ROCHESTER, NY - The RIT volleyball team (18-3, 4-1 Liberty League) rallied to defeat Nazareth (14-8, 3-1 Empire 8) in a thrilling five-set match on Friday evening from Clark Gym to kick off the 30th annual RIT Volleyball Invitational.

Nazareth won the opening set, 25-23 before RIT took set two, 25-22. Nazareth would regain the lead with a 25-22 win in set three before RIT took set four, 25-19 and the decisive fifth set, 15-10.
 
Katie Hobler (Rochester, NY/Our Lady of Mercy) became the first RIT freshman to have 30 kills in match since Sarah Szybist in 2014. She went on to have a double-double, slamming a career-best 32 kills, while recording 18 digs. Maria Simonetti (Rochester, NY/Our Lady of Mercy) would add 17 digs and Paige Daly (Allison Park, PA/Hampton) had 16. Erin Parkinson (Carrollton, TX/W.T. White) would dish out a match-best 57 assists.
 
Carmen Sapp would lead the way for Nazareth with 11 kills. Setter Jessica Barry had a team high of 34 assists. Savannah Bothner led the way defensively for the Golden Flyers with 18 digs, followed by Madison Joseph (9) and Celia Cordero (8).
 
In the opening set, Nazareth jumped out to a 9-3 lead after an early 5-0 run. RIT clawed back with a 4-0 run tying the match at 13-13. The set would go back and forth as the scorer's table would see nine ties before Nazareth would eventually take set one 25-23.
 
The Tigers emerged victorious in the second set 25-22. The Golden Flyers took an early 3-0 lead before RIT responded with their own 3-0 run. The set would go back and forth until the Tigers would break the 15-15 tie and go on to win the match. The Tigers found points off of three aces after not having an ace in the first set.
 
In the third set, the teams would battle to a 13-13 tie before Nazareth would go on a 4-0 run. RIT would call a timeout and respond with a 4-0 run of their own to tie the score. The set would be once again tied at 19-19 before the Golden Flyers would go on another 4-0 run and ultimately take the set 25-22.
 
RIT won the fourth set 25-19.  Nazareth took an early lead 9-7. The Tigers would go on a 4-0 run before the Golden Flyers would call a timeout and respond with a 5-0 run to take a 14-11 lead. RIT heated up as they went on a 7-0 run to make it 21-15 and pull away. The Tigers hit a match best of .390 in the set.
 
The fifth and final set saw the Tigers carry their momentum from the last set over. RIT jumped out to an 8-3 lead and didn't look back. They won 15-10.

"We had an emotional match against a very good Nazareth team," said head coach Jim Lodes. "I like the way we responded with having a tough league loss earlier in the week and falling behind a determined opponent tonight. The team stayed persistent and had a great comeback win."
 
The match was tied 22 times during the five set. RIT outscored Nazareth 81-61 and out hit them 70-47 in kills. The Tigers finished hitting with a .244 percentage to a Golden Flyer's .196.
 
The Tigers are back on the court tomorrow to continue the RIT invitational as they take on Alfred University (11 a.m.) and Buffalo State College (3 p.m.) on Saturday, Oct. 13.