GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith College volleyball team fell to Ithaca in a five-set thriller in Bristol Gym. The Herons now sit at 12-5, with a 3-2 record in the Liberty League while the Bombers move to 18-4 overall and 4-0 in conference play.

Four different players recorded double digit kills for the Herons, with first-years Jaylynn McCarthy (10 kills, 10 digs) and Marin Montagne (11 kills, 14 digs) both recording double-doubles on the night. Sophomore Elizaveta Telepova led the Herons, recording 16 kills, hitting .293 in the five-set match.
  
MATCH MOMENTS:

• The Herons and the Bombers would trade points in the back-and-forth set one battle until Ithaca's Julia Costa went on a strong service run to help the Bombers to a 25-19 victory to open up the match.
• William Smith would bounce back in set two, hitting .258 as a team. Sophomore Ariana Angus would answer with a strong serving run of her own to help deliver a 25-19 victory for the Herons in set two.
• Set three would continue to show impressive efforts by both sides. The Herons hit .205 as a team, compared to the Bombers .189. The Herons would take set three 25-21 after a big kill from first-year Malya Sayre to close out the set.
• The Bombers came firing back in the must-win set, hitting .355 as a team and holding the Herons to a .176 hitting percentage in the set. Although a late push by the Herons to tie the game at 19, Ithaca took the set 25-23 to force a fifth set.
• The Bombers went on a 3-0 scoring run to open the fifth set but were answered by a resilient Heron team who fought their way back into the game. After the back-and-forth action, the Bombers would take set five 15-12, and the match 3-2.

MATCH STATS:

• Telepova led the Herons with 16 kills on 41 swings, hitting .293 on the match. Montagne (.065) and Sayre (.048) both recorded 11 kills, followed by McCarthy (.450) with 10.
• Sophomore Elaina Wamhoff recorded 48 assists, eight digs, six kills (.353), two service aces and one block in the match.
• Montagne led the Herons with 14 digs against the Bombers, followed by McCarthy with 10 and Angus with nine.
• Senior Lauren DeVaney, Telepova and McCarthy all recorded three blocks on the night.

 
COACHES CORNER:
 
"I am so proud of the way our team battled tonight," Head coach Derryk Williams said. "We went toe to toe with a nationally renowned team! Ithaca has some great athletes and is really well coached, so for us to play the way we did was awesome. This is just a glimpse of what our team will be able to achieve moving forward and I can't wait to get back in the gym!"

 UP NEXT:
 
William Smith will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 21, when they host Bard in a Liberty League matchup. First serve is set to begin at 7 p.m. in Bristol Gym.