SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College women's volleyball team had its postseason hopes come to an end with a 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 26-24, 25-21) defeat at the hands of Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon at Viniar Athletic Center.
With the loss, Union (12-11, 2-5 Liberty League) can finish to higher than a tie for sixth place in the conference standings, but the Garnet Chargers would lose the tiebreaker to either RIT or Skidmore College for the final postseason spot.
Sophomore
Shannon McGrath led all players with 16 kills on the day and added 13 digs for her 11th double-double of the season. A trio of Garnet Chargers had nine kills, including senior
Keara Page with nine kills on .303 hitting, and first-year
Maddie McCarron, who added a team-best four blocks. Sophomore
Georgia Pool chipped in a match-high 21 digs as well for the home team.
Macie Jolliffe put down a team-best 14 kills and Grace Phelen added five kills and seven blocks for RIT (8-17, 3-3 Liberty League).
RIT started the opening set on a 6-1 run and never trailed in the frame, although Union tied the score on four occasions, the last coming at 23-all after an ace by first-year
Sydney Scanlon. But kills by Mia Gerber and Cat Vento gave the first set to the visitors.
Union was the team that started strong in the second stanza, jumping out to an early 12-4 lead. RIT came back to take the lead at 19-18, but a pair of Tiger attack errors and a McCarron kill helped the home team close out the frame and even the match.
The pivotal third set featured 10 ties and five lead changes. Union used a 7-3 run to take its first lead since early in the set at 24-23, but a Jolliffe kill negated the team's only set point. Another Jolliffe kill and a Phelan block turned the tide and put the Tigers one set from a win.
Union held a 13-11 lead midway through the fourth set before four straight points gave the Tigers back the lead. With the score tied at 16, a Cat Vento kill and back-to-back blocks gave the visitors a 19-16 edge, and the home team could never get back to even the rest of the way.
Union will close out its Liberty League slate on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. matchup at Vassar College.
