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Updated statsHOBOKEN, N.J. -- Second-seeded Ithaca eliminated third-seeded Nazareth in the semifinals of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament in women's volleyball Saturday as the Bombers swept the Golden Flyers in three sets by scores of 25-19, 25-16, 25-21.
Nazareth finishes the 2015 season with a 19-17 overall record, while Ithaca advances to Sunday's championship match with a 29-4 overall record. The Bombers will meet top-seeded Stevens for the conference title and an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Junior
Cady Messmer posted a match-high 14 kills against just three hitting errors for a .314 percentage for the Golden Flyers. She surpassed 400 kills for the season with a team-best 405 and finishes the season with 682 for her career. She also had two service aces and 13 digs.
Six of Messmer's kills came in the opening set, but that wasn't enough to offset 10 hitting errors by the Golden Flyers collectively. Messmer added four more kills in the second set, but Ithaca pulled away after the set was tied at 10-10 as Katie Evans had four of her eight kills for the Bombers.
In the third set, Ithaca's Hailey Adler had five of her team-high 10 kills and added five digs as the Bombers won decisively. Trailing 24-16, Nazareth rallied to score five straight points to make it interesting. Senior
Jennifer Hicks had a pair of kills and a block, but Evans recorded a kill for Ithaca on match point to seal it.
Freshman
Kelsey Milligan added five kills for Nazareth and junior
Maureen Thayer totaled 21 assists.
Sunday's title matchis set for 12 p.m. at Stevens.