FLUSHING, N.Y. – Freshman middle blocker Christina Hickey put down 10 kills and a match-high five blocks (one solo) Thursday night at Fitzgerald Gymnasium for the Queens College volleyball team, which dropped a four-set match to visiting and regionally seventh-ranked NYIT, 3-1 (25-21, 25-19, 16-25, 25-23).

Hickey (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) hit a match-best .364 on 22 attempts offensively, while senior middle blocker Jovana Pavlovic (Belgrade, Serbia) led the Knights (6-16, 2-9 ECC) with 12 kills, three assisted blocks and a match-high 20 digs. Junior outside hitter Suzanne Byrne (Richmond, B.C.; three assisted blocks) and senior setter Stephanie Schroeder (Lynbrook, N.Y.; four assisted blocks, 18 assists) each put down seven kills for QC.

NYIT (17-6, 10-2 ECC) used a 5-1 run in the end of the first set to break a 20-all deadlock and take a 1-0 lead in the match, before pulling away for a six-point triumph in set number two.

Queens battled back and used a 6-1 run early in the third stanza to take the lead for good, before the fourth set provided drama. After the Bears ran out to a 19-11 lead, a 9-1 run by the Knights knotted the set up at 20-all. The teams then traded points over the next four serves, setting up a 22-22 deadlock. NYIT got back-to-back kills from Ali Falbo and Shelby Cable (match-high 19 kills) to take a two-point lead, before Schroeder put down a kill off a feed from sophomore Ceren Kilic (Istanbul, Turkey). On the next point, though, the Bears got another point from Cable to seal the match.

Head coach Leanna Taylor's Knights are in non-conference action Saturday, when they travel to Rutherford, N.J., for a tri-match with Holy Family (2 p.m.) and host Felician (4 p.m.).