The Queens College volleyball team evened its conference record at 1-1 with a three-set sweep of the University of DC in a game played in Washington on Tuesday.  The scores in the sets were 25-19, 31-29 and 28-26.

The opening set was back-and-forth early on, but, with the score even at 12-12, the Knights rattled off six straight points to take command of the first set.  During the six-point run, Suzanne Byrne (Richmond, B.C./St. Patrick's) recorded a pair of service aces.  Arielle DiCoco (Blue Point, N.Y./Bayport-Blueport) had five of her game-high 12 kills in first set as Queens took it, 25-19.

The second frame saw the Firebirds take control early as they built a slim, 14-11 lead, that the Knights promptly erased with a 9-3 run, to regain the lead at 20-17.  From there, the two sides exchanged points and were deadlocked at both 24-24 and 25-25 before a 3-0 run by the Knights closed out set two by a score of 31-29.

The final set of the sweep had both teams use runs to exchange the lead.  The Knights doubled up the Firebirds 14-7 early in the set, but DC fought back to take a 20-16 advantage.  From there, Queens battled back to even the score at 18-all, and then promptly rattled off six straight points to have match point at 24-18.  Eventually, a kill from Bianca Steele (Massapequa, N.Y./Holy Trinity) and an ace from Else Buchmiller (Sacramento, Calif./Christian Brothers) accounted for the final two points of the set won it, 28-26, for the three set sweep.

DiCoco recorded a game-high 12 kills and was second on the team with seven digs.  Buchmiller tallied eight kills while Xhesi Domi (Selden, N.Y./Newfield) led the Knights with 10 digs while Ceren Kilic (Istanbul, Turkey/Yuzyil Isil) had 30 assists.

The Knights will look for their second straight conference win when they face Bridgeport in a game from Fitzgerald Gymnasium on Thursday, September 27 at 7:00 PM.