FLUSHING, N.Y. – The 2022 Queens College volleyball season got underway Friday (Aug. 26) morning as head coach
Stefan Leger and his Knights hosted the Long Island Invitational inside Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
The Knights hosted the Chargers of the University of New Haven in match one and the Purple Knights of the University of Bridgeport in match three.
Leger handed debuts to several newcomers on Friday but facing two experienced squads which were coming off 2021 postseason runs, the young squad fought hard in each match before being overpowered.
The Knights took the Chargers to four sets
(25-27, 25-20, 22-25, 12-25) in the opening match before they were swept by their former conference opponents in the Purple Knights in three sets
(25-27, 21-25, 11-25) to fall to 0-2 on the young season.
Match One vs. New Haven
The Knights started slowly as they fell behind 13-7 before attempting a comeback as senior
Alexis Deodat(Riverview, FL) led the charge. Trailing 21-15 in the first, a kill by Deodat would spark 5-0 as the Knights cut the deficit down to two, 21-19.
Feeding off Deodat's energy, rookies
Jayna Marie Lorenzo (Rodeo, CA) and
Lindsay Osterhoudt(Orlando, FL) went on a 4-1 run to take a 23-22 lead. A service error would allow the Chargers to tie the set before a Chargers' service error put the Knights one point away from clinching the set. But an attack error would allow the Chargers to come back and steal the first set 27-25.
The second set was a see-saw affair as the Knights continued to stay within striking distance. With the Chargers leading 17-15,
Despina Boudouris (Athens, Greece) swung the momentum towards the Knights with a 5-0 run to take a 20-17 advantage. But as New Haven cut the home side advantage down to one, 20-19, Deodat and rookie
Kendall Conrad (Carrolltown, PA) went on a 3-0 run as the Knights were two points (23-19) away from tying the match 1-1.
After the Chargers took one point back, a bad set by the Chargers and a kill by Deodat would tie the match as the Knights took the second 25-20.
For every big advantage the Chargers built, the Knights continued to come back but one too many errors and facing a team coming off their 35
th NCAA tournament in 2021 would prove to be too much.
Match Highlights
- Deodat tallied a team-high 12 kills and 12 digs for her first double-double of the season, while rookie Conrad notched 10 kills.
- Boudouris tallied a match-high 27 assists and 11 digs for her first double-double.
- While rookie Ryann Frontera (Dripping Springs, TX) tallied a match-high 25 digs and classmateSarah Munn (Torrance, CA) led the Knights with three service aces.
- Despite holding a 45-44 attacking advantage, the Knights' 25-12 attacking errors would be the difference maker.
Match Two vs. Bridgeport
For the second straight match the Knights fell behind as they found themselves trailing 7-1 before
Leila Hadjeb (Queens, N.Y.) took it upon herself to wake the Knights up as the Queens native notched four service aces in the 6-0 run to tie the first set 7-7.
Tied 12-12, Queens took advantage of Bridgeport's errors to go ahead 17-12 but the visitors would fight back as they trimmed the lead down to two, 18-16.
Using another 3-0 run to jump ahead 21-16, the Purple Knights' experience showed this would not be an easy finish for the home side. With the Knights leading 24-22, Bridgeport used their veteran roster to steal the first set 27-25.
But playing against an experienced side, the Knights' inexperienced squad gave everything they could before eventually running out of gas.
Match Highlights
- For the second straight match, Deodat led the Knights in kills as she tallied a team-high six kills.
- While four Knights tallied four kills apiece.
- Boudouris notched a team-high 15 assists
- While the duo of Hadjeb and Frontera tallied seven digs apiece.
UP NEXT: It will be a short rest for Leger and his squad as they continue the Long Island Invitational on Saturday morning against Nyack College (10:00 A.M.) and Post University (12:30 P.M.)
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).
