The RIT volleyball team will host the 29th annual RIT Invitational on Friday, Oct. 13 and Saturday, Oct. 14 at Clark Gymnasium. Competing in this year's tournament will be The College at Brockport, SUNY Geneseo, Nazareth College, RIT Springfield College, and Vassar College. Action begins at 5 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday.
RIT (11-11, 1-3 Liberty League) was last in action Wednesday evening, falling to Nazareth in three sets. Freshman
Taylor Higgins (Peru, NY/Peru) leads the team with 269 kills to go along with 184 digs and 30 service aces. Junior
Erin Parkinson (Carrollton, TX/W.T. White) has 651 assists, while senior
Rebecca Bennett (Springfield, PA/Springfield) leads the way with 211 digs. Sophomore
Shelby Doheny (Moreau, NY/South Glens Falls) has a team-high 39 blocks.
Last season, the Tigers and Golden Eagles of Brockport each went 4-0 at the RIT Invitational, as
Sarah Szybist (Colorado Springs, CO/Ramstein) was named the MVP for the fourth consecutive year. This year, the Tigers face Brockport at 5 p.m. on Friday, before taking on Springfield at 10 a.m. and Geneseo at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Brockport (14-7, 6-0 SUNYAC) defeat Alfred University in three sets on Wednesday. Deanna Whittemore leads the way with 182 kills, while Brianna Richardson is hitting .298 with 155 kills and 39 blocks and Meaghan Mastro has 42 blocks. Noelle Poloncarz has a team-high 429 assists and Maddy Taylor has 271 digs.
Geneseo (16-6, 5-1 SUNYAC) has won 13 of its last 15 matches heading into the weekend, with its two losses during that stretch coming to fellow RIT Invitational foes Brockport and Vassar. Grace Cergol leads the Knights with 346 kills to go along with 286 digs. Emily Ast has 759 assists, while Sam Mendelsohn has a team-high 386 digs. Bridget Lougen leads Geneseo with 43 blocks.
Nazareth (14-7, 4-1 Empire 8) has won four of its last five matches after defeating RIT on Wednesday. Kelsey Milligan, Madison Joseph, Melissa Newcomb and Delaney Martin all have at least 165 kills on the season. Jessica Barry leads the Golden Flyers with 671 assists and 33 service aces, while Savannah Bothner has 373 digs. Milligan has a team-high 57 blocks.
Springfield (13-5, 4-3 NEWMAC) rolled to a three-set win over Mount Holyoke on Tuesday. Jen Donnelly leads the team with 253 kills to go along with 238 digs. Kayley Cimino has a team best 482 assists, while Anagabrielle Sanchez leads the way with 356 digs. Bridget Walsh leads Springfield with 49 blocks.
Vassar (17-3, 5-0 Liberty League) heads into this weekend's matches having won nine matches in a row, including a four-set victory over Union last Saturday. Devan Gallager became the 11th player in Vassar women's volleyball history to surpass 1,000 career kills. She leads the team with 328 kills and 229 digs. Annie MacMillan has 746 assists and 47 service aces, while Colette Cambey leads the way with 46 blocks.
The full tournament schedule and live stats information can be found on the
2017 RIT Invitational Tournament page.
This weekend marks the start of a six-match home stand for the Tigers. Next week, RIT hosts three Liberty League contests, as Ithaca College heads to Clark Gym on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 6 p.m. On Friday, Oct. 20, the Tigers host Union College at 7 p.m. and Skidmore College at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21.
