ITHACA, NY – The No. 2 seed RIT volleyball team (27-4) outlasted No. 3 seed Vassar College (15-10) in five sets in the Liberty League Semifinal from Ben Light Gymnasium on the campus of Ithaca College on Friday evening. RIT advances to the Liberty League Championship and will No. 4 seed Clarkson from Ithaca at 4 p.m. Saturday.
 
Freshman outside hitter Katie Hobler (Rochester, NY/Our Lady of Mercy) was a force all evening for the Tigers, finishing with 28 kills and a career-best 26 digs, while hitting .379. Senior setter Erin Parkinson (Carrollton, TX/W.T. White), the NCAA's active leader in assists, dished out 55 to go along with 16 digs, four kills and two service aces. Kelly Waters (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) hit .385 with 11 kills and four blocks, while Taylor Higgins (Peru, NY/Peru) had 10 kills and nine digs. Sara Taylor (Tonawanda, NY/Kenmore East) added nine kills, eight digs and four blocks, while Shelby Doheny (Moreau, NY/South Glens Falls) had eight kills and a team-best five blocks.
 
"I'm so proud of the composure we kept throughout this match," said RIT head coach Jim Lodes. "We played very well early and Vassar continued to fight back. We were able to dig deep and persevere. This was a great team win."
 
RIT won the first two sets, 25-18, 25-20 before Vassar rallied back to win sets three and four, both by identical 25-20 scores. The Tigers would rally to take the fifth and final set, 21-19.
 
The Tigers hit .270 overall with 70 kills, nine blocks and 93 digs, while Vassar recorded 63 kills, 85 digs and 11 service aces.
 
In the opening set, RIT jumped out to the early lead and rolled to a 25-18 win, slamming 16 kills, while hitting .361. Set two started the same for RIT, as they jumped out to an 11-3 lead. This time Vassar would respond, going on a 9-3 run midway through the set to cut RIT's lead to 19-18. The Tigers would respond, scoring the next four points to go up 23-18 and hold of Vassar, 25-20.
 
Vassar inched closer in the match, taking the third set, 25-20. The Brewers hit .364 in the set with 14 kills and added six service aces. Vassar would even the match by taking set four by an identical 25-20 score.
 
The fifth set was an instant classic, with 13 ties and five lead changes before RIT pulled out a dramatic 21-19 win. The Tigers led 12-10 before Vassar scored four straight points to lead 14-12 and have RIT on the brink of defeat. RIT would score three straight points to re-take a 15-14 lead. From there, the two teams would go back and forth. With Vassar leading 19-18, Hobler would put away three straight kills, all from Parkinson to lead RIT to the win.
 
Devan Gallagher shook off a slow start to lead Vassar with 22 kills, while Annie MacMillan had 51 assists. Anna Zucchero had a match-high 27 digs and Lauren Ninkovich added four blocks.
 
RIT is now 6-0 in five-set matches this season.
 
The Tigers lead the all-time series between the two schools, 18-10. RIT and Vassar met just two weeks ago, with the Tigers rallying to win in five sets at Clark Gym. Hobler led the Tigers with 26 kills, while Higgins recorded 21 digs and 15 kills and Parkinson dished out 49 assists. Gallagher had 25 kills and 14 digs for the Brewers.

Clarkson won the second semifinal in four sets over top-seed Ithaca, 25-18, 16-25, 25-22, 25-19. The Golden Knights will look to win their seventh straight league championship tomorrow. RIT defeated Clarkson in four sets on Sept. 21. Parkinson had 52 assists for RIT in the win.
 
The winner of Saturday's Liberty League Championship earns an automatic berth into the 2018 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.