SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The fourth-seeded Union College women's volleyball team had its 2024 season come to a heartbreaking end on Tuesday night at Viniar Athletic Center, falling to fifth-seeded Rochester Institute of Technology by a 3-2 (25-22, 13-25, 25-21, 13-25, 15-13) score in the first round of the Liberty League Tournament.
With the win, RIT (19-13) advances to the Liberty League Tournament semifinals, where the Tigers will take on top-seeded and AVCA #22 Ithaca College on Friday in Ithaca.
Several Garnet Chargers had excellent nights, led by junior
Shannon McGrath with a match- and season-high 20 kills to go with 17 digs. Sophomore
Shelby McKim and first-year
Georgia Pinciaro both added 10 kills, and sophomore
Maddie McCarron chipped in nine kills on .533 hitting and a match-high six blocks. Junior
Georgia Pool led all players with 19 digs and first-year
Allie Kronenberg added 48 assists, eight digs and six kills for Union (19-11) as well.
Macie Jolliffe led the Tigers with a double-double of 14 kills and 16 digs, followed by Cat Vento with 13 kills and Mia Gerber with 12. Sydney Neff also chipped in 45 assists and 17 digs for the visitors.
Union started the night with six straight points, but in a sign of things to come, RIT came back with seven of the next eight to knot the score. The home team again built up an edge at 17-13 after a McCarron kill and still held a 21-18 advantage later in the frame, but the Tigers finished on a 7-1 run to take the opening set.
The Garnet Chargers hit a sizzling .458 in the second set, putting down 12 kills on 24 attempts to even the match. An 11-1 run opened up a commanding 15-5 advantage, helped by two Pinciaro kills and two aces each from McKim and junior
Emma Main. RIT never got closer than six as Union quickly knotted the score.
The home team cooled off in the third set, hitting .188 and allowing the Tigers to go back ahead. Union led by a 15-12 score midway through the frame, but a 9-1 stretch put RIT in front and Union could get no closer than two the rest of the way.
Union returned to form again in the fourth set and as a result had another easy win, hitting .378 with 15 kills on the way to evening the match once more. McGrath put down seven kills by herself in the set, which saw Union use a 10-2 run to create the separation needed to comfortably take the match to a fifth set.
The teams traded the lead six times in a very tense final frame that saw both teams hit over .300. The lead never grew higher than two for either side, last coming at 7-5 in favor of RIT until the final point. Union held its last lead at 13-12 after an RIT error, but two kills by Jolliffe sandwiched around a Neff dump kill was enough for the Tigers to escape Schenectady with the win.
In a reverse of the team's regular-season meeting, Union had the better hitting percentage on the night, recording 58 kills on .268 hitting compared to RIT's 56 kills on .186 hitting.
The loss brings a successful 2024 season to a sudden close, despite a 19-win campaign that marked the most wins in a season for the program since 2016.
