The volleyball team went on the road to Union College this weekend looking to get back on track after a disappointing loss to SUNY-Cortland on Tuesday. Similar to last weekend, the Bombers struck even with two wins and two losses as they moved to 16–13 on the season.

In the first match, the Bombers faced off against host Union who dealt them a heart-breaking five-set loss. The Bombers lost the first set, but after being down in the second set, rallied to take the lead and even the match at 1–1. The back and forth battle continued as the Bombers dropped the third but came back strong to win the fourth set, pushing the match to a pivotal fifth and final set. The Bombers took a 5–0 lead off the bat but allowed the Dutchmen to tie things up at 13 before they stole a 15–13 victory.

The match marked the second time this season that the two squads needed five sets to decide the winner, the first coming during the Bomber Invitational. Despite the loss, the Blue and Gold maintained a potent offensive attack anchored predominantly by sophomore Kate Thoene and senior Rachel Busch, who both mustered career-highs with 21 kills each.

The resilient Bombers bounced back from the crushing loss to sweep SUNY-Potsdam. Thoene again led the Bombers offense with 18 kills, but the key to the team’s success was its serving as they racked up 11 service aces, four of which came off the hand of junior Taylor Horton.

The South Hill squad opened Saturday’s play with a win over SUNY-Oneonta in five sets. Busch got 54 chances at the net and converted 18 of those opportunities into kills. Thoene was right behind her with 17 kills as the Bombers snuck by the Red Dragons by a score of 25–17, 22–25, 25–19, 23–25, 15–12.

Ithaca finished up the Interleague Challenge with a difficult loss at the hands of Skidmore College in four sets. The Blue and Gold hung tough on defense but could not produce the necessary offense as they dropped the match 25–20, 25–21, 23–25, 27–25.

Thoene was active at the net collecting eight of the Bombers’ 24 blocks while Horton tallied a career-high 23 digs. Senior Corinna Doctor racked up an astonishing 146 assists over the weekend, putting her over 5,000 for her career and moving her into second place all-time.

The Bombers next match is Oct. 20 at Oneonta.