ITHACA, N.Y.—The third-seeded William Smith volleyball team dropped a thrilling five-set matchup to top-seeded Ithaca this evening in the Liberty League title match. With the loss, the Herons fall to 23-7 on the season, while the No. 15 Bombers improve to 26-4 overall and earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championships.
 
The thrilling conference championship saw both William Smith and Ithaca put up impressive numbers. The Bombers put down 67 kills (.309) in the five-set thriller, while the Herons tallied 65 kills (.250). Both William Smith and Ithaca recorded eight blocks this evening, while the Bombers held an 11-7 edge in service aces. The Herons held a 66-60 advantage in digs in the championship matchup.
 
Senior outside Malya Sayre led William Smith with a season-high 24 kills and 13 digs for her team-leading 10th double-double of the season. She added two service aces, two assists and a block for the Herons. Sophomore Arielle Newsome chipped in 13 kills (.417) out of the middle and added five blocks and a dig. Senior Jaylynn McCarthy recorded 11 kills (.429), three blocks and a dig, while classmate Hope Von Dohlen added nine kills (.190), three blocks and three digs in the loss.
 
Ithaca was led by Naomi Clauhs' 22 kills (.316), four digs and one block. Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu added 18 kills (.262), 12 digs, one block and one assist and was named the tournament's most outstanding player. Wesley Slavin led the Bombers with 55 assists, seven digs, four kills and three service aces.

MATCH MOMENTS:

• William Smith came out hot in the opening set, putting down 15 kills (.243) as a team compared to Ithaca's 13 (.22). The Herons grabbed the early lead and despite a late push by the Bombers, William Smith closed out set one on top 25-23.
• Ithaca responded well in the second set, putting down 16 kills (.353) and holding William Smith to a match-low 10 (.194). The Bombers used a strong service run by Slavin to close out set two on top 25-15.
• The Bombers continued on their momentum into the third set and combined for 14 kills (.462) on only two errors in the set. The Herons put down 16 kills (.242) in the set but tallied eight hitting errors, handing Ithaca a 25-19 win in the third set.
• William Smith fought back in the fourth set as it fired off 14 kills (.216) to grab back the momentum. After sharing the early points, the Herons used two late runs to close out the set on top, 25-18. A kill by Newsome would force the decisive fifth set in the conference thriller.
• The back-and-forth action continued in the fifth set as William Smith combined for 10 kills (.409) on only one error, while Ithaca tallied 13 kills (.444) on one error. Two kills by Gonzalez-Abreu would close out the fifth set in favor of the Bombers, 15-13, handing Ithaca its fourth-straight Liberty League title.

MATCH STATS:

• Sayre paced the Herons with a season-high 24 kills (.258), while Newsome chipped in 13 kills (.417) out of the middle. McCarthy put down 11 kills (.429), while Von Dohlen chipped in nine (.190) and sophomore Emily Fulton added five kills in the loss.
• Sophomore setter Delainy Williams had another standout performance for the Herons, tallying 55 assists, eight digs, three kills (.750) and one block.
• William Smith combined for 66 digs as a team and were led by sophomore libero Kali Vanderhoof with 15. Sayre and Fulton chipped in 13 digs each, while Williams and senior Marin Montagne added eight digs each.
• The Herons combined for seven service aces against the Bombers and were led by Sayre, Fulton and first-year Madilyn Kresl with two each. Senior Cydney Fernandez tallied one ace for William Smith.
• The Green and White continued to impress at the net and combined for eight blocks as a team. Newsome led the team with five blocks, while McCarthy and Von Dohlen added three each.

COACHES CORNER:

"I am so incredibly proud of the way our team competed tonight," said Head Coach Derryk Williams. "We showed so much resilience and played until the very last point. Although it wasn't the result we wanted, I am optimistic that we are not done yet. We played incredible volleyball against a strong Ithaca team, and I can't wait to create history this week and make a run in the NCAA Tournament!"

UP NEXT:
 
The 2025 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship's 64-team bracket will be revealed on Monday, Nov. 17. The selection show will begin at 1 p.m. William Smith will wait to see if it receives one of the 21 at-large bids into the tournament.