ITHACA, NY – The No. 2 seed RIT volleyball team (28-4) won its first Liberty League Championship, defeating No. 4 seed Clarkson University (17-11) in four sets in the title match from Ben Light Gymnasium on the campus of Ithaca College on Saturday. RIT earns the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament and will find out its future opponent and location at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 5.
 
RIT won the opening set, 25-22 before Clarkson evened the match with a 25-13 win in set two. RIT took control of the match with a 25-23 win in set three and clinched its first league title since 1993 (EAA) with a 25-19 victory in the fourth set.
 
"I am so proud of this group and how hard they have persevered to get to this moment," said RIT head coach Jim Lodes. "This was a tremendous team victory for us."
 
Katie Hobler (Rochester, NY/Our Lady of Mercy), the Liberty League Championship Most Outstanding Player, led RIT with a match-high 19 kills to go along with 12 digs. Kelly Waters (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) slammed 13 kills while hitting .379 to go along with a team-best four blocks. Taylor Higgins (Peru, NY/Peru) recorded a team-high 18 digs in addition to 12 kills. Erin Parkinson (Carrollton, TX/W.T. White) dished out a match-high 44 assists to go along with 16 digs and two blocks, while Maria Simonetti (Rochester, NY/Our Lady of Mercy) added 17 digs.
 
The Tigers snapped Clarkson's six-year reign as Liberty League Champions.
 
Rachel Reusch led Clarkson with 17 kills, while Gillian Kurtic added 11. Amanda Collins had 39 assists and 11 digs, while Kate Isaksen, the NCAA leader in digs, had a match-high 24. Savannah Peters had four blocks for Clarkson, who was making its eighth consecutive appearance in the championship game.
 
RIT had 68 total points to 60 for Clarkson, while the Tigers held a 55-48 lead in kills. Both teams had six service aces, while RIT held a slim 7-6 edge in blocks. Clarkson held a 77-76 edge in digs.
 
The Tigers hit .318 in the opening set with to claim a 25-22 win. Clarkson answered right back by hitting .351 in set two to roll to a 25-13 win and even the match. Set three featured 11 ties and three lead changes. Clarkson led 17-13 and 19-16 before RIT went on a 4-0 run to take the lead. With the match tied at 23-23, Waters slammed a kill and a Clarkson hitting error gave RIT the win.
 
Once again, RIT rallied in the fourth set to claim victory. Trailing 13-11, the Tigers took control of the match with an 11-4 run. A kill by Hobler and Clarkson error put RIT a point away from the title. Waters and Hobler combined to block a Clarkson hitting attempt and seal the match for RIT, 25-19.
 
RIT won both matches over Clarkson in 2018, also earning a four-set win on Sept. 21. The Tigers now lead the all-time series between the two schools, 27-20.
 
The Tigers will be making their 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2007.