Box Score

FLUSHING, N.Y. - The Queens College volleyball team made first-year head coach Leanna Taylor a winner in her collegiate debut on the bench Friday night at Fitzgerald Gymnasium, as the homestanding Knights came back from 9-5 down in the fifth and deciding set to a 3-2 triumph over UMass Lowell, in the season opener for both teams. Scores by set were 16-25, 25-16, 16-25, 25-13 and 15-13.

Queens (1-0) received double-doubles from senior Jovana Pavlovic (Belgrade, Serbia; 12-4-30, 13 digs, 3 blks.) and junior Suzanne Byrne (Richmond, B.C.; 10 kills, match-high 23 digs), as well as a near triple-double from senior Stephanie Schroeder (Lynbrook, N.Y.; nine kills, 17 assists, 10 digs), to push through to the victory. Sophomore Ceren Kilic (Istanbul, Turkey) filled the stat sheet with nine kills, 17 assists and seven digs, while freshman Rita Romeo (Glen Oaks, N.Y.) passed 11 digs in her collegiate debut.

For UMass Lowell (0-1), Lea Freeman put down a match-high 14 kills and added four blocks (two solo), while Kristina Wiltjer notched a double-double with 32 assists and 14 digs from her setter position.

The fifth set was the highlight of the match after both sides traded sets by nine-plus-point margins throughout the first hour and one-half of play. Back-to-back kills by Freeman after Taylor called time out put the visitors in front by a 9-5 count, before QC used three-point spurts to sandwich a point of a Knights service error by the River Hawks, taking an 11-10 lead in the process. Byrne had two kills and a service ace in the stretch, while Schroeder dished out two assists and one ace. After UML knotted the match up at 11-all on a Queens attack error, Kilic and Schroeder put down back-to-back kills to give the hosts the lead for good at 13-11. Anisa Smith followed with a kill for the River Hawks, before an attack error once again knotted the game at 13-all. From there, Schroeder set Pavlovic down the middle to push QC in front 14-13, before Pavlovic and freshman Heather Gessner (Mineola, N.Y.) set a block on Trina Carroll to cap the evening for Taylor's side.

Queens now has two weeks to enjoy the victory, before getting back into action at the Bentley Invitational in Waltham, Mass., Sept. 16-17. The Knights open play in the tourney Sept. 16 against Pace University at 7:30 p.m.