Lady Pioneers Close Out Season

The Alfred State volleyball team battled tough but was defeated by Ithaca 24-26, 22-25, 20-25 in the semifinals of the ECAC Metro/Upstate Championships. The Lady Pioneers finish the season with a 25-10 mark.

Alfred State led late in the first game but Ithaca rallied for a 26-24 victory. The Pioneers held a lead midway through the second game but the Bombers were able to rally for a 25-22 victory. Ithaca closed out the match with their 25-20 victory to advance to the championship match.

Kay Pfleghardt (Tioga), playing in her final match in an Alfred State uniform, led the team with nine kills. Grace Hall (Ellicottville) added nine kills, Janae Hamilton (Ellicottville) had eight kills, and Lera Braun (Waterloo) had 30 assists and ten digs.  Jess Ramsey (Tioga) chipped in 11 digs.

Joelle Goldstein led Ithaca with 13 kills while Rylie Bean chipped in eight. Maggie Mutschler had 13 digs while Kayla Gromen passed out 20 assists.

Ithaca committed only one service error in the contest while the Lady Pioneers were slowed by 12.

In the championship match, Ithaca met Ramapo. The Bombers faced a match point in the 4th game but rallied to to force a fifth game en route to a 3-2 victory (15-25, 25-22, 18-25, 27-25, 15-7). Rylie Bean was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Ramapo defeated Rutgers-Newark in the other semifinal 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 27-25).

This was the first ECAC Championship hosted by Alfred State.