MARCY, N.Y. – The SUNYIT Women's Volleyball Team finished up their 2012 home tournament (the Wildcat Classic) with a 3-1 record Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats had an inspired weekend, playing their first home matches of the season over the two day tournament.

After a pair of wins on Friday, the Wildcats faced their toughest test of the weekend on Saturday morning in an 11:00 date with regional powerhouse RIT (15-6). The Tigers took the first set 25-19; in the second, SUNYIT hung tough through the first half of the set, tying the score at 9-9. At that point the Tigers rattled off a 6-0 run to take a 15-9 lead. During the stretch the Wildcats struggled with the serves of Sara Martin. The first-year player made use of some vicious spin to register two aces during the run.

The Tigers would go on to take the second set going away. In the third set, however, SUNYIT displayed the kind of mental toughness that had served them well in their previous day's win over Sage. Down 2-0 to a heavily favored opponent, SUNYIT battled to a thrilling 29-27 third set victory. While the Wildcats would go on to lose the fourth set 25-21, Coach Bluhm expressed satisfaction with the Wildcats play on the weekend, in particular their resolve against some strong opponents.

In SUNYIT's afternoon match, the Wildcats defeated their lone NEAC opponent of the weekend, Cazenovia, in straight sets. Kaitlyn Harrington (Central Square, N.Y. / Central Square) exploded for 16 kills in the match, and first-year Emily Frasier (Mayfield, N.Y. / Mayfield) added an impressive 7 kills on just 13 attempts.

In the RIT match, Hanne Saarinen (Lempaala, Finland / Tampereen lyseon lukio) led the Wildcats with 12 kills and 10 digs.

SUNYIT will travel next to Cazenovia on Saturday for a weekend of NEAC matches. First match is set for 1:00 pm versus Wells College.