FLUSHING, N.Y. – For the first time since the 2008 season, the Queens College women's volleyball team is returning to postseason play.
Under the tutelage of third-year head coach
Stefan Leger, the Knights finished the 2022 regular season 12-12 overall and 6-4 in East Coast Conference play.
The 12-12 record earned the Knights their first .500% season since 2008 when Queen went 25-10 overall. The 6-4 winning record in conference play is the highest since the 2008 season as well when the Knights went 11-5.
Finishing with a 6-4 conference record earned the Knights' #2 seed in the upcoming ECC Volleyball Tournament, the highest finish since the 2004 season when the Knights went undefeated with a record of 11-0.
Queens were voted to finish fourth in the
ECC Preseason Coaches Poll but Leger leading a young Knights squad showed maturity and composure as they finished the latter part of the season with a 6-3 record. Leger and the Knights concluded their home schedule with an 8-3 record including an impressive 5-1 play in October.
The Knights squad consists of 17 players comprising nine freshmen, four sophomores, two juniors, and two seniors. The Underclassmen showed tremendous experience throughout each match played as they battled in all 24 matches this season.
Queens played six five-setters matches this season and earned four victories including going 2-2 on the road.
Throughout the season, the Knights ended various losing streaks and earned three series sweeps as they swept Le Moyne in non-conference action and two conference sweeps over D'Youville University and Roberts Wesleyan University.
Against the Lions of Molloy University on Oct. 4, the Knights ended a 10-match losing as they earned their first victory since the 2015 season. While against the Mercy College Mavericks, the Knights earned their first victory since the 2017 season as they ended an eight-match losing streak.
Junior Right-Side/Middle Blocker
Alexis Deodat (Tampa Bay, FL) put forth one of her best seasons in Flushing as she notched career-high numbers tallying 205 kills
(second on the team) averaging 2.38 kills per set, 10 service aces, and leads the team with 63 total blocks with 21 block solos and 42 block assists.
Sophomore Outside Hitter
Christina Franco (Lynbrook, N.Y.) earned All-ECC Honorable mention during her rookie year as she tallied seven double-doubles while leading Knights in points (217.5), kills (189) with an average of 2.63 kills per set, digs (264) with an average of 3.67 digs per set to go with 18 services aces, 22 assists, and 16 blocks on the season.
This season the sophomore broke out as she tallied 198 kills
(third on the team) averaging 2.57 kills per set, 17 service aces, and 262 digs
(second on the team) with nine double-doubles. She earned one ECC Player of the Week honors on Sept. 19.
Sophomore setter
Despina Boudouris (Athens, Greece) has been a force as she tallied a career-high total of 707 assists, the 14
th highest in a single season since Ceren Kilic notched 721 assists. Boudouris touched 1000 career assists in the 3-2 victory over Roberts Wesleyan, the 11
th most in program history. On the season she has tallied 10 double-doubles with 707 assists, 18 service aces, and 213 digs.
On Oct. 7 against Le Moyne, she recorded the second 50-assist performance in program history and the first since Jessica Yen tallied 55 assists against Georgian Court University in 2015 as she tallied 52 assists in the 3-2 victory.
On the season, Boudouris has earned ECC Setter of the Week on two occasions (Sept. 12, & Oct. 11).
Freshman Outside Hitter
Kendall Conrad (Carolltown, PA) notched one of the best seasons seen by a freshman since Arielle Dicoco during the 2012 season. The rookie tallied 219 kills
(first on the team) averaging 2.52 kills per set with 39 blocks.
The Carolltown native notched 11 double-digit kills performances including a career-best 20 kills in the five setter against Molloy. Her 20 kills were the most by a rookie since Dicoco notched 19 kills against District of Columbia in the 2012 season.
On the season Conrad has earned three ECC Rookie of the week honors, the most by a conference rookie.
Freshman Libero
Ryann Frontera (Dripping Springs, TX) has taken the conference by storm having earned ECC Rookie of the Week honors on two occasions (Aug. 29 & Nov. 7) and earned one Defensive Player of the Week honor on Oct. 11.
The rookie leads the Knights and the conference with 401 digs averaging 5.08 digs per set, a 1.06 average higher and is tied for first on the team with 28 service aces.
