ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT Women's Volleyball Team opens the 2025 season with four matches at the Saint Vincent Bearcat Challenge this Friday and Saturday. Here are six things you need to know about the Tigers heading into the season.
 
IN SEARCH OF NEW HANDS
Twenty-first year head coach Jim Lodes will be searching for a new offensive catalyst following the graduation of four-year starting setter Sydney Neff. Neff ended her career seventh in program history with 3,907 assists while becoming only the third Tiger to be named Liberty League All-Conference four times as well as the third to garner first-team honors three times. The three-time team captain capped her standout career with a single-season career-high 1,095 assists while averaging 8.62 assists per set.
 
BIG SHOES TO FILL IN BACK…
Lodes will also seek to replace a pair of veteran defensive anchors in graduate student libero Hailey Blixt and senior middle blocker Catherine Vento. Blixt led the Liberty League with 531 digs while finishing 11th nationally and first in the conference with 74 service aces. The two-time captain finished just outside the program's top-10 with 1,276 digs while her 241 career service aces ranked third all-time.
 
..AND IN FRONT
Vento garnered First-Team All-Liberty League recognition last fall after finishing second in the conference with a .315 hitting percentage. She also led the league and finished 29th nationally with a career-high 114 total blocks while finishing second in the league with 1.01 blocks per set. For her career, she finished seventh in program history with 266 assisted blocks.
 
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Along with six returners, 12 of the 18 players on the opening day roster are new to the program. Senior middle blocker Jacqueline Witteman is the lone fourth-year player and looks to make even more of an impact after playing a career-high 22 matches a season ago.
 
JUNIOR CLASS
Juniors Mia Gerber and Macie Jolliffe also return to provide Lodes with a pair of experienced hitters while junior defensive specialist Jada Lee should see her role expand this fall. Gerber ended 2024 fifth in the conference with a career-high 311 kills and was 11th with 2.55 kills per set. Jolliffe returns with team-highs of 509 kills, 474 digs and 102 services aces the last two seasons. Lee has played in all 66 of the Tigers' matches the last two seasons, and posted a career-high 194 digs last fall.  
 
2025 SCHEDULE
RIT kicks off the fall opposite Waynesburg (Pa.) and host Saint Vincent (Pa.) this afternoon before taking on Carlow (Pa.) and Westminster (Pa.) tomorrow. The Tigers will then play a tri-match hosted by Mt. Aloysius (Pa.) next Saturday (Sept. 6) before hosting Alfred State and Brockport for a tri-match the following week (Sept. 13). After playing a tri-match at Widener (Sept. 20) and a single match at Geneseo (Sept. 23), RIT will host St. Lawrence (Sept. 26) and Skidmore (Sept. 27) to open Liberty League play. Defending conference champion Ithaca will pay a visit to Clark Gym for a midweek match (Oct. 1) before the Tigers hit the road for a tri-match at Penn State Behrend (Oct. 4). After back-to-back league road matches at Union (Oct. 10) and Bard (Oct. 11), RIT will return home to host Clarkson (Oct. 17) and Rochester (Oct. 18) in a tri-match on Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend. The Tigers will finish the regular season with seven road matches, starting with a tri-match at Rutgers-Newark (Oct. 25), before closing Liberty League play at William Smith (Oct. 29) and Vassar (Nov. 1). RIT will play a tri-match at Fredonia (Nov. 8) before the Liberty League Tournament kicks off with first-round matches on Nov. 11 followed by the semifinals and championship Nov. 14-15.