Box Score
ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. – The Queens College volleyball team got double-digit kill performances from seniors Stephanie Schroeder (Lynbrook, N.Y.) and Jovana Pavlovic (Belgrade, Serbia) Thursday night at Quealy Gymnasium, but it was not enough in the Knights' East Coast Conference opener, as they fell to host Molloy College, 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-12, 26-24).
Pavlovic put down a match-best 14 kills to go with nine digs and three blocks (one solo), while Schroeder added 11 kills on .267 hitting, 16 assists and seven digs. Junior Suzanne Byrne (Richmond, B.C.) registered eight kills and a team-best 14 digs for Queens (2-4, 0-1 ECC).
The Lions (4-8, 1-0 ECC) received 13 kills and 10 digs from Angelica Nicalek, while Catherine Russini (two aces), Sam Berna (13 digs) and Carli Wilson all tacked on seven kills. Stefani Koelbel led all players with five aces from the service line. Molloy outhit Queens by a .199-.140 edge, and also received a big boost in the service game (10 aces for; three against).
In the first set, Molloy never led by more than four points, and the score was tied on six occasions – as late as 15-all on a kill by Ceren Kilic (Istanbul, Turkey). The Lions took the next three points, before the Knights later pulled to within one (23-22) on a kill by Pavlovic. Koelbel then scored a kill, and Molloy took advantage of an attacking error on set point to go up 1-0.
QC raced out to a 4-1 edge in set 2, before an 11-2 run by Molloy gave the hosts a 12-6 lead. A 7-1 spurt by the Knights pulled the score even at 13 apiece, and the squads tied on three more occasions – including at 17-all on an ace from Koelbel. Queens took the next three points, and never looked back in closing out the set.
The Lions scored the first six points of set three, and jumped out to a 17-4 advantage in taking control of the match by a 2-1 sets count.
Queens took a 4-1 lead to start set four (including two kills from Byrne and one from Schroeder), before Molloy raced back to take a 5-4 edge. In all, the score was tied on 11 occasions and the lead changed hands five times in the stanza, with QC leading as late as 23-22 off a kill from Pavlovic. A QC service error and subsequent kill from Nicalek on the next point gave the Lions a 24-23 lead, before the score was tied on a Molloy ball handling error. The hosts then got two straight kills to close out the match.
Head coach Leanna Taylor's Knights are next in action Saturday (Sept. 24), when they travel to Washington, D.C., for an ECC matchup at University of the District of Columbia. First serve is slated for 2 p.m.
