ITHACA, N.Y. - The SUNY Geneseo women's volleyball team had a long day of competition, as they played back-to-back five set matches at Ithaca, falling to Swarthmore in the morning 27-29, 19-25, 25-22, 25-20, 15-9. The Knights then stepped right back out on the court and battled the Bombers to a five set match, but ultimately came up short with a score of 15-25, 27-25, 22-25, 25-21, 15-6.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the opening match, the Knights fought off a set point at 24-23 in the opening frame, and went on to win 29-27 after junior outside hitter Linda Rossi put down a kill and then sophomore setter Allie Driesen sealed it with an ace.
• Geneseo carried their momentum into the second set, as they rattled off six of the final seven points to take a 25-19 victory. Junior defensive specialist Cecilia Dignan put up back-to-back service aces to close out the second set.
• Swarthmore was powered by a six-point run in the middle of the third set to bring the match to 2-1 in favor of the Knights, and then the Garnet sent it into a fifth set with a 25-20 win in the fourth set. 
• Swarthmore jumped ahead early in the final frame, taking a 9-2 advantage. Geneseo fought back and cut the lead to 12-8, but couldn't overcome the deficit and fell 15-9.
• Rossi helped lead the Knights to an opening-set win against Ithaca, as she recorded a kill to go up 12-10, and then ran five-straight serves to make a 17-10 advantage.
• Geneseo found themselves trailing 18-10 in the second set, but was able to come all the way back and fight off a set point at 24-23 to tie the score up. The Knights were unable to convert on their own set point at 25-24, and went on to fall 27-25.
• After splitting the third and fourth sets, Geneseo was in their second fifth set of the day. The Knights fell victim to another big run by their opponents in the final set as the Bombers won six-straight points to go up 12-5. Ithaca was able to hold on and take the match with a 15-6 victory in the set.

QUICK FACTS

• Rossi led the offensive effort on the day with 14 and 12 kills, respectively, while freshman setter Carolyn Mack posted a team-high 41 assists over the pair of matches.
• Senior libero Emily Haber tallied 29 and 28 digs to lead the defense, while Isabella Imbo recorded a double-double against the Bombers with 10 kills and 14 digs.
• Geneseo last started a season 0-3 in 2019, but they went on to finish 18-12 with a 9-0 record in SUNYAC action.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Knights will play in their home opener on Wednesday, Sep. 7 against Medaille at 6 p.m.