Throughout the season, Frontera has tallied 19 double-digit digs performance with 13 20 or more digs in a match. She tallied 25 digs on three separate occasions including 25 digs in her debut against New Haven in the Knights' season opener on Aug. 26.
She recorded her first career double-double with a career-high 12 assists and 21 digs against Molloy on November 1. In the 3-2 comeback victory over Roberts Wesleyan on November 4, the rookie recorded a career-high 27 digs as Queens clinched the #2 seed.
The freshmen Middle blocking duo of
Lindsay Osterhoudt (Orlando, FL), Taylor Smith (Temecula, CA), and junior
Anjeline Arnakis (Bayside, N.Y.) have put on block parties throughout the season with the Knights leading the conference with 192 total blocks averaging 2.11 blocks per set.
Osterhoudt leads the rookies having tallied 60 blocks and has earned one ECC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 6. Arnakis earned the defensive honors on Oct. 31, while Smith was awarded ECC Honor Roll on Nov. 7 for her career performance with seven blocks and five kills in the 3-2 comeback victory over Roberts Wesleyan.
Queens' depth has shown they can produce and help the Knights win matches when counted on this season. Sophomore transfer
Alicia Cervera Sospedra's (Valencia, Spain) experience on the young Knights squad has proved to be quite helpful with the Valencia native notching 95 kills, 28 service, and 142 digs.
While serving specialists senior
Leila Hadjeb (Queens, N.Y.) and
Sarah Munn (Torrance, CA) have notched several winning performances as substitutes. On Sept. 19, Munn became one of the three rookies to earn ECC Rookie of the Week and the fourth rookie to earn top honors in the weekly awards.
East Coast Conference Tournament
This year's conference tournament will be held in Amherst, New York hosted by the #1 seed Daemen University Wildcats who finished the regular season 18-5 overall and 10-0 in conference play to earn the regular season championship.
The Knights were swept by Daemen to the score of 3-0 in Amherst and 3-1 in Flushing.
Molloy has earned the #3 seed having finished with a record of 15-10 overall and 6-4 in conference play. Queens split the series against Molloy with the Knights sweeping the Lions at home before a heartbreaking 3-2 loss in Rockville Centre.
Mercy is the last team to get in and has earned the #4 seed with an overall record of 13-6 and 6-4 in conference play.
Queens earned a series split against the Mavericks as they fell 3-1 in Dobbs Ferry before a 3-1 victory in Flushing gave the Knights the tiebreaker to earn the #2 seed.
The Tournament gets started on Friday (Nov. 11) evening with the first semifinal starting at 5 p.m. and match two to follow at 7:30 p.m. The final will take place on Saturday (Nov. 12) evening at 5 p.m. The winner of the tournament will receive an automated bid to the 2022 NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament.
A win over Molloy Friday evening will earn Queens their first championship appearance since the 2004 season.
Semifinals - Friday, November 11
No. 4 Mercy vs. No. 1 Daemen - 5:00 P.M.
No. 3 Molloy vs. No. 2 Queens - 7:30 P.M.
Final - Saturday, November 12
MER/DAE vs. MOL/QC – 5:00 P.M.
Tickets
Tickets for each game of the championship can be purchased in advance at
www.eccsports.org/tickets. Ticket prices will be $8 for general admission and $4 for senior citizens, students, and children ages 2-5. Children under two will be admitted for free. In celebration of Veterans Day on Friday, all veterans will be able to attend both days of the tournament for free. A ticket must still be secured through the ECC ticket website and a valid military ID must be shown to gain free entry.
In addition, cash will not be accepted so those wishing to purchase tickets at the venue must still use the ECC ticket website to purchase them (QR code to scan with a smartphone will be available at the gate).
Follow the Tournament:
Live Stats: https://daemenwildcats.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Live Stream: https://eccsportsnetwork.com/
Queens College Women's Volleyball Championship History
Queens has made four championship finals appearances (1999, 2001, 2003, 2004). The Knights are looking for their first conference crown since the 2003 season when they defeated New Haven to the score of 3-0 to earn the program's first Championship.
For the latest news on Queens College Athletics, follow the Knights at queensknights.com or via social media on Facebook (Queens College Athletics), Twitter (@QCKnights), and Instagram (qcknightsny), women's volleyball (qcknightsvb).
