By Brandon Farren
Staff Writer
The Susquehanna women’s volleyball team went 0–2 at the Ithaca College Invitational on Saturday, Sept 8.
The first loss was against Wesleyan (Conn). The River Hawks dropped the first two sets by scores of 25–14 and 25–18. Susquehanna rebounded to win the next two sets before dropping a closely contested fifth set by a score of 15–12.
In the first set, Susquehanna was neck-and-neck with Wesleyan after a service ace from junior setter/defensive specialist Lindsay Pugh made the score 10–9, but the set would soon fall out of reach as Cardinals would go on a seven-point run. Susquehanna would only score five-more times in the set.
After the dropping the next set, the River Hawks would clutch a 25–23 set win after winning two-straight points after kills from Freshman middle/ outside hitter Kody Dillon and sophomore right-side hitter Sydney Portale.
Susquehanna then won a close fourth set thanks to a key block from junior middle/outside hitter Hannah Lyons, who was subbed in while the set was tied at 23.
Momentum was on Susquehanna’s side going into the fifth and final set, and the teams continued their back-andfourth struggle with the set tied at 10. The Cardinals would pull out the win though 15–12.
Next the River Hawks matched up against the nationally-ranked Ithaca. Again, the team dropped their first two sets by scores of 25–15 and 26–24. The River Hawks won the third set 25–16 before dropping the fourth set 25–22.
Lyons turned in a memorable performance with 21 kills and eight blocks on the day. Portale led the team with 27 kills on the day. Pugh totaled 80 assists on the day with 50 of those coming against Wesleyan (Conn).
Solid contributions were also made by the follow players: sophomore defensive specialist Lizzie Herestofa, junior defensive specialist Kasey Bost, and junior defensive specialist/ outside hitter Caroline Beohm. Each of these players added 25 or more digs on the day.
The River Hawks are back in action next weekend at the Clarkson Invitational in Potsdam where they will face, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Potsdam, Clarkson, and Stevens.
SUNY Brockport comes into the contest 5–5 on the season, and SUNY Potsdam is 3–4 on the year. Meanwhile, Clarkson sits at 5–2 on the year and Stevens sits at 6–3 coming into the invitational.
