Ithaca, NY – Sophomore Gillian Kurtic picked a great time to have the match of her collegiate career, posting 18 kills and a .471 hitting percentage as the Clarkson University Volleyball team upended 22nd-ranked Ithaca College in four sets 25-18, 16-25, 25-22, 25-19 to advance to the Liberty League Championship for the eight consecutive year.

The Golden Knights, who knocked top-seeded Ithaca out of the conference tournament for the second straight year, improved to 17-10 overall while the Bombers fell to 18-7. Clarkson will now face RIT in the Liberty League Championship match at 4:00 pm on Saturday afternoon.

In the first set, Meghan Edmund recorded an ace on her first serve, and though Ithaca tied things up briefly just one point later, the Golden Knights would never trail in the opening game. Clarkson scored seven of the first 10 points and stretched its lead to five near the midway point when Rachel Reusch picked up a solo block to put the Knights up 12-7. Kills from Reusch and Maddie Bredehoeft, coupled with an Ithaca attack error, had the Knights up by seven (16-9). Clarkson's lead never dipped below three for the remainder of the set, as the Knights rode a series of errors by the Bombers to a seven-point win (25-18). Ithaca recorded 15 kills in the first set, but also produced 10 hitting errors, while Clarkson was much more efficient with a 9-1-30 line.

In set number two, however, Clarkson hit .000 for the game (6-6-30) and Ithaca took advantage with much more cohesive offensive play. The two teams were tied early (8-8) and the Knights remained within striking distance late in the game, trailing by only two at 17-15. Ithaca rattled off six straight points with two kills from Reagan Stone, an ace from Tara Stilwell and three Clarkson attack errors. Trailing by eight, it was only a matter of time for the Bombers to put the set away, and they did on a kill from Stone and another error by the Knights.

Momentum appeared to be on Ithaca's side in the third game as the Bombers scored five of the first seven points, but Clarkson rallied with five straight to take a 7-5 lead. Up by just on after a hitting error (9-8), Clarkson scored four straight to push its advantage to five thanks to back-to-back aces from Meghan Edmund, forcing Ithaca to take a timeout. The break did the job for the Bombers as Ithaca returned to Stone for two kills to spark a 4-0 run of its own. Clarkson would hold on to its lead, however, and was still up by three late in the set (21-18) following an ace from Kate Isaksen. Consecutive kills pulled the Bombers to within one, but coming out of a timeout the Knights received block assists from Kendall Cheval and Rachel Reusch to maintain the lead. A kill from Reusch and an attack error put Clarkson within a point of taking a 2-1 lead, and though Clarkson had to wait a bit to take the third, another Reusch kill gave the Green and Gold a 25-22 win.

In the fourth, again Ithaca scored five of the first seven points only to see Clarkson roll off six straight this time to take an 8-5 advantage. Up just two a few moments later at 12-10, the Knights quickly pushed the lead to five with a kill by Reusch, a block by Bredehoeft and Reusch, and another Ithaca attack error. Although Ithaca responded with three straight points, causing Clarkson to pause with a timeout, the Knights notched three straight out of the break with a kill from Cheval and two more kills by Kurtic. An ace by Reusch pushed the lead to six and kills by Bredehoeft and Kurtic extended the advantage to 21-13. Once the serve returned to Ithaca, the Bombers showed they had plenty of fight remaining, knocking off four straight to pull within four (21-17). Kurtic halted the rally with a kill and then finished things off with two more late to put the Knights into the Liberty League Championship final for the eighth consecutive year.

Kurtic scored 18 kills against just two errors in 34 swings to hit .471 for the Knights, while Rachel Reusch went 10-1-21 with five total blocks, including two solo efforts. Clarkson recorded a season-high 11 aces in the win, with three coming from both Meghan Edmund and Amanda Collins. Edmund led the team with 20 digs and Collins produced 36 assists. Kate Isaksen also picked up 18 digs.

For Ithaca, Reagan Stone had 24 kills, but also 10 errors, in 61 swings. Katie Evans also scored 14 kills. Caitlin Floyd had a double-double with 50 assists and 12 digs and Tara Stilwell notched 16 digs and three aces.